Daniel Suárez is all about moving on, not staying in the past. (Photo: Bobby Krug | The Podium Finish)
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – After a difficult outcome, as Daniel Suárez endured last Sunday at Indianapolis, it is not about the situation, but how to respond to it.
For the 31-year-old Monterrey, Mexico native, the best and only recourse following a less than nominal pit stop is putting it in the rear view mirror.
All things considered, the Trackhouse Racing driver managed to place third and otherwise had a faultless race at the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course.
“Well first of all, there is absolutely nothing anyone can do about the past.. nothing,” Suárez said. “So what happened on that pit stop, I left pit road – yeah, I was mad, but then what? What am I going to do about it? There’s nothing I can do. The only thing I could have done was drive the crap out of that car, which I did.
“We cut the deficit of 10.5-seconds to five, and wait for caution, which didn’t happen. It was one of those things that you just have to move on. You have to have the capacity of moving on and knowing that you still have an entire stage to go and anything can happen. In my mind, we can still win the race… 10.5-seconds behind, we can still win the race. A caution comes, anything can happen and we can still win the race. I never give up on the race until the white flag.”
That determined effort spoke volumes about the seventh-year Cup racer’s determination and athleticism. Rather than preoccupy himself with the unfortunate circumstance, he chose to focus forward for himself and his No. 99 FREEWAY.com Chevrolet Camaro team.
Now, that does not mean Suárez dismissed the rare, less than ideal stop by his usually fast, consistent over-the-wall crew. Instead, a bit of a heart-to-heart came to fruition, lighting a fire in the eyes of the cagey veteran and his scrappy crewmates.
“After the race, like I said, probably the longest meeting I’ve ever had with a pit crew,” he said. “We had a lot of conversations, a lot of reviews of film and we worked together for a couple hours, at least. Just watching film – reviewing what I could have done different.. what they could have done different. There were so many different things that could have gone a different way and that 23-second stop was going to be 15, and if it was a 15-second stop, we could have won the race.
“So you know, we just learned a lot. We failed at Indianapolis, but success comes from failure. We learned a lot and that’s the good part of it. I can tell you that my pit crew, they’re hungry. I’m hungry. My engineers are hungry. So right now, I feel like we’re in a very, very good place to continue to fight.”
Daniel Suárez loves racing around the venerable Watkins Glen International. (Photo: Wayne Riegle | The Podium Finish)
Suárez still has two paths to make this year’s NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Namely, he sits 28 points behind 16th place Bubba Wallace, an attainable margin with one to two consistent, strong performances and results.
Then, the other path is simply winning a race to lock a pivotal spot in the postseason. That first opportunity comes this Sunday with the Go Bowling at The Glen, a 90-lap battle at the 2.45-mile, seven-turn Watkins Glen International.
In five prior starts, Suárez has three top 10 results, all stemming from top-five finishes in 2017, 2018 and 2022. Boasting an average finish of 12.0, it is safe to say that the road course specialist loves this particular track nestled in the Finger Lakes region of New York.
Perhaps it takes a Luke Skywalker Death Star trench run-like focus to succeed at this historic road course. Most especially, as Suárez points out, it is about nailing each segment of the track with rhythm and precision.
“I think Watkins Glen is a very fast track,” Suárez said. “The bus stop is very tricky – you can be extremely bad in the bus stop, perfect everywhere else and you won’t be good here. So it’s a very tricky race track, but that’s what makes it so cool – that it’s difficult and it’s tricky.
“I’m excited to be here. Like I said, I feel like we have a great opportunity ahead of us and I think the No. 99 team is ready for battle.”
When Suárez and his Trackhouse Racing brigade are prepared for the latest battle, chances are likely that they are like the Warriors of Coney Island.
If there is ever a time for the 2022 Sonoma winner to garner his second career Cup victory, an Empire State of Mind may be what it takes to give the field 99 problems… with Daniel Suárez being one of them.
Editor’s Notes
Nathan Solomon contributed to this article on site from Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York.
