Photo Credit: Justin McFarland
Thus far in the XFINITY Series, Joe Gibbs Racing has been the topic of discussion with their domination. Beyond Kyle Busch winning the last three races in a row, the organization has placed all of their drivers in the top-10 in each event, except the season opener at Daytona International Speedway.
One of those drivers is Daniel Suarez, who has posted two top-fives and four top-10s thus far this season to sit atop the points standings. This all happening while working with new crew chief Scott Graves, whom led Chris Buescher to the championship last year.
“So far, honestly, he’s (Scott Graves, crew chief) been great,” Suarez commented. “I really think that Scott – he has a lot of talent, he knows what he is doing and he knows how to make fast race cars and that’s always fun. Honestly, I really feel like we are building that communication and that chemistry – that’s something that I was expecting, but honestly I feel like we are moving in the right track, in the right direction. I really like working with him and I think we have a bright future ahead of us.”
Of course, the one column that has been left empty is the win-column. Suarez feels that it will get filled eventually, as he will find a way to beat his teammate Busch.
“He (Kyle Busch) knows that,” Saurez stated. “It’s just we’re battling with one of the best drivers out there – not just in XFINITY Series, in the Cup Series. He’s just last year’s champion, so I really think that we’re learning from the best or one of the best out there. Honestly, I’m very proud of every single race – I can’t talk for Erik (Jones), but at least for myself I learn something new to try to be a little better. Honestly, in the last few weeks, I have been pushing myself more than what I used to, so definitely it’s good to be in this position, because at the end of the day if one day or the other or tomorrow or who knows when we get our opportunity to move up to Cup, we’re going to be battle with 15 Kyles, so we will have to learn to be pushing ourselves to this point and trying to learn from the best, so I really think that we are learning.”
Suarez says the key to beating Busch will finding the “those last little details” to close the gap. Perhaps this weekend it could happen at Auto Club Speedway, a track that Suarez calls fun to drive due to the different options in lane choice.
“You’re going to watch a really fun race with cars everywhere, so, yeah, really looking forward to this race,” he commented. “I feel like my whole team, Joe Gibbs Racing, is doing an amazing job. We have had some really good races in the last few weeks. I really feel that we have strong cars, we have really good speed and hopefully we can keep that momentum to tomorrow’s race.”
