CHICAGO: Ordinarily, full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver Daniel Suárez doesn’t get overly excited about opportunities to run races in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, where he won a championship in 2016.
But that attitude doesn’t apply to the Chicago Street Course, where Suárez was eager to run both races this weekend.
The reason: the chance to get more “reps” on a track that is markedly different from all other NASCAR venues.
“If we were in Sonoma, Watkins Glen or any other race track, and I had the opportunity to run the Xfinity race, I may do it, I may not,” Suarez said. “I don’t know, like I would really have to think about it, because the cars are so different nowadays that it can be helpful or it can be hurtful.
“But here on a street course, I personally, don’t have a lot of experience on street courses. I’ve had three street courses, so far, in my career. So the more laps that I can get, the more reps that I can get at this track, I’m going to take it.
“With that being said, I have in my mind very clearly, that the cars are completely different; the transmission is going to be different and everything is going to be different… the brakes are going to be different. But the goal of this for me is to get some extra reps on a race track that I know is different than 99 percent of the schedule that we have in NASCAR.”
Recurring duel between Larson and Hamlin a rivalry among friends
NASCAR Cup Series championship contending drivers Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin have carried a high-speed low-intensity rivalry throughout the season.
Both Larson, the 2021 series champion who drives the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and Hamlin, who drives the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, have a series-leading three wins this year. And they have been close to one another consistently during the final laps of recent racing—close enough for contact the last three weeks.
The Californian Larson, however, instead of retaliating on track or outside the race car, has calmly soldiered through, no matter the injustice perceived by others. He says that’s largely because he and Hamlin are friends, even golfing buddies.
“Just feeling like you can trust, trust the moves that somebody is going to make on you,’’ Larson said, conceding he probably tolerates the rougher racing with Hamlin because they are friends.
“I feel like that’s when you can have close racing and trust what they’re going to do I think that’s fun to me. I’ve always enjoyed racing him a lot, before I guess middle of last year (when contact from Hamlin knocked Larson out of a Pocono, Pa. race).
“I’m sure we can get back to that point and we’ve had fun racing each other since Pocono. There’s just been a few incidents where I feel like I’ve been run out of space a little more than maybe someone else would put me into that situation. But, yeah, I guess that could just be considered racing sometimes.”
Editor’s Note: Daniel Suárez in a third NASCAR Xfinity Series entry for DGM Racing was in a position for a top-15 finish in Saturday afternoon’s The Loop 110 at the Chicago Street Course, however, last lap contact from John Hunter Nemechek relegated Suárez to a 27th place finish in his No. 36 Chevrolet Camaro.
Source: Holly Cain | Reid Spencer | NASCAR Wire Service
