DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.: Make no mistake about it, Daniel Suarez and his Gaunt Brothers Racing team will be understandably nervous over the next four days as the team will have to race their way into next Sunday’s Daytona 500 in Thursday night’s Bluegreen Vacation duels at Daytona.
Unfortunately for Suarez and his team, they failed to produce a fast-enough lap that would put them in a position to revert back to their qualifying speed from Sunday afternoon’s Daytona 500-time trials.
Of the 42 cars that took time, Suarez was 36th fastest overall or fifth quickest of the non-chartered teams putting the now fulltime team in a checkers or wreckers position Thursday night.
Drivers Justin Haley and Brendan Gaughan secured their entry into the Daytona 500 by virtue of their qualifying speed and should they have finished higher in the respective duel races – it would have opened a position for another driver to make the field based on their qualifying speed.
However, with drivers Reed Sorenson and Timmy Hill turning a fastest lap than Suarez, the No. 96 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Toyota Camry driver doesn’t have a backup plan to fall on.
Suarez knows he has a big challenge ahead of him, but he’s determined to fight and make the best of the opportunity with his new Gaunt Brothers Racing team.
“We have to race,” Suarez said. “We have to race hard. We knew that we would have a lot of challenges and that we didn’t also have the raw speed, but I know what I can do. I just have to go out there Thursday and get it done.”
While manufacturer alliances have been keen at the most recent superspeedway races, Suarez realizes that Toyota doesn’t have numbers in strength right now – but will work with anyone if it makes the difference of making the race or going home.
“I think at this point we just have to do our thing and try to do what is best for myself,” Suarez added. Unfortunately, there is not many Toyotas out there. Who knows? I hope I get lucky and get as many (Toyotas) as possible in my duel, but we’ll see. If that happens, great. If it doesn’t, I will have to just do my thing.”
Suarez was eligible to compete in Sunday afternoon’s Busch Clash at Daytona, but the Mooresville, N.C.-based team opted out of participating in the exhibition event to focus their efforts on the Daytona 500 – a decision that was likely the right one.
But the Monterrey, Mexico driver realizes everyone, himself included didn’t do a good enough job.
“That was really the main goal, to focus on the Daytona 500 car. Obviously, we just didn’t do enough of a good job, but we have to push hard, and we have to keep working and try to keep up.
“I know that – obviously, we all know that the car doesn’t have the raw speed that we were expecting. We all were pretty shocked yesterday to see that, but I know what I can do and I know that I’m fast. I think we’ll be in good shape on Thursday. We just have to stay out of trouble.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
