SONOMA, Calif. — Daniel Suárez found his breakthrough moment in the NASCAR Cup Series at Sonoma Raceway one year ago.
The Monterrey, Mexico, native returns to the site of his first Cup victory some 364 days later, in need of another win to secure his position in the NASCAR Playoffs with 11 races left in the regular season.
Ten of the 16 postseason positions are locked up thanks to race wins — Kyle Busch, William Byron, Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr., Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. are those firmly set to compete for a championship. But how many more winners will we see in the regular season?
“At least one more. You’re looking at him,” Suárez said Saturday with a laugh.
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The statement was made at least partially in good humor, but Suárez’s confidence is not to be underestimated. The No. 99 Trackhouse Racing team nailed the setup for the hills of Sonoma a season ago with 47 laps led en route to the race win. But the team isn’t quite firing on all cylinders the same way it was in 2022.
“This year, we have had worse execution for some reason,” Suárez said. “We haven’t done a great job executing, but we are really heading in the right direction. But we’ve been fast at 90% of the tracks and I feel like that’s what makes me happy.”
Suárez typically thrives on optimism, and he’s needed some this season. Suárez scored a seventh-place finish last weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway, but that was preceded by four straight finishes of 15th or worse — two of which were DNFs due to crashes.
Sixteenth in points, Suárez will have opportunities past Sonoma to win and solidify his spot in the playoffs. Entering Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), he’s six points to the good ahead of Alex Bowman.
He pointed to the many “wild-card” races ahead, including the Chicago Street Race set to debut on July 2.
“I personally don’t call a road course a wild card for me, but for many others it is,” Suárez said. “So I think we should be OK. I think the team is getting better and better.”
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His focus Sunday, though, is bolstered by the burning confidence that comes with returning to Sonoma for the first time as a defending winner of a NASCAR Cup Series race.
“Maybe a little extra confidence, but honestly, I’ve been always very confident when it comes to road-course racing,” Suárez said. “I’m happy to be here. You know, the Mexican population here (and) Hispanic population is huge. So they make me feel at home. But I know we’re gonna be strong and I know we’re gonna have a good time.”