Who would have thought a driver who cut his teeth in the NASCAR Mexico series with its emphasis on road courses would have nearly earned his first Cup victory on a dirt track?
Daniel Suarez‘s path has not been easy. It seems that someone is constantly waiting in the wings to take his ride, and the stress accompanying that must be huge.
He’s raced well and earned top-fives in his first three seasons – finishing second in the 2017 Rookie of the Year battle to Erik Jones. In Year 4, in a more moderately-funded ride, he failed to crack the top 10, but persevered. If there was any criticism surrounding his performance, it was that he lacked the killer instinct needed to protect his position on the track. And with NASCAR Cup competition as tight as it is, that could often be the difference between a top-10 and a result in the high-teens.
The book is still not written, but Suarez added a chapter to it in the fall 2021 Texas Motor Speedway EchoPark 500 when he refused to allow playoff contender Martin Truex Jr. to push him out of the bottom groove. Truex spun off the front nose of Suarez’s car. Suarez finished 10th in a race that was sandwiched by a pair of top-15s on the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course and at Kansas Speedway.
We saw something else last year, and that was the versatility alluded to in the opening paragraph of this post. Based on his previous experience, Suarez should not have been a contender on the Bristol Motor Speedway dirt track. Other than practice and his heat race, he had virtually no experience on this course type. He assumed the lead on Lap 135 by taking the spot away from Truex under green flag conditions and held it for 58 circuits until Joey Logano wrested it away. He slipped to fourth in the final rundown.
Another notable statistic from last year was Suarez’s performance on rough-surfaced tracks. Two of his four top-10s came on this course type with a seventh at Nashville Superspeedway and a ninth at Dover International Speedway. He finished 13th in one of NASCAR’s toughest races: the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
The real test will come in 2022 as Trackhouse Racing expands. Purchasing the assets and charters of Chip Ganassi Racing gives them a leg up from 2021 and expectations will rise. In 2021, the two CGR teams earned one win (Kurt Busch in Atlanta 2), nine top-fives, and 22 top-10s.
Suarez will be challenged by teammate Ross Chastain, who is essentially a third-year driver and one with a reputation for aggressiveness on the track.
In the best-case scenario, the two will improve one another’s performance. The worst-case scenario is that Suarez could be overshadowed by Chastain like he experienced with his Joe Gibbs and Stewart-Haas Racing teammates in the past. This internal rivalry is part of what is going to make the 2022 season an interesting one to watch.
Three Best Tracks *
Dover (13.2 in 9 attempts)
Watkins Glen (13.8 in 4)
Sonoma (15.0 in 4)
Three Worst Tracks *
Daytona (31.5 in 10)
Homestead (24.8 in 5)
Darlington (23.9 in 8)
2021 Stats
Victories: None (Best finish: fourth, Bristol dirt)
Top-fives: 1 (.028)
Top-10s: 4 (.111)
Top-15s: 14 (.389)
Top-20s: 20 (.556)
2021 Finishes at or above rank = 27 (75.0%)
* Active tracks with three or more starts
25. Chase Briscoe: 2021 ROTY
26. Justin Haley: New Team, New Dream
27. Cole Custer: Tale of Two Seasons
28. Ty Dillon: Second Chances
29. Michael McDowell: Early Momentum
30. Corey LaJoie: Look Deeper
