No. 99 Freeway.com Chevrolet driver Daniel Suárez finished the regular season in 17th, just one spot short of earning a second consecutive playoff berth.
But his team isn’t giving up on the season.
In fact, it has redefined its goals for the final races of the year and that includes winning a race, earning at least six top-10 finishes, turning top-five pit stop times and race as if it were in the playoffs in preparation for rejoining the championship battle in in 2024.
They appeared to get off to a good start last Sunday at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway running in the top-10 with less than 50 laps remaining, but hopes for a good finish ended when Alex Bowman mistimed a block crashing both he and Suárez.
“My No. 99 Freeway.com Chevy team did a very good job,” said Suárez. “I feel like we had a great car and all we have to show for it is a wrecked race car.”
Suárez said he expects another fast car on Sunday afternoon at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City when the NASCAR Cup Series holds its 400-mile race. He’s finished in the top-15 in all but one of his five races at the 1.5-mile oval since joining Trackhouse Racing in 2021.
USA Network will televise Sunday’s race at 3 p.m. ET.
Daniel Suárez:
Do you have any specific remaining races that you target as a possible win?
“I haven’t looked to races specifically. I have to put more work into my racing because we have things to clean up. We’re working very hard on that. If we can fix that, I know we can fight for wins. At this point I have to focus more on the 99 team than the race tracks. To make our team more consistent. It doesn’t matter where we go — we have to be strong.”
How can you help Ross Chastain who is in the playoffs?
“We have to build the best race car we possibly can. He (Chastain) is trying to win a championship, and I’m trying to win races. It’s always a difficult situation because everyone has different agendas. I’ve been on both sides of the table. You try to help, not to make things difficult. If he’s behind me and faster, I’ll let him go, but if we’re at similar speed we’re going to race.
“At this point of the season, everyone has different agendas and is fighting for different things. It’s part of racing. For the last month I was trying to make it into the playoffs. He helped me a little bit when he had the possibility. But he was racing for wins, as well. That’s racing. If you’re going to get hurt feelings because of that, you’re in the wrong sport.”