Daniel Suárez seeks his second career Cup win. (Photo: Sam Draiss | The Podium Finish)
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – It’s been a summer that Daniel Suárez will likely remember in terms of his ascension as a NASCAR Cup Series superstar.
After scoring his much anticipated first NASCAR Cup Series win at Sonoma, California, the 30-year-old Monterrey, Mexico native looks ahead to Sunday’s Go Bowling at the Glen (3 p.m. ET on USA).
While Suárez typically works alongside his teammate, Ross Chastain, this weekend’s race has a fun atmosphere with the 2007 Formula 1 champion making a one-off start with his cohorts.
Ahead of the race at Watkins Glen International, the sixth year Cup racer worked closely with his PROJECT 91 teammate, Kimi Räikkönen, during an orientation test held at Virginia International Raceway. To say the least, he has full faith in Räikkönen’s abilities to produce a respectable result.
“It’s been fun. He’s a really great racecar driver,” Suárez said. “He’s had a lot of experience in open wheel and rally and in many different categories. So it’s been a lot of fun for him to to learn the process of NASCAR, but at the same time, me learning you know, his mentality in racing in general. So it’s been good.
“I think he’s gonna do very well. I think he’s gonna have the speed and I feel like everything else is gonna be a process. We have to remember that we only have 20 minute practice. So the format that we have in NASCAR today doesn’t really benefit him a lot, but I think he’s gonna do well.”
As for Suárez, it was a consistent Saturday. The 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion posted the ninth fastest times in practice and qualifying.
Maybe some of his moments from this weekend’s race will air in the upcoming “Race for the Championship” docuseries slated to air next month on USA. Suárez, like his peers, has enjoyed being a featured racer for the show that may be akin to F1’s “Drive to Survive” docuseries.
Suárez hopes his Sunday is as memorable as a Princess cruise. (Photo: Sam Draiss | The Podium Finish)
“Yeah, it’s very fun. I have known that for a long time I’ve been part of it. So yeah, looking forward to watching it with you,” Suárez shared.
Before he enjoys watching the episodes with fans, it’s about the task at hand for this 90-lap race. Specifically, Suárez considers the unique facets awaiting him at the challenging but venerable road course.
“There is no easy place,” he observed. “Like the corner one to the esses, the Bus Stop, Carousel, the last couple of corners are probably the more easy going, a straightforward corner. But every corner is different. You know, you have The Bus Stop which is very, very tricky. So it’s a fun place and a very, very fast one, too.”
Technical but fast tracks suit the NASCAR Drive for Diversity graduate as evident with his win at Sonoma Raceway earlier this year. Unlike his Sonoma weekend, the pressure is not as intense as he can pursue another victory with a “nothing to lose” attitude.
“Hopefully, we can win here,” he said. “I think that will be very nice to get one more win before the Playoffs starts. I think, just like any other road course, we have had speed.
“Looking forward to see what we can do, trying to focus 100% all the energy into Watkins Glen, next week at Daytona and then Playoffs mode.”
Like the late Dale Earnhardt, while Suárez may have mentioned about the road ahead of this road course race, his mind is only on the present.
There’s no doubting how earnest and confident Suárez is about his chances at this 2.45-mile road course, a track he would love to add to his trophy mantle.
It’s nothing but the present at Watkins Glen for Suárez. (Photo: Josh Jones | The Podium Finish)
“I want to be honest, I haven’t even thought about Daytona,” he remarked. “It’s a very unpredictable race. It’s a race that a lot of crazy things happen. You know, luckily we’re not in that bubble area that we’re in risk or anything in the Playoffs.
“I haven’t even thought about it. My full focus is in Watkins Glen, trying to win here, and and then we focus next (with Daytona).”
Editor’s Notes
Nathan Solomon contributed to this feature from Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York.
