Daniel Suarez Hopes Atlanta Win Is Just the Beginning
Credit: HAMPTON, GEORGIA - FEBRUARY 25: Daniel Suarez, driver of the #99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet, crosses the finish line ahead of Kyle Busch, driver of the #8 Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet, and Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 BodyArmor Zero Sugar Ford, to win the NASCAR Cup Series Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on February 25, 2024 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images)
It wasn’t just winning the third-closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history, Sunday, at Atlanta Motor Speedway that had Daniel Suarez excited.
No, it went way deeper than that.
After a frustrating 2023 season in which he failed to make the playoffs and finished a disappointing nineteenth in the standings, Suarez was entering the final year of his contract with Trackhouse Racing.
During the offseason the team added two young guns to its driver roster, Zane Smith and Connor Zilisch. Fairly or unfairly, there were whispers that 2024 was going to be a make or break season for the thirty-two year-old Mexican driver.
But Suarez claims he never felt he was on the hot seat at Trackhouse.
“Yeah, no, I never felt like I was in the hot seat. A lot of people was talking about it. But I never felt bad.
“I knew that last year wasn’t the year that I really wanted. I work — people that actually know me, they know how hard I work, and last year we worked hard, but we were not efficient. We were missing something. We were not firing on all eight cylinders. In the off-season we went to work and we changed a little bit our system, the way we do things in a few different areas, and I’ve been telling Ty (Norris, Trackhouse Racing partner), I’ve been telling Justin (Marks, Trackhouse Racing co-owner), saying, man, I can feel the team strong, I can feel the communication, the preparation, everything that we have, Squid, Matt Swiderski (crew chief) has done a hell of a job helping me to build a strong team, and I can feel it. I can feel it.
“I’m happy that we were able to do it early in the season because some people actually told me earlier, hey, now you can relax, you’re in the playoffs. Hell no. My goal is not to win one race. I want to head into the playoffs with at least a handful — with a few wins to be able to contend for a championship.”
Credit: HAMPTON, GEORGIA - FEBRUARY 25: Daniel Suarez, driver of the #99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet, (R) celebrates with Trackhouse Racing team co-owner, Justin Marks (C) and Ross Chastain, driver of the #1 Moose Fraternity Chevrolet, in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on February 25, 2024 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)
Team co-owner Justin Marks says Suarez was employee number four at Trackhouse and that there’s a great belief in his talent and ability to win.
“I would say that there are a lot of things that happen in these businesses that nobody in this room knows about, and that means that we are all working on business development and growth and opportunities in the future. You could look at what we have right now and you can look at the drivers that we’ve signed, but you don’t know what we’re working on behind the scenes.
“Yes, this is a contract year for Daniel. Does that mean that this is Daniel’s audition? No. It means that basically we are working on growing this company and making Trackhouse one of the powerhouse perennial championship-contending companies in this sport.
“On the hot seat? He just didn’t have the year that he wanted last year. But we know that he can get it done, and he’s a guy that can get it done.
“I don’t envision necessarily a situation where Daniel is not a driver for Trackhouse Racing. There’s a lot of things going on behind the scenes, and this is why we made a change at crew chief. This is why we made a change with some of the people around him and the processes is to put him in a position where he can win because Trackhouse is a winning company.
“I would say that it’s validation for the work that we’ve done this off-season to be able to put him in a position where he can showcase his talent. We have a lot of exciting and important things happening for the future of this company, and I guess that’s what I’ll say about that. It’s just nice to be in the playoffs in week two.”
Credit: HAMPTON, GEORGIA - FEBRUARY 25: Daniel Suarez, driver of the #99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on February 25, 2024 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images)
For Suarez, just being in the playoffs isn’t enough.
“This is not relaxing here. This is only the beginning. We have to continue to work, continue to build.
“We know that there is a few things that we could have done a little bit better today. We’ll learn from that, and we’ll continue to build
“I’m happy that we are secure in the playoffs, but to be able to win the championship, you won’t do it winning one or two races. You have to win at least a handful of races to create points, and that’s the goal for the 99.
“The goal for me with the 99 is for you guys not to be surprised when the 99 is in Victory Lane.”
Trackhouse Racing is the best home Suarez has had in the Cup Series. It’s where he feels secure and it’s where he believes he can win many more races.
“You are totally right. This is the best home I have had in the Cup Series, and by a mile.
“Justin Marks, Ty Norris, they believed in me since day one. When they called me to join Trackhouse, I was in the bottom. I was in the lowest of lows of my career. I was struggling a lot. I was losing confidence in myself. They grabbed me and they pulled me back to where I knew at one point that I belonged.
“They knew that if they were able to give me a shot to build a team around me, I was going to do something good, and that’s something that I will be forever grateful to them, to give me the opportunity to build a team around me.
“Like I said, when you are fighting with the best of the best, you have to have all the little things right.
“Yeah, you know, Matt, he’s a very, very passionate guy, Squid, my crew chief. He likes to win, likes to be competitive. Super smart guy, one of the smartest persons I know. And we work hard.
“At the end of the day, we come here on the weekends to execute. But the reason why we won today is not just because we executed right. It’s for all the preparation that we do during the week. We did a lot of work — we do a lot of work, Matt, Squid, my crew chief, Frankie, George Weiss, optimization. We do a lot of work to come here prepared. When you are prepared, already mentally you feel like you are ahead. That’s something that is very important. We’ve been working very hard to be prepared.
“I honestly feel that when I was arriving here in Atlanta, I felt like I was the most prepared driver out there. If we can do that every week, it’s going to be a lot of fun, and we’re going to win a lot of races.”
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