Suarez Aims To Make History, NASCAR Playoffs with Victory at IMS

Daniel Suarez didn’t hesitate with his reply when asked what was special to him about racing NASCAR stock cars at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“Every racetrack has something special,” Suarez said. “But talking about Indianapolis, there’s a lot of history and a lot of years and drivers. This place is one of the most special.”

Suarez, 26, from Monterrey, Mexico, would become a special part of the 109-year history of IMS if he wins the Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard Powered by Florida Georgia Line on Sunday, Sept. 9. He would become the first Mexican driver to win one of the track’s two major oval events, this race or the Indianapolis 500.

He is the first native of Mexico to race full time in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, in his second season with Joe Gibbs Racing in the No. 19 Toyota Camry. Suarez is 20th in the series standings in 2018, 94 points behind the cutoff to earn one of the 16 spots in the NASCAR Playoffs.

Suarez’s best finish this season is third, at Dover, equaling his Cup career best set last year at Watkins Glen. He knows he probably needs to win one of the five races remaining before the Playoffs to earn a spot in this postseason.

There could be the potential for big drama for Suarez and any other drivers outside of the top 16 and without a win entering the Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard Powered by Florida Georgia Line, which has moved this year to the final race of the regular season.

But Suarez can take heart in knowing that IMS is one of his favorite tracks. Plus Joe Gibbs Racing has won the Brickyard five times, second only to Hendrick Motorsports’ 10 victories at IMS.

Suarez started second and finished third in the Lilly Diabetes 250 at IMS as a NASCAR Xfinity Series rookie in 2015. He started and finished seventh in that race in 2016 en route to becoming the first Mexican to win the Xfinity Series championship.

His IMS Cup debut was just as solid last year. Suarez finished seventh in a chaos-filled race after starting 15th.

“Honestly, this place, for whatever reason, suits my driving style,” Suarez said. “From the very first time, I was pretty good here, pretty strong. I look forward to getting a little bit more this year.”

Suarez admits his immediate success at Indy was an exception to his typical learning curve as a Cup rookie last season. He tended to run much better during his second trip to tracks that host two Cup races per year, drawing upon his experience from his maiden voyage.

Five of his eight top-10 finishes in the second half of last season came on tracks where he was returning for the second time in 2017. The exceptions were his first trip to New Hampshire (sixth), and Indianapolis (seventh) and Watkins Glen (third), which each host only one Cup race per season.

“Last year, the first half of the year was extremely tough for me,” Suarez said. “It was a lot to learn in a really short period of time.”

Now that he has familiarity with every track in a Cup car, victory is the next step. There would be no better time or place for that than Sept. 9 during the dramatic regular-season finale at the Brickyard.

IMS is one of the few oval tracks he saw on TV with his father while growing up in Mexico, as they watched both the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard every year. The Speedway also is known in Suarez’s native land due to the Mexicans who have raced there in the Indy 500, including Josele Garza, Adrian Fernandez, Michel Jourdain Jr. and others.

“That would be huge,” Suarez said of the prospect of winning at IMS. “(Mexican fans) are getting more and more involved in the sport. I’m happy to be a small part of that. They’ve been nothing but great to me.

“I’m really looking forward to continue the process of getting more and more competitive.”