AVONDALE, Ariz. – After two days of testing at Phoenix Raceway, Daniel Suarez thought about his challenges over the next four weeks.
Following his first two days in a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series car, Suarez now has the season-opening Daytona 500 in his sights. The Mexican driver, thrust into a Cup car when Joe Gibbs Racing’s Carl Edwards abruptly retired last month, will step back into the car Feb. 17 at Daytona International Speedway for his first practice session leading into the Feb. 26 Daytona 500.
“This is amazing to have this test,” Suarez said Wednesday in his transporter at Phoenix. “I couldn’t imagine myself getting to Daytona for the first time in a Cup car.
“This is huge. This is a big deal to have this opportunity to come test, to do some laps, to know the Cup car, to know the team, to know everything.”
Suarez cherished the two-day test at the 1-mile Phoenix track. It allowed him to work with crew chief Dave Rogers for the first time. The Rogers-led crew wasn’t supposed to even attend the test at the JGR team of Matt Kenseth was originally scheduled. When Suarez was named the driver of the JGR No. 19 car, the organization changed its plans so Suarez could be its representative and he could get time in the car.
“I can tell you something -- I learned a lot,” Suarez said. “I really feel like my last lap of [the test] versus my first few laps, is a huge difference. I got more comfortable with the car. I feel this test was huge to do it before the season starts.”
Able to run seventh in the final session of the two-day test, Suarez took some confidence out of the test. The goal wasn’t to be the fastest -- the goal was to learn and improve.
“[Rogers] is a great crew chief – he knows when we have to go fast,” Suarez said. “He is very smart, he knows we are here to test and try things. We’re not here to be the fastest car.
“He had goals for these two days, and he achieved those goals. I like that. I feel like we’re going to do great things.”
The biggest difference in making the transition from the Xfinity Series to Cup is the car has about 150 more horsepower and less downforce.
“NASCAR worked very hard to make this car drive difficult – they got it right,” Suarez said.
To prepare for the test, Suarez spent as much time in the shop as possible. Much of his crew is new to him, although his spotter – the crewman perched above the track who lets him know what is happening on the track – is the same spotter (Chris Osborne) he used last year when winning the Xfinity Series championship.
While he can spend time in the shop, nothing compares to getting on the track and working with the team.
“We learned to how to communicate [during the test],” he said. “Dave started to learn how I talk, and I started to learn how he talks. That’s one of the most important points. We made some big gains.”
Edwards came to the test to help coach Suarez during the first day of the test.
“The expectation is to just go out there and learn,” Edwards said. “He’s super calm about it. I don’t know what he’s feeling inside, but he acting calm.”
Now Edwards will prepare for Daytona, and a NASCAR decision will benefit him greatly. Edwards had earned a spot in the preseason exhibition race, the Clash At Daytona. Suarez, never having run a Cup event, was not one of the invitees to the race, which is open to drivers who won a pole in 2016, made NASCAR’s playoffs in 2016 or had previously won the Clash or won the pole for the Daytona 500.
NASCAR decided that because JGR had sold sponsorship for the race and built a car for the race with the expectation that Edwards would be in the car, that it would let Suarez race in his place.
“It’s going to be huge,” Suarez said about getting two extra practices and the 75-lap exhibition race during the first weekend at Daytona. “That was a surprise for me to get an opportunity from NASCAR. The team was ready to go, so it [would be] a little unfair to them not to not go.
“But it worked out well. I’m very happy that I’m going to be able to get some extra laps before the main race. I’m ready to have some fun.”