NASCAR CUP SERIES DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY DAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAY TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES FEBRUARY 11, 2026 |
Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet – 2026 DAYTONA 500 Media Day Quotes: | MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom |
| What’s the best part of this week as a driver?“I mean, obviously the best part is the race on Sunday, but you have to get there. So there is a lot of things that you have to do to be able to get there. I’m just trying to enjoy every single day, to be honest. I’m just trying to be present and enjoy it. And right no, I’m sitting here with you guys. I’m just trying to be in a good mood, in a happy phase. I’m trying to enjoy it. So it’s all good. I’m happy and I know that I’m going to have a great shot to win probably one of the biggest races of my life.” No Mic… “Yeah, so every team has a different culture, a different structure. Every team owner is different. Every team president is a little different. So, you know, getting to know everyone is important and also understand what are the strengths and weaknesses of each place and how can you make them better, right? Because that’s what is the goal at the end of the day as a driver, right? It’s not just about going fast, but how can you be the best possible leader out there? So yeah, that’s something that is already very important. I believe that Spire Motorsports has a great structure; great leaders, very, very good people in place. It’s been a lot of fun to work with this group for the last couple of months.” On the importance of having a good run at the Clash: “It definitely helps. You know, it was like a good warm up. You know, the highlight of my night, it wasn’t the result. It was to see the smiles on every single member of my team. That’s priceless to me; to be able to see them happy and excited and looking forward to battle. That’s what it’s all about. You know, you want them to be fired up. You want them to want this. This is not easy, man. Every single person and team right now is super excited for the first of the year. But as you start getting throughout the season, people start getting tired and things like that. So it’s very important to see that excitement in your group, and for me, that was the highlight. I want to continue to work very hard with this group and to continue to bring those kind of memories.” On building together as a new team: “I mean, it only takes time. I believe that we’re in a very good spot for being a new team, but it takes time to clean up a few things here and there. To be quite honest, we are starting way more ahead than what I thought we were going to start, so that’s promising. We worked very hard in November and in January to be able to try to be in a good spot. But you know how it is… you aim for this and sometimes you end up here, or you aim here and sometimes you end up here. It’s very rare that you aim here with a new everything and then you actually hit close to that, and we actually did. So I was very, very pleased with that. The team did a great job. We have a lot of new guys. I have a very young group. You know, my car chief is younger than me, but he’s very experienced. So it’s a very, very young, talented group and I’m super excited for that. I feel very blessed to have this kind of group with me.” Where do you like to be at the end of a superspeedway race? “Well, every circumstance is a little bit different. I would love to be in the front; controlling the gap, controlling the race in the middle. I would say the middle is normally the best place, at least that’s what I think. And controlling the race. I feel like it’s much easier to be up front, controlling that gap, because the further back you are, the more intensity and the more Hail Mary’s people are going to be throwing. So if you are up front, there are higher chances of a crash or something happening that most likely you can avoid if you are up front. But you never know what is going to happen. William Barron won the Daytona 500 last year being probably in the most dangerous spot on the outside third row and somehow he made it through that crash, so you never know.” Do you feel like there’s pressure coming into this season? “I mean, honestly, no different than any other year. I mean, there is always pressure, but this is what we do. Even Kyle Larson (reigning champion) has pressure. Everyone has pressure. Everyone wants to win. Everyone has to perform. So yeah, it’s no different than any other year. I mean, you just have to look forward to the next thing and do it the best possible way. And whatever that is, trying to do it better the next race and better and better and trying to continue to improve.” On being teammates with Carson Hocevar and Michael McDowell: “I like them both a lot. They’re completely different. They’re completely different guys. Michael is a super experienced guy; very organized, very structured kind of guy. A lot like myself, probably even more than me. And Carson is the opposite. You know, he’s a very, very young guy. He does a lot of things on the fly. Very, very talented. I think I actually feel like I’m helping the team a lot because I’m that middle man guy. I’m very experienced. I’ve been doing this already for a while, but I’m still young and I feel like I can connect with both extremely well. So it’s going to be a lot of fun.” |
NASCAR CUP SERIESDAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAYDAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAYTEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTESFEBRUARY 11, 2026 |
Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet – 2026 DAYTONA 500 Media Day Quotes: | MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom |
| What’s the best part of this week as a driver?“I mean, obviously the best part is the race on Sunday, but you have to get there. So there is a lot of things that you have to do to be able to get there. I’m just trying to enjoy every single day, to be honest. I’m just trying to be present and enjoy it. And right no, I’m sitting here with you guys. I’m just trying to be in a good mood, in a happy phase. I’m trying to enjoy it. So it’s all good. I’m happy and I know that I’m going to have a great shot to win probably one of the biggest races of my life.” No Mic… “Yeah, so every team has a different culture, a different structure. Every team owner is different. Every team president is a little different. So, you know, getting to know everyone is important and also understand what are the strengths and weaknesses of each place and how can you make them better, right? Because that’s what is the goal at the end of the day as a driver, right? It’s not just about going fast, but how can you be the best possible leader out there? So yeah, that’s something that is already very important. I believe that Spire Motorsports has a great structure; great leaders, very, very good people in place. It’s been a lot of fun to work with this group for the last couple of months.” On the importance of having a good run at the Clash: “It definitely helps. You know, it was like a good warm up. You know, the highlight of my night, it wasn’t the result. It was to see the smiles on every single member of my team. That’s priceless to me; to be able to see them happy and excited and looking forward to battle. That’s what it’s all about. You know, you want them to be fired up. You want them to want this. This is not easy, man. Every single person and team right now is super excited for the first of the year. But as you start getting throughout the season, people start getting tired and things like that. So it’s very important to see that excitement in your group, and for me, that was the highlight. I want to continue to work very hard with this group and to continue to bring those kind of memories.” On building together as a new team: “I mean, it only takes time. I believe that we’re in a very good spot for being a new team, but it takes time to clean up a few things here and there. To be quite honest, we are starting way more ahead than what I thought we were going to start, so that’s promising. We worked very hard in November and in January to be able to try to be in a good spot. But you know how it is… you aim for this and sometimes you end up here, or you aim here and sometimes you end up here. It’s very rare that you aim here with a new everything and then you actually hit close to that, and we actually did. So I was very, very pleased with that. The team did a great job. We have a lot of new guys. I have a very young group. You know, my car chief is younger than me, but he’s very experienced. So it’s a very, very young, talented group and I’m super excited for that. I feel very blessed to have this kind of group with me.” Where do you like to be at the end of a superspeedway race? “Well, every circumstance is a little bit different. I would love to be in the front; controlling the gap, controlling the race in the middle. I would say the middle is normally the best place, at least that’s what I think. And controlling the race. I feel like it’s much easier to be up front, controlling that gap, because the further back you are, the more intensity and the more Hail Mary’s people are going to be throwing. So if you are up front, there are higher chances of a crash or something happening that most likely you can avoid if you are up front. But you never know what is going to happen. William Barron won the Daytona 500 last year being probably in the most dangerous spot on the outside third row and somehow he made it through that crash, so you never know.” Do you feel like there’s pressure coming into this season? “I mean, honestly, no different than any other year. I mean, there is always pressure, but this is what we do. Even Kyle Larson (reigning champion) has pressure. Everyone has pressure. Everyone wants to win. Everyone has to perform. So yeah, it’s no different than any other year. I mean, you just have to look forward to the next thing and do it the best possible way. And whatever that is, trying to do it better the next race and better and better and trying to continue to improve.” On being teammates with Carson Hocevar and Michael McDowell: “I like them both a lot. They’re completely different. They’re completely different guys. Michael is a super experienced guy; very organized, very structured kind of guy. A lot like myself, probably even more than me. And Carson is the opposite. You know, he’s a very, very young guy. He does a lot of things on the fly. Very, very talented. I think I actually feel like I’m helping the team a lot because I’m that middle man guy. I’m very experienced. I’ve been doing this already for a while, but I’m still young and I feel like I can connect with both extremely well. So it’s going to be a lot of fun.” |