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The expeditious elevation of Daniel Suarez into the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series last week reinforced the importance of a feeder system for teams hoping to groom young, talented drivers for future endeavors at the top level.
“Look around. What would we have done?” Joe Gibbs, founder and owner of Joe Gibbs Racing, said Jan. 10 following two whirlwind announcements at the organization’s headquarters in Huntersville, North Carolina.
Suarez, the 2016 NASCAR XFINITY Series champion and the first Mexican-born driver to win a national series title in NASCAR, was scheduled to return to the XFINITY Series this year to defend his title.
But the surprising departure of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Carl Edwards created an unexpected opening within the JGR camp and the organization’s No. 19 entry.
RELATED: Edwards steps away, Suarez to replace | Full timeline
Fortunately for JGR, the 24-year-old Suarez was waiting in the wings.
Instead of competing full-time in the XFINITY Series, Suarez will now take over the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series entry vacated by Edwards for 2017. He will also compete in a select number of NXS races.
“I think the hard work, working on developing young guys is a big part of this,” Gibbs said of organization’s XFINITY Series effort. “Thank goodness (Suarez) was there and we had done that.”
Suarez is one of several drivers in a Toyota pipeline that has become filled with young talent. The automaker, which made its NASCAR debut in 2004 in the Camping World Truck Series, continually seeks to identify gifted drivers from a variety of racing’s lower levels, then assist them and their teams as they move through the ranks.
Erik Jones will compete full-time in 2017 for Furniture Row Racing as a teammate to Martin Truex Jr. in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series after racing for JGR’s XFINITY Series program a year ago.
RELATED: FRR adds Jones to its growing team
Christopher Bell will once again drive for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the Camping World Truck Series after finishing third in points last year.
Although he was sidelined for part of the ’16 season following surgery for a brain tumor, Matt Tifft, 20, made 10 XFINITY Series starts for JGR last year as well as 10 NCWTS starts for Red Horse Racing.
Ben Rhodes (19) and Cameron Hayley (20) competed last season for ThorSport Racing in the Camping World Truck Series.
“Our farm system is going to continue to be something that we invest in,” David Wilson, President & General Manager, Toyota Racing Development, USA, told NASCAR.com.
“It’s validation and it just furthers our resolve that in spite of the inherent risk … the return on that investment is still going to be good and it’s going to validate our commitment.”
Wilson was scheduled to attend this past weekend’s Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals. The prestigious event, which concluded Saturday night, was won by Bell.
MORE: Bell triumphs at Chili Bowl
“I want to show them how important it is for them to be representing our brand,” Wilson said.
With more than two dozen of the 300-plus participants at the Chili Bowl affiliated with Toyota, Wilson said there is “no doubt” that someone from the group “is going to be in an announcement like this that happened (at JGR) five years from now.”
Having an abundance of talent is a good problem, but it is still a problem, in part because of the limited number of seats/rides available in the various series, according to Ed Laukes, Vice President of Integrated Marketing Operations for Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), USA.
“We are always concerned about being overloaded with the young guys as they’re coming through the ranks,” he said, “because we don’t want to have that talent get developed around TRD (Toyota Racing Development) and our guys, and then they end up with another company, with another manufacturer, with another race team.”
Toyota officials are eager to help identify and work with drivers and teams as they grow, according to Laukes. But ultimately, it’s up to owners to continue to invest in their own programs or, as Furniture Row Racing did last year, make the switch to Toyota to further enhance their efforts.
Furniture Row made the switch from Chevrolet to Toyota for 2016. The Denver, Colorado-based organization has since added the second team, opening up an opportunity for Jones to move up to the premier series.
“That’s always going to be the secret sauce in the whole thing,” Laukes said. “Because we can’t do it as a manufacturer. We’re not a team owner, we never have been and we have no plan of being a team owner. …
“But it always is a concern. We do a lot of stuff in Late Model, a lot of stuff in Midgets. We’ve been around a lot of those series for a long time.”
JGR develops and draws talent from more than just the organization’s XFINITY Series program. Kyle Busch Motorsports plays a key role in the process as well.
Gibbs said Busch, the 2015 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion and driver of the team’s No. 18 Toyota, “has been very good at analyzing and discovering young talent.
“He still races in Late Models and all that kind of stuff,” Gibbs said. “I talk to him a lot and say, ‘Hey, who do you see?’ Or ask him an opinion. I’ve asked him for his opinion on Daniel, on Erik. And he’s normally pretty much spot-on. He’s really good, I think, at evaluating drivers.”
While Busch has been criticized by some for competing in, and often dominating, races in other series, running those events has allowed him to evaluate his KBM equipment as well as the younger drivers.
“For us, when we put somebody in his trucks, we pretty much know they’re going to be in the best stuff,” Gibbs said. “Now, it’s up to them. And if they can’t get it done with Kyle, then odds are there’s something wrong. …
“Hopefully that’s the way it is with our XFINITY program. We know (we have) the best crew chiefs, best motor, best car. If they can’t get to the front with that, then odds are … that’s what you’re evaluating. We’re all looking for that special driver.”