TALLADEGA, Ala.: Daniel Suarez entered Talladega Superspeedway weekend at a deficit, despite finishing 13th last Sunday in Kansas.
After failing to pick up points in either stage of the Hollywood Casino 400, Suarez sits 10th on the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff grid, 14 points below the current cut line.
Unfortunately, the driver of the No. 99 Trackhouse Chevrolet didn’t help his cause with a 31st-place qualifying effort for the YellaWood 500 on Saturday. But he remains optimistic.
“At Kansas, the potential of the car was there; we just didn’t execute properly on Sunday,” Suarez said. “We were able to make it better. By the end of the race, we were a top-10 car, but it took us the race to get there. That’s not acceptable.
“I missed stage points, and we finished 13th with a car that in my mind could have run in the top 10—and ultimately fought for the win. I thought my car was as good as the 1 (teammate Ross Chastain’s winning car) and he won the race. We just have to do a better job.”
Certainly watching his Trackhouse teammate win the race stung, particularly since a victory for Suarez could have advanced the No. 99 team to the Round of 8.
But with three top-10 results in his last four starts on 2.66-mile Talladega, Suarez is taking a pragmatic approach to Sunday’s race.
“We’re still in striking distance,” Suarez said. “Fourteen points out is not the end of the world, having a superspeedway and road course (remaining in the Round of 12).
“We’re in good shape. I believed we learned from that. We had some interesting conversations on Monday, and hopefully, we’re better in the next round. But for now, we have to focus on Talladega, put all of our energy here.”
Suarez, who became a dual citizen of the Mexico and the United States after passing the citizenship test on April 29th, had come to admire his fellow Americans particularly watching his fellow Trackhouse employees and others pitch in following the Hurricane Helene disaster that hit North Carolina and surrounding states.
“Honestly, that’s one of the reasons I love this country so much–it’s so united,” Suarez said. “The level of support the entire country is showing to Western North Carolina is unbelievable. NASCAR, Trackhouse, Air Recovery Group–it’s very heartwarming, honestly. I just feel that sometimes you’re lucky, and you don’t get any damages with the situation like this, and sometimes you’re extremely unlucky.
“Unfortunately, there are people who lost everything. They don’t have a home right now. They don’t have water. They don’t have anything, and that’s very sad. Some people can recover quickly, some people it can take them an entire life to build what they had.
“That’s what we’re here for. We’re very, very lucky to be in this position. One day I read this: Be thankful God put you in a position to give, even if you have to wait to receive. We’re very, very fortunate–everyone in the NASCAR community–to be in a position that we can give.”
Follow Lee Spencer on Twitter @CandiceSpencer or email her at: [email protected].
