Photo Credit: Noel Lanier
TOYOTA NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS)
Daniel Suarez – Notes & Quotes
Phoenix International Raceway – March 11, 2016
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Daniel Suarez was made available to the media at Phoenix International Raceway:
DANIEL SUAREZ, No. 19 Juniper Networks Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
What is your outlook here in Phoenix this weekend and can you talk about how your season has gone so far?
“Well, first of all, I’m very happy to be here. Thank you everyone. The season has been good so far. It’s still a little early on the season as we all know, but I’m very proud and I give a lot of credit to my team. My team has been unbelievably good. We made a couple changes from last year to this year and we were expecting to be a little bit better, but it was like trying to gamble a little bit like everyone does. So far it’s been good. I really feel like we are building good communication with my team and good chemistry. I’m happy with how things have worked out so far on the season, but I’m really looking forward to Phoenix. I don’t get tired to say this, but Phoenix is like my second home. I really feel very comfortable here since I was racing in the NASCAR Mexico stuff and it’s been a really good place for me. A lot of good fans, a really cool race track, different to the miles-and-a-half that we have had in the last couple races. So, yeah, I’m excited to be here.”
What would it mean for you to win in Phoenix tomorrow and return to victory lane here?
“Yeah, definitely it can be a really, really good feeling for us but until that we have to work hard and we still have a lot of work left for today in the second and third practice. I tried to put a good race car together for tomorrow, which I think we are going to be able to do that and after that try to beat our teammate Kyle Busch. He has been unbelievable fast, but you know what it’s been really good to learn from him and to be battling with him side-by-side because at the end of the day we’re learning from the best drivers because he’s one of the best drivers out there right now. So, we’ve been good but definitely we know when he’s winning the races and we are just close together with him we know there’s something there that we have to keep improving and getting better. So, definitely it can be a really good feeling but we have to keep working to be a little closer to him or even a little better.”
How has it helped having a new crew chief this year and his experience running for a championship last year?
“Well, definitely Scott is a really good crew chief. He’s a really good person. I feel like we are building our communication and our chemistry in a pretty good speed to be honest with you and that’s something that I really like. I really feel like our team is tight right now. Everyone is on the same page and everyone is working for the same goal. Everyone knows that we have the speed and we have all of the pieces to go out there and win races. So, everyone is excited and everyone is hungry and that’s something that I really like. Everyone wants to go out there to win races and it’s been better when they – or we – know that we can have a shot every weekend. So, I really like that we have a lot of time together, spending some time together, the whole team and I really feel like we are building good chemistry together so I’m really looking forward what we have right now going on and for the future as well.”
Have you done anything fun while you’ve been west?
“Yeah, we had a tour in LA for three days and it was really fun. Honestly, like I said, Phoenix is like my second home, but the whole west coast is always really good to me. A lot of good people, a lot of fans, a lot of Latin American race fans and I don’t get to race at home but this is maybe the closest so it’s always fun.”
How do you use your recent top-10 streak as momentum going into tomorrow’s race?
“Well, actually I didn’t know that until you just said that and that’s really cool. I think it’s something good that we have been able to carry that momentum last year to this year even with the changes or the difference that we have on our race team. But like I said, I really give a lot of credit to my team because it seemed like all they do right now is to build fast race cars. It doesn’t matter where we go, we have a fast race car and for a driver like me it’s always very fun to have a fast race car that you know you can have a shot to win the race. If we keep doing what we are doing right now or even improving a little bit more I really think that we are going to be able to continue that line of top-10s and why not put a win in there.”
Did you have a reaction to Brian France’s endorsement of Donald Trump?
“Well, I think the first answer to this is that I’m not very big in politics. I never been that way and never had a lot of interest in that. I didn’t know about all this deal until my PR guy he called me that night and said, ‘Hey, if somebody asks you about this be careful.’ And, I said, “What?” He explained to me the whole thing because I didn’t have any idea of what was going on. But, honestly, all I can say about that is that I’m super proud to be Mexican, to be a Latin American driver in the United States. I’m very lucky to have a lot of support from the United States and from NASCAR in the past four years and what we’ve got for this year so far. So, four years and three months. And, who knows, without being Mexican I wouldn’t be here right now because it’s been unbelievable the support I’ve had from NASCAR through the ‘Drive for Diversity’ program and all of these programs to put myself in the right position to get opportunity that I have right now. So, like I said, I’m very proud to be Mexican and whatever is going on with the politics that doesn’t change anything.”
