Dave Winston

Suárez Scores Solid Top-20 at Bristol

Suárez Scores Solid Top-20 at Bristol
It’s Good To Be Genuine Toyota Survives Eventful Race with 18th-Place Run
Date: May 31, 2020

Event: Supermarket Heroes 500

Series: NASCAR Cup Series

Location: Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway (.533-mile oval)

Format: 500 laps, broken into three stages (125 laps/125 laps/250 laps)

Start/Finish: 37th / 18th (Running, completed 500 of 500 laps)

Point Standing: 31st with 91 points, 279 out of first

 

Race Winner: Brad Keselowski of Team Penske (Ford)

Stage 1 Winner: Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 2 Winner: Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

 

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-125):

● Started 37th, finished 34th.

● Suárez got a good launch at the wave of the green flag, moved to 31st on the first lap and to 29th when the first caution appeared on lap seven for a single-car accident. He said the It’s Good To Be Genuine Toyota Camry was OK, that he was just getting used to the track.

● From the lap-12 restart to the first of two competition cautions on lap 20, Suárez dropped a position. After briefly debating whether to pit, crew chief Dave Winston opted to pit for just right-side tires and a slight air pressure adjustment. Suárez restarted 23rd when the race went back to green on lap 29.

● Midway to the lap-60 competition caution, Suárez reported his Toyota was getting loose on corner entry and exit and tight in the center. He fell back to 32nd by the time that caution appeared. He pitted for four tires, fuel, a return to the original right-side air pressures, and a track bar adjustment. A short time after getting back on track, Suárez was among seven drivers called for speeding on pit road and there was confusion coming to the restart about getting those seven cars to drop to the rear of the lead-lap competitors.

● Suárez restarted 32nd on lap 69 without the chance to drop to the rear, and was then instructed to serve a drive-through penalty. That dropped him off the lead lap and back to 35th place.

● The race remained green all the way to the lap-125 stage break and Suárez was not able to make any forward progress, saying his Toyota was still loose on entry and exit and tight in the center. He said the loose exit was manageable. He pitted on lap 136 for four tires, fuel, and a wedge adjustment and rejoined in 34th place, two laps down.

 

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 126-250):

● Started 34th, finished 24th.

● From the start of the stage until its first caution on lap 198, Suárez held his ground in 34th but lost another lap to go three down. He said he still needed help with front grip through the center of the corner, and his drive off the corner. He stayed on track to take the wave-around to two laps down.

● Suárez restarted 31st, two laps down, on lap 207 and held position until the caution flag flew again for another single-car incident on lap 211.

● The green flag flew again on lap 216, moments before another yellow for a stalled car on the frontstretch. Suárez pitted, this time, for four tires, fuel and air pressure adjustments. He remained 32nd, two laps down, when the race went back to green on lap 221.

● The caution flag flew yet again on lap 229, this time for a multicar accident on the frontstretch. Suárez had emerged into position as the beneficiary of the Lucky Dog free pass, which moved him up to just one lap down, and still in the Lucky Dog position. The race was red-flagged to clean up the multicar accident on lap 230.

● When the race went green on lap 235 after an 11-minute, 35-second stoppage, Suárez was 25th and just one lap down, and just three laps later, the caution flag flew for a single-car accident that enabled him to cash in another free pass, this time onto the lead lap. He pitted for four tires, fuel and track bar adjustments and restarted 24th on lap 244. He held that position to the caution that ended the stage.

 

Final Stage Recap (Laps 251-500):

● Started 11th, finished 18th.

● Having stayed on track during the stage break, Suárez took the green flag on lap 261 just outside the top-10.

● The caution flag flew on lap 268, by which time Suárez had slid back to 22nd place. He stayed on track and restarted 20th on lap 277 and held that relative position in the early stages of that run.

● It turned out to be 56 consecutive laps of green, during which time Suárez dropped two positions back to 22nd and fell off the lead lap. He said his racecar was still loose on the extremities – in and out of the corners. He pitted for tires, fuel, air pressure and track bar adjustments. He restarted 21st on lap 234, the first car one lap down.

● The next caution flag flew on lap 354 with Suárez 23rd and one lap down. He pitted during the caution for tires, fuel and right-side air pressure adjustments, going back on the pressure adjustments made the previous stop as Suárez said the car took longer to come to him.

● He restarted 25th on lap 361, one lap down, after dropping to the back of the cars on his lap on the restart for speeding on pit road.

● Suárez made good forward progress in the opening laps of the run, working his way to 22nd. He lost a lap to go down two before the next caution flag flew on lap 433. He stayed out to take the wave-around back to one lap down, restarting 22nd on lap 439.

● Suárez worked his way back into Lucky Dog position by the time the caution flag flew on lap 457, moving him up to the lead lap. He pitted for tires, fuel, right-side air pressure adjustments, and the removal of tape from the brake duct intakes as Suárez reported he was struggling under braking. He restarted 22nd on lap 463.

● A multicar accident brought out the caution flag just one lap into the next run, on lap 464, and Suárez said he had to slide his Toyota sideways to avoid contact. He stayed on track through the caution and restarted 18th on lap 473.

● The 17th and final caution flag of the day flew on lap 489 with Suárez running 19th. Five laps remained when the race went back to green on lap 495, and Suárez held onto 18th place across the finish line.

 

Daniel Suárez, driver of the No. 96 It’s Good To Be Genuine Toyota Camry for Gaunt Brothers Racing:

“It was an eventful race. We had a lot of stuff going on. There was some miscommunication in the beginning and we had to do a pass-through, and a pass-through at Bristol is tough to come back from. We went two laps down and it was a struggle from there. But the team never gave up. We worked very hard and we were able to recover and fight back to get our first top-20 (of the season) for the team. The car had decent speed but, obviously, it’s never enough. We have to work hard to keep getting better and hopefully we’ll be stronger next weekend in Atlanta.”

 

Race Notes:

●  The result was the best for the No. 96 Toyota since Parker Kligerman’s 15th-place finish at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway last October, and it was the best finish for the team in three outings at Bristol.

●  Brad Keselowski won the Supermarket Heroes 500 to score his 32nd career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his second of the season and his third at Bristol. His margin of victory over second-place Clint Bowyer was .471 of a second.

●  There were 17 caution periods for a total of 102 laps.

●  Only 22 of the 40 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.

●  Kevin Harvick remains the championship leader after Bristol with a 24-point advantage over second-place Joey Logano.

 

Next Up:

The next NASCAR Cup Series event for Suárez and the Gaunt Brothers Racing team is the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 on Sunday, June 7 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The race starts at 3 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

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It’s Good To Be Genuine Toyota Racing: Daniel Suárez Supermarket Heroes 500 at Bristol Preview

It’s Good To Be Genuine Toyota Racing: Daniel Suárez Supermarket Heroes 500 at Bristol Preview
MOORESVILLE, North Carolina (May 29, 2020) – It’s time for a little change of scenery for Daniel Suárez and the No. 96 It’s Good To Be Genuine Toyota Camry team for Gaunt Brothers Racing (GBR). After four races in the Carolinas during an 11-day stretch that ended a 70-day hiatus for the NASCAR Cup Series due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they’ll take to the concrete, high-banked, half-mile Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway oval for the some short-track racing.

 

Sunday’s Supermarket Heroes 500 marks the ninth race of 2020 for the Cup Series competitors and the fifth since the suspended schedule was resumed April 17 with the first of two consecutive races at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. Suárez and his No. 96 Toyota finished 25th in NASCAR’s return to racing at Darlington, and followed it up with a 27th-place finish three days later in the first Wednesday-night Cup Series race in 36 years. They then moved to Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway for last Sunday night’s traditional Memorial Day-weekend Coca-Cola 600, followed by Thursday’s night’s Alsco Uniforms 500k, netting 28th-place results in both.

 

The fifth Cup Series race in the last two weeks takes Suárez and his It’s Good To Be Genuine Toyota Camry – a nod to its partner’s Parts & Service heritage – to one of his more successful racetracks. His history on the Bristol oval began in 2012 with his first of three NASCAR K&N Pro Series East outings – all in Toyota equipment. Suárez also has a pair of Bristol starts in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, six in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and six in the Cup Series. In his most recent Truck Series outing, he started second and led 77 laps before an accident ended his day 16 laps from the finish. His five top-six finishes in six Xfinity Series starts are highlighted by runner-up finishes to Joey Logano and Kyle Busch, respectively, in April 2015 and August 2017.

 

In last year’s two Bristol Cup Series races, Suárez brought home finishes of eighth in both, driving the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing entry, and he almost added another top-10 when he drove his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to an 11th-place finish there in April 2018. His average Cup Series finish at Bristol is 13.0, his average start 17.7. But Suárez will have to work hard to make forward progress from the wave of the green flag Sunday as he’ll start 37th on a grid for which the top 36 positions – all reserved for chartered teams – were decided Friday by random draw, and positions 37 through 40 – all non-chartered teams – lined up by car owner points.

 

No matter, Suárez is at his most comfortable when the battle is toughest, and he and his teammates look forward to the typical 500 laps of beating and banging among 40 competitors fighting for position in the tight quarters of the half-mile Bristol Motor Speedway oval on Sunday afternoon in the hills of East Tennessee.

 

Daniel Suárez: Driver of the No. 96 It’s Good To Be Genuine Toyota Camry for Gaunt Brothers Racing:
 

You’re coming off a pair of 28th-place finishes at Charlotte and are headed to Bristol. Your thoughts?

“Right now, it’s all about taking baby steps – baby steps. Obviously we have a lot of work to do to get where we are going and it’s not going to happen all in one race. It’s a process and it will continue to be a process until we get there. Everyone knows we started out behind in a lot of areas. We just need time. We need races. We need practice. We need a lot of things and we continue to work very hard. We’re not in the best position, but that is why we are all here, to try to do each of our jobs the best we can and to keep making our cars better and better. We have done a good job of keeping the cars in one piece and we continue to develop what we have.”

 

Bristol is one of your best tracks, results-wise, since you started racing there in the K&N East Series back in 2012. How do you like racing there?

“I like Bristol a lot. It’s a fun place to race – a lot of fun. When the stands are filled with fans, it’s one of the most exciting tracks we go to. It will be strange to race there with no fans. Like I said at Darlington and Charlotte, I hope it’s not something we get used to because we’re all about the fans. Bristol is especially fun when you have a fast racecar. We’ve been working hard to show up with a setup on our It’s Good To Be Genuine Toyota that is as good as possible and will make it fun for us on Sunday.”

 

You’ve normally started closer to the front at Bristol, but this time you’ll have to start 37th as the first of the non-chartered teams. How big of a challenge will that be?

“Starting 37th is a huge disadvantage at Bristol, but it is what it is. You start the race and you’re already half a lap down. I think it will be an even bigger challenge because we will not have practice  and no qualifying. We’ll just do everything we can with what we have to work with and the challenges that we face and try and keep taking baby steps forward.”

 

No. 96 It’s Good To Be Genuine Toyota Camry Team Report
Race 9 of 36 – Supermarket Heroes 500 – Bristol
 
Car No. 96: It’s Good To Be Genuine Toyota Camry

PR Contact: Laz Denes with True Speed Communication (Laz.Denes@TrueSpeedCommunication.com)

Primary Team:

 

Driver: Daniel Suárez

Hometown: Monterrey, Mexico

 

Crew Chief: Dave Winston

Hometown: Miami, Florida

 

Technical Director: Nick Ollila

Hometown: Warren, Michigan

 

Car Chief: Mark Hillman

Hometown: Lockport, New York

 

Engine Specialist: Kirk Butterfield

Hometown: Carrollton, Ohio

 

Engine Builder: Toyota Racing Development

Headquarters: Costa Mesa, California

 

Spotter: Steve Barkdoll

Hometown: Garrison, Iowa

Over-The-Wall Crew:

 

Gas Man: Cory White

Hometown: Vinson, Iowa

 

Front Tire Changer: Mike Mead

Hometown: Sherrills Ford, North Carolina

 

Rear Tire Changer: Brandon Traino

Hometown: Cherry Hill, New Jersey

 

Tire Carrier: Mason Harris

Hometown: Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia

 

Jackman: Joel Bouagnon

Hometown: St. Charles, Illinois

 

Windshield: Mark Hillman

Hometown: Lockport, New York

 
Supermarket Heroes 500 Notes of Interest:

 

  • After piloting the No. 19 NASCAR Cup Series Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2017 and 2018, then the No. 41 Cup Series entry for Stewart-Haas Racing in 2019, Suárez joined the single-car No. 96 Toyota Camry effort for Gaunt Brothers Racing (GBR) for the full 2020 season.
  • Suárez will be making his 116th career NASCAR Cup Series start in Sunday’s Supermarket Heroes 500 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. He has career totals of eight top-five finishes, 32 top-10s and 241 laps led, with an average start of 16.2 and an average finish of 17.6. He also has qualified on the pole twice.
  • In six previous Cup Series outings on the .533-mile, high-banked concrete oval at Bristol, Suárez has best finishes of eighth in his two 2019 starts there in his Stewart-Haas Racing entry, and a best starts of 12th in the August 2017 and April 2018 races in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. He led five laps in the April 2018 race, in which he finished 11th. Suárez’s average Bristol start is 17.7 and average finish is 13.0.
  • Suárez has a pair of runner-up finishes and three other top-six results in six career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Bristol. He finished second to Joey Logano in the April 2015 race and second to Kyle Busch in the August 2017 race. His best Xfinity Series start at Bristol is third in August 2016, the year he won the Xfinity Series championship. His average Bristol start in the series is 7.7 and his average finish is 8.0.
  • In most recent NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series race at Bristol in August 2016, Suárez started second and led 77 laps before an accident ended his day 16 laps from the finish. In his only other Truck Series start there in August 2015, he qualified 16th and finished 30th. Both Truck Series outings were with Joe Gibbs Racing.
  • Suárez also has competed in three NASCAR K&N Pro Series East races at Bristol with a best start of 17th in his most recent outing in March 2014, and a best finish of 15th in his first race there in March 2012.
  • Crew chief Dave Winston, a native of Miami, Florida, and a veteran of 67 Cup Series races atop the pit box, has called the shots at four previous races at Bristol. He collaborated with driver Alex Bowman in the No. 23 BK Racing Toyota in the April and August 2014 races, both which ended up with 33rd-place finishes. The duo came back for the fall 2014 race and started 33rd and finished 30th. His driver Michael McDowell finished 29th and 19th in the April and August 2016 races, respectively, for the No. 95 Leavine Family Racing entry.
  • On May 11, GBR announced the addition of longtime motorsports veteran Nick Ollila as technical director. The native of Warren, Michigan, will oversee the team’s engineering department and returns to the United States after a three-year stint serving in the same capacity with Kelly Racing in the Virgin Australian Supercars Championship. Ollila and team owner Marty Gaunt first worked together in 1997 when the two were at Kranefuss-Haas Racing. Their NASCAR paths crossed again 10 years later when both worked at Red Bull Racing – Gaunt as general manager and Ollila as chief aerodynamicist. NASCAR is where Ollila has spent the bulk of his career, which includes being the drivetrain specialist at Rod Osterlund Racing in 1980 when Dale Earnhardt won the first of his seven Cup Series championships. Ollila’s racing career began at Team Penske in 1972 as a mechanic. He prepared cars for each of the series in which the organization competed, a lineup that included IndyCar, NASCAR, Can-Am, Formula 5000, sports cars and Formula One. NASCAR became Ollila’s focus in late 1976. He joined DiGard Racing as the team’s drivetrain specialist, working with NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip until the end of the 1978 season, whereupon he went to work for Osterlund. IndyCar and Penske beckoned in 1982, and Ollila returned as the team’s engine builder, enjoying four championships (1982, 1983, 1985 and 1988) and four Indianapolis 500 victories (1984, 1985, 1987 and 1988). That Penske connection led Ollila back to NASCAR in 1990, when he became the lead engineer for Hall of Fame driver Rusty Wallace. It was the beginning of a 20-year stint in NASCAR.
  • Sunday marks the third Cup Series start at Bristol for the No. 96 Gaunt Brothers Toyota. Both previous starts were in 2018 with driver D.J. Kennington starting 35th and finishing 27th in the April race, and Jesse Little starting 33rd and finishing 35th in the August race.
  • Coca-Cola and CommScope continue their respective partnerships with Suárez at Gaunt Brothers Racing. The iconic Coca-Cola brand has been with Suárez since 2015 when he won the Xfinity Series rookie-of-the-year title. CommScope, a leader in communication network technology, has been with Suárez through its ARRIS and Ruckus Networks brands since 2014, when he first competed in the Xfinity Series.
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Today. Tomorrow. Toyota Racing: Daniel Suárez Alsco Uniforms 500k Race Report from Charlotte

Today. Tomorrow. Toyota Racing: Daniel Suárez Alsco Uniforms 500k Race Report from Charlotte
Suárez Soldiers to 28th Place at Charlotte

Today. Tomorrow. Toyota Battles Tight Condition in Alsco Uniforms 500k

Date: May 28, 2020

Event: Alsco Uniforms 500k

Series: NASCAR Cup Series

Location: Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval)

Format: 208 laps, broken into three stages (55 laps/60 laps/93 laps)

Start/Finish: 28th / 28th (Running, completed 207 of 208 laps)

Point Standing: 31st with 72 points, 259 out of first

 

Race Winner: Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Winner: Joey Logano of Team Penske (Ford)

Stage 2 Winner: Alex Bowman of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

 

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-55):

● Started 28th, finished 28th.

● Suárez gained a couple of positions to 26th before the caution flag appeared as the front of the field approached the start-finish line on the opening lap.

● He restarted 25th on lap 9 but dropped back to 30th by the time a competition caution flag appeared on lap 20, reporting that his Today.Tomorrow.Toyota Camry was better over the bumps than it was during Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600 but had “no grip.”

● Air pressure adjustments on the right-front and both left-side tires was the call from crew chief Dave Winston when Suárez pitted from 30th on lap 22.

● He restarted 32nd on lap 24 and again made forward progress, climbing to 25th on the opening lap of the run, then up to 23rd before dropping to 24th by the time the caution flag appeared for another accident on lap 29. Suárez said the grip issues continued and the car felt much different than it did Sunday night.

● One lap into the caution, lightning in the area forced officials to red-flag the race with 30 laps complete. Engines were refired one hour, 14 minutes later after lightning holds had expired and track drying was complete. Suárez pitted on lap 31 for tires, fuel, and a pressure adjustment in the right-rear tire.

● The race restarted on lap 34 with Suárez in 24th place, and he dropped four positions by the time the caution flag flew to end the stage. He said his Toyota Camry started out a little free but it came to him after about seven laps. He said he was still lacking grip, but the car felt much, much more comfortable through the bumps in turns three and four than it did Sunday night.

● Suárez pitted on lap 58 during the stage break caution for four tires, fuel and another track bar adjustment and rejoined 26th.

 

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 56-115):

● Started 26th, finished 28th.

● Suárez grabbed a couple of position to 24th on the opening lap of the stage, but then dropped back to his original position of 26th, where he held his ground until the caution flag appeared on lap 72 for another single-car accident. He reported that the splitter of his Today.Tomorrow.Toyota Camry was beginning to make contact with the bumps in turns three and four.

● He stayed on track during that caution period and restarted 13th when the green flag flew on lap 78. Over the next five laps, he dropped back to 29th as most of the field behind him benefited from fresher tires.

● Suárez picked up one position shortly thereafter and held onto it all the way to the stage break. He reported his Toyota Camry was loose on entry and still contacting the bumps. Winston called for tires, fuel and slight pressure adjustments to alleviate the two problem areas.

 

Final Stage Recap (Laps 116-208):

● Started 22nd, finished 28th.

● This run started with Suárez’s Today. Tomorrow. Toyota Camry good in turns one and two but too tight in turns three and four. He dropped back to 29th by lap 130.

● Suárez picked up one position shortly thereafter and held onto 28th until the caution flag appeared on lap 143. He said his Toyota was getting “way to tight” in turns three and four as the run progressed. Track bar and pressure adjustments in the right-front tire came on the pit stop during the caution.

● He rejoined in 25th after that stop but had to come down pit road one more time before the restart to add a missing lug nut. He restarted 27th on lap 148.

● Suárez held that relative position through the rest of the final stage, which stayed green all the way to the checkered flag. He dropped one position in the closing laps and crossed the finish line 28th, one lap down.

 

Daniel Suárez, driver of the No. 96 Today. Tomorrow. Toyota Camry for Gaunt Brothers Racing:

“You know, another 28th – I’m getting a little tired of those 28ths. But we have to keep working. Honestly, I’m a little disappointed about this one because I thought we were going to bring a better car than last Sunday. We made adjustments hoping for that, but obviously it didn’t work out for us. I know what I signed up for and I trust in this team and I trust everyone involved – Toyota, Coca-Cola and CommScope, everyone who is making this happen. We have to keep pushing and the results will come. I really want to thank everyone for the amazing support. Let’s see what we can do Sunday in Bristol.”

 

Race Notes:

●  Chase Elliott won the Alsco Uniforms 500k to score his seventh career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his first of the season and his first at Charlotte’s oval. His margin of victory over second-place Denny Hamlin was 2.208 seconds.

● There were seven caution periods for a total of 37 laps.

● Only 22 of the 40 drivers in the Alsco Uniforms 500k finished on the lead lap.

● Harvick remains the championship leader after Charlotte with a 14-point advantage over second-place Joey Logano.

 

Next Up:

The next NASCAR Cup Series event for Suárez and the Gaunt Brothers Racing team is the Supermarket Heroes 500 on Sunday, May 31 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. The race starts at 3:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

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Today. Tomorrow. Toyota Racing: Daniel Suárez Alsco Uniforms 500k at Charlotte Preview

Today. Tomorrow. Toyota Racing: Daniel Suárez Alsco Uniforms 500k at Charlotte Preview
MOORESVILLE, North Carolina (May 25, 2020) – Daniel Suárez and the red, white and blue No. 96 Today. Tomorrow. Toyota Camry team for Gaunt Brothers Racing (GBR) can’t wait to get back to the 1.5-mile Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway oval for Wednesday night’s NASCAR Cup Series Alsco Uniforms 500k after an admittedly frustrating run in Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600.

 

Their sixth race together Sunday night – and third since the season resumed after a 70-day shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic – netted a 29th-place finish. That wouldn’t normally be cause for concern for a small, one-car team that’s tackling the entire Cup Series schedule for the first time in its 10-year history in NASCAR. But a series of mishaps, which included a penalty for a crewman over the wall too early, another penalty for speeding on pit road, a stuck lug nut on a green-flag pit stop, and a fueling issue that negated a planned strategy call midrace, left the team wondering what might have been with its patriotic-schemed Toyota that its driver said had so much more potential.

 

Thank goodness for second chances as Suárez and his teammates will get to find out during Wednesday night’s 500-kilometer event that will feel like a sprint race just three days removed from Sunday night’s 600-mile marathon. Last week, between their back-to-back races just down the road at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, Suárez and crew chief Dave Winston put their heads together and returned to the tricky, 1.366-mile egg-shaped oval with a Toyota that felt far better in Wednesday night’s race than it did the previous Sunday.

 

This Wednesday night, they’ll look to once again show that kind of marked improvement in the performance of their Today. Tomorrow. Toyota Camry, eliminate the kind of mishaps that hampered their efforts Sunday night, and put themselves in position to better their best finish this season of 21st, which came March 8 at Phoenix Raceway.

 

Daniel Suárez: Driver of the No. 96 Today. Tomorrow. Toyota. Camry for Gaunt Brothers Racing:
 

How are you and the team feeling about heading back to the Charlotte oval after Sunday’s night’s Coca-Cola 600?

“It’s always good to go back a second time, but it’s the last time we’re going to do it as far as the schedule is now, so we can’t get used to that. The goal is to be as prepared as possible for the first time you race at a track because we won’t have those second races after this. We all know what we have to do to be better prepared, to do a better job with simulation, and better preparation at the shop. Sunday night was very frustrating. We had some issues on pit road – a lot of mistakes – and we all know we need to minimize our mistakes because I felt our Today. Tomorrow. Toyota had the potential to be in the top-25. We’ve been breaking down every aspect of Sunday night’s race and are working on bringing a little better speed for Wednesday night – that, and minimizing mistakes.”

 

Do you expect it to be a totally different kind of race as it’s about half the distance you covered on Sunday night?

“It might be, but personally, I will treat it the same. I was being aggressive for 600 miles on Sunday night, just as I would be aggressive in a 300-mile race. It’s just the way I am. If I see an opportunity, I’m going to take it.”

 

It will be your fourth racing event operating under what might be called, for now at least, the temporary new normal with no fans, health screenings, etc. How has it been for you and the team?

“Having no fans there, I hope we never get used to that. Honestly, it’s not fun to race without fans all around. It still feels weird to show up at the track the way it has been so far. But obviously a lot of people are watching us on TV and that’s a really good thing because we can’t have fans in the stands. But as drivers, and especially in our sport, we’re all about the fans and the sponsors and we’re looking forward to the day when they will be back out there with us.”

 

Dave Winston, Crew Chief of the No. 96 Today. Tomorrow. Toyota. Camry for Gaunt Brothers Racing:
 

Your assessment of Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600 and what you might expect as you head back to Charlotte Wednesday night?

“On a positive note, I felt like, especially on restarts, it was pretty fun to watch for a while and gave me hope that we have some speed in our Toyota, and then we could work on getting it better on the long runs. But we had issues where we ended up hurting ourselves, whether it was a bad stop, being over the wall too early and having to start at the back, Daniel sliding the tires and coming in too fast and then having to do a pass-through. There was a time where I felt like if it could go wrong, it did. Last week at Darlington, we went back the second time with a better car than we had in the first race, so the goal is to do the same this week, and also to not make the mistakes we did on Sunday night. It’ll be another night race and the track should be really good since it’ll be the fourth straight day of racing there, and the weather should be close to the same as Sunday.”

 

After a night like Sunday night, do you have to dig deep to remind yourself this is a long-term project and to keep everybody feeling positive?

“You always want to be positive and I think everybody is. Nobody’s giving up, there’s no question about that. We showed up with a lot of confidence because we did a simulation test for qualifying and we felt we would qualify in the top-20. That didn’t happen, so we immediately went into recovery mode, trying to see what we had to do to get the splitter off the track. It was humbling. That’s a good word for it. Reality set in after there was huge optimism for 36 hours, and all it took was a 31-second lap to change that optimism. We’ve been poring over the data, trying to figure out how to fix what went wrong, then what we can do to make the car better – things on the aero side, things to increase the performance side of the car. Daniel talks about this car having so much more potential. When he feels there’s more in the car, that’s always a good thing. We went to Darlington and felt there was more potential in the car after the first race. We went back and it was better in the second race. That’s the goal this week.”

 

No. 96 Today. Tomorrow. Toyota. Camry (Red, White & Blue Edition) Team Report
Race 8 of 36 – Alsco Uniforms 500k – Charlotte
 
Car No. 96: Today. Tomorrow. Toyota Camry (Red, White & Blue Edition)

PR Contact: Laz Denes with True Speed Communication (Laz.Denes@TrueSpeedCommunication.com)

Primary Team:

 

Driver: Daniel Suárez

Hometown: Monterrey, Mexico

 

Crew Chief: Dave Winston

Hometown: Miami, Florida

 

Technical Director: Nick Ollila

Hometown: Warren, Michigan

 

Car Chief: Mark Hillman

Hometown: Lockport, New York

 

Engine Specialist: Kirk Butterfield

Hometown: Carrollton, Ohio

 

Engine Builder: Toyota Racing Development

Headquarters: Costa Mesa, California

 

Spotter: Steve Barkdoll

Hometown: Garrison, Iowa

Over-The-Wall Crew:

 

Gas Man: Cory White

Hometown: Vinson, Iowa

 

Front Tire Changer: Mike Mead

Hometown: Sherrills Ford, North Carolina

 

Rear Tire Changer: Brandon Traino

Hometown: Cherry Hill, New Jersey

 

Tire Carrier: Mason Harris

Hometown: Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia

 

Jackman: Joel Bouagnon

Hometown: St. Charles, Illinois

 

Windshield: Mark Hillman

Hometown: Lockport, New York

 
Alsco Uniforms 500k Notes of Interest:

 

  • After piloting the No. 19 NASCAR Cup Series Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2017 and 2018, then the No. 41 Cup Series entry for Stewart-Haas Racing in 2019, Suárez joined the single-car No. 96 Toyota Camry effort for Gaunt Brothers Racing (GBR) for the full 2020 season.
  • Suárez will be attempting to make his 115th career NASCAR Cup Series start in Wednesday night’s Alsco Uniforms 500k at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway oval. He has career totals of eight top-five finishes, 32 top-10s and 241 laps led, with an average start of 16.1 and an average finish of 17.5. He also has qualified on the pole twice.
  • In five previous Cup Series outings on the 1.5-mile Charlotte oval, Suárez has a best start of sixth in last year’s Coca-Cola 600 in his Stewart-Haas Racing entry, and a best finish of sixth in the fall 2017 race in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. His average Charlotte oval start is 17.4 and average finish is 15.6.
  • Suárez has a pair of top-fives and another pair of top-10 finishes in five career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Charlotte. He qualified on the pole and led 111 laps before finishing eighth in the fall 2017 race in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, and has a best finish of third in the fall 2016 race en route to that year’s Xfinity Series championship.
  • In his lone career NASCAR Gander Outdoors & RV Truck Series race at Charlotte, Suárez started seventh, led six laps and finished 23rd in his Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota Tundra in the spring 2016 race.
  • Crew chief Dave Winston, a native of Miami, Florida, and a veteran of 66 Cup Series races atop the pit box, has called the shots at four previous races at Charlotte. Prior to Sunday’s night’s 29th-place finish in the Coca-Cola 600, he collaborated with driver Alex Bowman in the No. 23 BK Racing Toyota in the spring 2014 race, starting 29th and finishing 33rd. The duo came back for the fall 2014 race and started 33rd and finished 30th. His driver Michael McDowell started 32nd and finished 34th in the spring 2016 race driving the No. 95 Leavine Family Racing entry.
  • On May 11, GBR announced the addition of longtime motorsports veteran Nick Ollila as technical director. The native of Warren, Michigan, will oversee the team’s engineering department and returns to the United States after a three-year stint serving in the same capacity with Kelly Racing in the Virgin Australian Supercars Championship. Ollila and team owner Marty Gaunt first worked together in 1997 when the two were at Kranefuss-Haas Racing. Their NASCAR paths crossed again 10 years later when both worked at Red Bull Racing – Gaunt as general manager and Ollila as chief aerodynamicist. NASCAR is where Ollila has spent the bulk of his career, which includes being the drivetrain specialist at Rod Osterlund Racing in 1980 when Dale Earnhardt won the first of his seven Cup Series championships. Ollila’s racing career began at Team Penske in 1972 as a mechanic. He prepared cars for each of the series in which the organization competed, a lineup that included IndyCar, NASCAR, Can-Am, Formula 5000, sports cars and Formula One. NASCAR became Ollila’s focus in late 1976. He joined DiGard Racing as the team’s drivetrain specialist, working with NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip until the end of the 1978 season, whereupon he went to work for Osterlund. IndyCar and Penske beckoned in 1982, and Ollila returned as the team’s engine builder, enjoying four championships (1982, 1983, 1985 and 1988) and four Indianapolis 500 victories (1984, 1985, 1987 and 1988). That Penske connection led Ollila back to NASCAR in 1990, when he became the lead engineer for Hall of Fame driver Rusty Wallace. It was the beginning of a 20-year stint in NASCAR.
  • Wednesday night marks the fourth Cup Series start on the Charlotte oval for the No. 96 Gaunt Brothers Toyota. Prior to Sunday’s Xth-place finish in the Coca-Cola 600, driver Parker Kligerman drove to 27th-place finish from the 32nd starting position there in the 2018 Coca-Cola 600, and to a 26th-place finish from the 34th starting position in last year’s Coca-Cola 600.
  • Coca-Cola and CommScope continue their respective partnerships with Suárez at Gaunt Brothers Racing. The iconic Coca-Cola brand has been with Suárez since 2015 when he won the Xfinity Series rookie-of-the-year title. CommScope, a leader in communication network technology, has been with Suárez through its ARRIS and Ruckus Networks brands since 2014, when he first competed in the Xfinity Series.
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Today. Tomorrow. Toyota Racing: Daniel Suárez Coca-Cola 600 Race Report

Today. Tomorrow. Toyota Racing: Daniel Suárez Coca-Cola 600 Race Report

Date: May 24, 2020

Event: Coca-Cola 600

Series: NASCAR Cup Series

Location: Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval)

Format: 400 laps, broken into four stages (100 laps/100 laps/100 laps/100 laps)

Start/Finish: 37th / 29th (Running, completed 399 of 405 laps)

Point Standing: 31st with 63 points, 228 out of first

Note: Race extended five laps past its scheduled 400-lap distance due to a green-white-checkered finish.

 

Race Winner: Brad Keselowski of Team Penske (Ford)

Stage 1 Winner: Alex Bowman of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 2 Winner: Alex Bowman of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 3 Winner: Joey Logano of Team Penske (Ford)

 

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-100):

● Started 37th, finished 29th.

● Suárez had a solid launch when the green flag waved, powering his way up to 27th by lap three, but then settled in at 31st from lap five until the competition caution on lap 20. He reported the Today. Tomorrow. Toyota Camry (Stars & Stripes Edition) was free in turns one and two, tight in three and four. Crew chief Dave Winston made slight air pressure adjustments in both rear tires on the lap-22 pit stop. Suárez rejoined 29th, but NASCAR ruled a crew member was over the wall too early, forcing him to the rear of the lead-lap cars on the lap-27 restart, where he took the green flag 33rd

● Suárez slid forward two positions shortly after the restart and settled in at 31st until the caution flew for rain on lap 48. The race was red-flagged on lap 50 for 68 minutes.

● When pace laps resumed, Suárez pitted from 31st for four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment and resumed 28th, from where he restarted on lap 57.

● By lap 60, Suárez had worked his way up to 22nd, but then reported his Toyota was starting to get tight.

● On lap 69, still running 22nd, Suárez reported the car began slipping out of gear. He dropped back to 30th while dealing with the issue.

● The caution flag flew for a single-car accident on lap 97, three laps before the scheduled stage break. Suárez was running 30th at the time, just having become the first car running one lap down, but he was the beneficiary of the free pass back onto the lead lap.

● Suárez pitted on lap 103 during the stage break caution for four tires, fuel and another track bar adjustment and rejoined 28th.

 

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 101-200):

● Started 28th, finished 29th.

● The segment restarted on lap 106 and Suárez held his relative position, reporting he was losing more and more grip in turns three and four.

● Suárez made his fuel last until lap 169, when he was one of the last cars to pit, having moved into the top-10 under the green-flag sequence of stops. A lug nut issue cost valuable time in the pits and Suárez rejoined in 29th, two laps down. He dropped another lap by the end of the stage, which he finished 29th.

● The stage break pit stop came on lap 204, and the Toyota. Tomorrow. Toyota Camry took four tires, fuel, air pressure and track bar adjustments.

 

Stage 3 Recap (Laps 201-300):

● Started 29th, finished 29th.

● Like Stage 2, this one remained caution-free and Suárez made his fuel last until lap 267, when he pitted for four tires, fuel, air pressure, wedge and track bar adjustments. He then was penalized for speeding in the first segment of pit lane and had to serve a drive-through penalty on the ensuing lap.

● A single-car accident on lap 276 brought out the caution flag for something other than a segment break since the closing laps of Stage 1. Suárez stayed on track in 29th and took the wave-around to put him at five laps down.

● The team elected to stay out on track during the stage break to take the wave-around and move up to four laps down.

 

Final Stage Recap (Laps 301-400):

● Started 29th, finished 29th.

● Suárez brought his Today. Tomorrow. Toyota Camry down pit road on lap 339 for a final scheduled stop – fuel, tires and a wedge adjustment. He resumed in 29th, six laps down.

● A lap-347 caution for a single-car incident allowed Suárez to stay on track and take the wave-around to move from six to five laps down in 29th place.

● Another single-car incident two laps from the scheduled finish brought out the caution flag and set up a green-white-checkered finish with Suárez in 29th, six laps down.

● Suárez held his ground in overtime and crossed the finish line 29th.

 

Daniel Suárez, driver of the No. 96 Today. Tomorrow. Toyota Camry for Gaunt Brothers Racing:

“I think this Today. Tomorrow. Toyota has much more potential. We all just have to get better – everybody. In general, it was rough. In qualifying, we had big issues with the splitter – we barely made a lap. The splitter was hitting the ground so hard. We made adjustments going into the race and the car was much better, but it was extremely rough through the bumps in corners three and four. It was a long day. We made it better. I felt like the car had potential to be strong, but we struggled. I felt like we did a very good job on restarts. I felt like we could get to the top-20 and stay there, but we had some big issues on pit road. We had one stop that was extremely long and it was under the green flag. Anyway, we have to keep working. We’ll come back on Wednesday.”

 

Race Notes:

●  Brad Keselowski won the Coca-Cola 600 to score his 31st career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his first of the season and his second on the oval at Charlotte. His margin of victory over second-place Jimmie Johnson was .293 of a second.

●  There were eight caution periods for a total of 52 laps.

●  Only 20 of the 40 drivers in the Coca-Cola 600 finished on the lead lap.

●  Kevin Harvick remains the championship leader after the Coca-Cola 600 with a 22-point advantage over second-place Joey Logano.

 

Next Up:

The next NASCAR Cup Series event for Suárez and the Gaunt Brothers Racing team is the Alsco Uniforms 500k on Wednesday, May 27 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The race starts at 8 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

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Today. Tomorrow. Toyota Racing: Daniel Suárez Toyota 500k Race Report from Darlington

Today. Tomorrow. Toyota Racing: Daniel Suárez Toyota 500k Race Report from Darlington

Date: May 20, 2020

Event: Toyota 500k

Series: NASCAR Cup Series

Location: Darlington (S.C.) Raceway (1.366-mile oval)

Format: 228 laps, broken into three stages (60 laps/65 laps/103 laps)

Start/Finish: 25th / 27th (Running, completed 207 of 208 laps)

Point Standing: 30th with 54 points, 204 out of first

Note: Race called official 20 laps short of its scheduled 228-lap distance due to rain.

 

Race Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Stage 1 Winner: Clint Bowyer of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)

Stage 2 Winner: Clint Bowyer of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)

 

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-60):

● Started 25th, finished 30th.

● The opening lap saw Suárez drop a position as the green flag flew, then restart 23rd on lap seven after the day’s first caution period, then fall back to 27th when the caution flag flew again on lap 10. He said the Today. Tomorrow. Toyota Camry lacked overall grip even though it was turning well in the opening laps.

● Suárez restarted 34th after right-side wedge and air pressure adjustments enabled him to pick up five spots by the time a scheduled competition caution period arrived on lap 25. He restarted 30th after the competition caution and held that position to the end of the segment while reporting the car was “a little better balanced.”

● A solid four-tire pit stop, during which the No. 96 Toyota crew made just air pressure adjustments, enabled Suárez to pick up six spots and restart 24th to begin the second segment.

 

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 60-125):

● Started 24th, finished 27.

● The segment restarted on lap 68 and the caution flag flew just six laps later. The team decided to gamble by keeping Suárez on track, and he restarted 12th on lap 76. But with most of the rest of the field having pitted for fresher tires, he dropped 16 positions over the next six laps before the caution flag flew once again.

● Suárez pitted for tires this time and restarted 25th. He dropped two positions over the next 21 laps before the next caution, reporting the Today. Tomorrow. Toyota struggled on short runs but seemed to improve on longer runs. He also said he was surprised the track grew more free as the race progressed to that point, rather than get tighter as is typical during nighttime racing at Darlington.

● He restarted 27th on lap 113 and held that position to the end of the stage. The team made a multitude of adjustments during the break – air pressure, wedge, track bar – in an effort to tighten up the car.

 

Stage 3 Recap (Laps 126-228):

● Started 27th, finished 27th.

● Suárez held his relative position throughout the final stage, which started with the longest green-flag run of the night – 46 laps.

● He was called to the pits under green on lap 175 while working his way up to 17th as one of the last cars to cycle through green-flag stops. One lap later, the caution flag flew, and he restarted on lap 185 in 28th, one lap down.

● The yellow flag flew again on lap 195, and Suárez pitted from 28th for fresh tires and adjustments to counter those that were made during the prior segment break in an effort to free up the car.

● Suárez gained a position to 27th before rain began to fall and the red flag flew on lap 208. Officials called the race shortly thereafter, 20 laps short of its scheduled 228-lap distance.

 

Daniel Suárez, driver of the No. 96 Today. Tomorrow. Toyota Camry for Gaunt Brothers Racing:

“We are building, so from that standpoint, I think Dave (Winston, crew chief) and the team did a good job. Compared to Sunday, I think we brought a lot more speed with our Today. Tomorrow. Toyota Camry this time. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to capitalize. I was surprised from the early to the middle part of the race how the car was getting more and more free. Darlington is a track that always gets tighter and tighter as the race goes. I thought the loose car actually seemed to be working for us on the longer runs. Then we made some big changes in the middle part of the race and the car got too tight. We were kind of stuck with that because of the long run. Other than that, I feel like we’re heading in the right direction. The car had more raw speed tonight even though the balance wasn’t as good as we would like it to be. We just need to keep building.”

 

Race Notes:

●  This was the first NASCAR Cup Series race to be held on a Wednesday in 36 years. The last time: July 4, 1984 when Richard Petty scored his 200th career victory at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.

●  Denny Hamlin won the Toyota 500k to score his 39th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his second of the season and his third at Darlington.

●  There were 11 caution periods for a total of 54 laps.

●  Only 23 of the 39 drivers in the Toyota 500k finished on the lead lap.

●  Kevin Harvick remains the championship leader after Darlington with a 34-point advantage over second-place Joey Logano.

 

Next Up:

The next NASCAR Cup Series event for Suárez and the Gaunt Brothers Racing team is the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday, May 24 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. The race starts at 6 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

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Cherry Vanilla Coke Racing: Daniel Suárez Folds of Honor QuickTrip 500 at Atlanta Preview

Cherry Vanilla Coke Racing: Daniel Suárez Folds of Honor QuickTrip 500 at Atlanta Preview
MOORESVILLE, North Carolina (March 11, 2020) – Daniel Suárez and the iconic Coca-Cola brand have enjoyed a fun and flavorful relationship dating back to the Mexican driver’s first full season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2015. They celebrated an Xfinity Series championship together in 2016, and their partnership has grown to be as strong as ever through what is now Suárez’s fourth season in the top-tier NASCAR Cup Series.

 

This weekend, Suárez will help introduce a brand new flavor combination when he gets behind the wheel of his No. 96 Cherry Vanilla Coke Toyota for Gaunt Brothers Racing (GBR) during the Folds of Honor QuickTrip 500 Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, just down the road from Coca-Cola headquarters.

 

Cherry Vanilla Coke may be the newest addition to the company’s product lineup, but research shows it’s a pair of flavors its fans have combined on their own using the already existing Cherry Coke and Vanilla Coke products – the equivalent of more than 105 million cans of “Cherry Vanilla Coke” since 2017. That’s nearly a can a minute over a three-year span, and the research shows the combination has proven to be most popular on Christmas Day and the month of April.

 

With their racecar adorned with the colorful Cherry Vanilla Coke paint scheme, one of the newest driver-and-team combinations in the NASCAR Cup Series – Suárez and GBR – look to continue their inaugural, full-season run together at the fast, 1.5-mile Atlanta oval. They’re coming off the annual three-race West Coast Swing, where they showed steady progress with finishes of 30th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, 28th at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, and 21st at Phoenix Raceway.

 

This weekend, they’ll take to the track where, in his three previous Cup Series appearances, Suárez has a best start of fourth in 2018 with Joe Gibbs Racing and a best finish of 10th from the fifth starting position last season with Stewart-Haas Racing. In two Xfinity Series outings at Atlanta, both with the Gibbs team, he has a best start of third and best finish of seventh, both en route to the series title in 2016. In a pair of NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series races at Atlanta, he has a best start and finish of fourth in 2015 driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

 

Crew chief Dave Winston, a native of Miami, Florida, and a veteran of 62 Cup Series races atop the pitbox, called the shots at two previous races at Atlanta. He collaborated with driver Alex Bowman in the No. 23 BK Racing Toyota in the 2014 race, starting 30th and finishing 35th. His driver Michael McDowell started 32nd and finished 33rd in the 2016 race driving the No. 95 Leavine Family Racing entry.

 

This weekend marks the second Atlanta Cup Series start for the No. 96 GBR Toyota. In the 2019 race, driver Parker Kligerman drove it to a 30th-place finish from the 34th starting position.

 

With the colors of the exciting new flavor combination adorning his racecar and firesuit and a legion of Coca-Cola associates and guests rooting them on at their home track, Suárez and his GBR teammates hope to take a giant step forward this weekend at Atlanta after showing steady progress in their first four weekends together this season.

Daniel Suárez: Driver of the No. 96 Cherry Vanilla Coke Toyota Camry for Gaunt Brothers Racing:
 

You’re introducing the brand new Cherry Vanilla Coke flavor combination at Atlanta this weekend. What does that mean to you?

“Coca-Cola has supported me since 2015 and it’s definitely an honor to be representing such an iconic brand that’s so popular all over the world. I grew up enjoying Coca-Cola in Mexico and I never dreamed I’d be driving a racecar for them in the U.S. It’s very exciting to have the unique Cherry Vanilla Coke paint scheme on my racecar and on my firesuit this weekend. We’ll be doing a lot of really cool things with the Coca-Cola folks this week, leading up to the race. We’ll also have an on-board camera on our racecar all weekend. So I hope we can give them our best result of the season on Sunday.”

 

What’s the key to posting a good result at Atlanta Motor Speedway?

“It’s a very fast mile-and-a-half oval and the surface is very old and very hard on the tires. So you have to have a well-balanced racecar that will make it possible to get the most out of your tire wear each run. You can usually run the top and the bottom of the racetrack, so you have to find where you’re going to get the most out of the car. All of that is why the races at Atlanta are always so exciting.”

 

You and the team nearly scored your first top-20 finish in just your fourth race weekend together Sunday at Phoenix. How do you feel about the progress you and the team have been making?

“The best thing about this team is all the great support we are getting from Coca-Cola, CommScope and Toyota, and we know that there will be a day when we will be competing for race wins with them. It’s obviously very early and everyone has very realistic expectations, considering this is a one-car team that is running the full season for the first time. I’ve said all along that the goal is to go out every weekend and do better than we did last weekend. So far, the results at the end of the race have shown that. But, believe me, it’s a very challenging process and we just have to keep working hard.”

 

No. 96 Cherry Vanilla Coke Toyota Camry Team Report
Race 5 of 36 – Folds of Honor QuickTrip 500 – Atlanta
 
Car No. 96: Cherry Vanilla Coke Toyota Camry

At Track PR Contact: Laz Denes with True Speed Communication (Laz.Denes@TrueSpeedCommunication.com)

Primary Team:

 

Driver: Daniel Suárez

Hometown: Monterrey, Mexico

 

Crew Chief: Dave Winston

Hometown: Miami, Florida

 

Car Chief: Mark Hillman

Hometown: Lockport, New York

 

Engine Specialist: Kirk Butterfield

Hometown: Carrollton, Ohio

 

Engine Builder: Toyota Racing Development

Headquarters: Costa Mesa, California

 

Spotter: Steve Barkdoll

Hometown: Garrison, Iowa

Over-The-Wall Crew:

 

Gas Man: Cory White

Hometown: Vinson, Iowa

 

Front Tire Changer: Mike Mead

Hometown: Sherrills Ford, North Carolina

 

Rear Tire Changer: Brandon Traino

Hometown: Cherry Hill, New Jersey

 

Tire Carrier: Mason Harris

Hometown: Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia

 

Jackman: Joel Bouagnon

Hometown: St. Charles, Illinois

 

Windshield: Mark Hillman

Hometown: Lockport, New York

Road Crew:

 

Truck Driver: Gary “Turtle” Clem

Hometown: Eaton, Ohio

 

Shock Specialist: David Stillman

Hometown: Appleton, Wisconsin

 

Mechanic: Evan Snider

Hometown: Scottdale, Pennsylvania

 

Tire Specialist: Liz Prestella

Hometown: South Lake Tahoe, California

 

Mechanic: Cory White

Hometowns: Vinson, Iowa

 

Mechanic: Glenn “Cheeseburger” Hilchey

Hometown: Bennington, Vermont

Folds of Honor QuickTrip 500 at Atlanta Notes of Interest:

 

  • After piloting the No. 19 NASCAR Cup Series Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2017 and 2018, then the No. 41 Cup Series entry for Stewart-Haas Racing in 2019, Suárez has joined the single-car No. 96 Toyota Camry effort for Gaunt Brothers Racing (GBR) for the full 2020 season.
  • Suárez will make his 112th career NASCAR Cup Series start in Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuickTrip 500 on the 1.5-mile oval at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He has career totals of eight top-five finishes, 32 top-10s and 241 laps led, with an average start of 15.6 and an average finish of 17.3. He also has qualified on the pole twice.
  • In three previous Cup Series outings at Atlanta, Suárez has a best start of fourth in 2018, when he finished 15th in his Gibbs Toyota, and a best finish of 10th from the fifth starting position last year in his Stewart-Haas entry.
  • In a pair of NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Atlanta, Suárez scored a best start of third and a best finish of seventh in his most recent outing en route to the 2016 series championship for the Gibbs team.
  • He also has a pair of NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series outings at Atlanta with a best start and finish of fourth, both in 2015 driving the No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota.
  • Suárez competed from 2009 through 2014 in the NASCAR Peak Mexico Series. In 76 starts, he earned 10 victories, 26 top-five finishes, 39 top-10s and qualified on the pole 13 times. He had an average start of 8.7, an average finish of 12.4, led 1,216 laps, and had best finishes of second and third in the season standings in 2013 and 2012, respectively.
  • Crew chief Dave Winston, a native of Miami, Florida, and a veteran of 62 Cup Series races atop the pit box, called the shots at two previous races at Atlanta. He collaborated with driver Alex Bowman in the No. 23 BK Racing Toyota in the 2014 race, starting 30th and finishing 35th. His driver Michael McDowell started 32nd and finished 33rd in the 2016 race driving the No. 95 Leavine Family Racing entry.
  • This weekend marks the second Atlanta Cup Series start for the No. 96 Gaunt Brothers Toyota. In the 2019 race, driver Parker Kligerman drove to 30th-place finish from the 34th starting position.
  • At last Sunday’s FanShield 500k on the Phoenix Raceway mile oval, Suárez started 31st and finished 21st. Suárez arrives at Atlanta 31st in the Cup Series standings, 132 points out of first.
  • Coca-Cola and CommScope continue their respective partnerships with Suárez at Gaunt Brothers Racing. The iconic Coca-Cola brand has been with Suárez since 2015 when he won the Xfinity Series rookie-of-the-year title. CommScope, a leader in communication network technology, has been with Suárez through its ARRIS and Ruckus Networks brands since 2014, when he first competed in the Xfinity Series.
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