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NASCAR XFINITY SERIES: FORD ECOBOOST 300

November 21, 2015

Daniel Suarez

Homestead, Florida

THE MODERATOR: Daniel Suarez is the driver of the No.18 ARRIS Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. In today's race he finished sixth. He had an outstanding season. Congratulations, Daniel. Daniel is the first Mexican NASCAR Drive For Diversity graduate to win the Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors, and certainly a season very, very well done, Daniel.
Just talk about winning the Sunoco Rookie of the Year in your first season driving in the NASCAR XFINITY Series and what you've learned and how you plan to apply this to next season.
DANIEL SUAREZ: Well, first of all, I want to thank everyone for all the great support, all the media and Joe Gibbs Racing, NASCAR for the great support since three years ago with the NASCAR Drive For Diversity program, with the NASCAR Next program, because without this help I wouldn't be here right now. Joe Gibbs Racing, ARRIS, Toyota, Tercel, Juniper, all my friends in México they've been helping me for a long time now.
It's been a long journey so far, but a very fun one. This 2015 we had as a goal early on in the year to try to get the Rookie of the Year and try to be strong, trying to learn and trying to be contending for some wins. We didn't win, but we were close several times. We run in the front. I don't think it was a surprise anymore to see the ARRIS Toyota Camry No.18 in the front, which for me is something really good.
But again, I want to thank everyone in Joe Gibbs Racing for all the hard work, and not just with the race car to make it fast, with me, as well, to teach me so many things, to try to improve myself and to try to learn as fast as possible.

Q. Daniel, as I mentioned to you a moment ago when I look at the XFINITY Series this year, really feel like if you asked me who was the most improved driver from start to finish, I would point to you. How do you feel about how you began the season and how you improved throughout and where you're at right now?
DANIEL SUAREZ: Thank you. Thank you very much for that. I really feel like from February, March to right now, I just feel like we're a different team. We have more confidence. We are stronger. Our expectations are really higher. I just feel like we learned together.
My team already had a lot of experience. I was the rookie guy on the team. I know that helped me a lot. But I really feel like we learned so many things. I mentioned so many times during the year that in this 2015 I feel like I learned more than the last three years together racing in México and in the K&N stuff, so it was definitely a very productive year. I feel like we learned so many things, and I'm really looking forward for the future. We are working hard to put some really good things together for next year, so hopefully we can continue our racing career on this way and do it‑‑ and do our race like we did on this 2015.

Q. What would you say the biggest lesson? You said you learned a lot. What was the number one thing that you learned?
DANIEL SUAREZ: That's a good question. There are so many big ones. That's the problem. It's hard to take just one. But you know, these cars are different, and they are so aero depending, and you have to learn that, and to move around the racetrack, I'm not used to that. When I was racing in México, you used to start in one line and you used to stay in that lane. When I used to race in K&N, you started racing in one lane, and you stayed in that lane.
So all this is new for me, and I feel like it's impossible for me to say just one big lesson because we have been having a lot of lessons. Actually I make fun with one of my friends on Joe Gibbs Racing, Steve deSouza, because early in the year when I was making a mistake on the racetrack or something, he was telling me, Hey, Daniel, write that down. It's lesson one, lesson two. I feel like we lost the count. Yeah, that was pretty funny, and actually he was one of the people that's been helping me a lot in the racetrack and out of the racetrack.
So very, very happy to be with this great organization. They've been amazing with me. I feel just like my family. I don't have my real family in the U.S., so they are my family here. So this has been really good.

Q. You had a chance to race trucks, as well. Do you feel like a rookie still, number one, and what have you learned about how difficult it is to win on this circuit?
DANIEL SUAREZ: It is difficult. And I learned something in the second part of the year because I think in the second part of 2015, we have been pretty fast. We have been racing in the front in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and the NASCAR XFINITY Series, but there is a huge difference between being fast and racing in the front and to win a race, and this is the step that we have to make for next year.
That was one of my goals for this year. I didn't get that one. We got a different‑‑ another different goals, but I didn't get that one. In the off‑season, I'm really looking forward for the off‑season, but I'm really looking forward, as well, to working as hard as possible with my team, Joe Gibbs Racing, to see what happens in the future, but obviously to win races, to make that step that we have left in this 2015.

Q. Next year you're going to be splitting the 51 with Cody Coughlin. What are some of the things that you can tell him just going forward, running pretty much the same schedule you did this season in trucks?
DANIEL SUAREZ: Well, Cody is a very good friend of mine and he's part of the family, Joe Gibbs Racing family, as well, so we have a really good relationship. Actually one of the things, one of the advice‑‑ I don't have a lot of experience. I'm still getting a lot of advice from so many people. Kyle is one of them. But one of the advice that I gave him actually a few weeks ago, because he doesn't live right now in North Carolina, he lives somewhere else. So I tell him, you know what, I really think that it's super important to be close to the shop, to be right there every day, to learn about how‑‑ to be a real race car driver, I think it's not just in the racetrack. You need to be at the shop learning about how everything works with the team, and actually it's exactly what I did on this year, 2015. I live one mile away from the shop, and it's the first advice that I gave him, my personal opinion, that he should move to North Carolina to be closer to the team and try to learn as much as possible to be successful on the racetrack.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much, Daniel. Congratulations on a great season.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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