\u201cWhen you are with right team, you know the opportunity will come, and it will come at the right time,\u201d Suarez said Wednesday after it was announced he will replace Carl Edwards in Joe Gibbs Racing\u2019s NASCAR Cup No. 19 Toyota. \u201cI was there to take the opportunity and here we are. It\u2019s something that you dream about.\u201d
Mexico\u2019s Suarez, 24, had been busy enough since winning last season\u2019s Xfinity championship, becoming the first foreign-born driver to win NASCAR national series title. Then he got a call from JGR owner Joe Gibbs that Edwards was stepping away as a driver and that Suarez would replace him.
\u201cThank goodness Daniel was there to step in for us,\u201dGibbs said Wednesday. \u201cDaniel was the obvious choice.\u201d
Now, Suarez\u2019s challenge is to prepare for a rookie season that will include the first Cup race of his career \u2013 February\u2019s Daytona 500 \u2013 for one of the sport\u2019s most competitive teams. Suarez will step into a solid No. 19 team led by crew chief Dave Rogers.
\u201cI can\u2019t wait to start learning about everything,\u201d Suarez said.
Suarez began racing go karts when he was 11 in his hometown of Monterrey, Mexico, traveling around the country in a pickup truck driven by his father, who also served as his crew chief and mechanic.
\u201cIt started as a hobby,\u201d Suarez told the Observer last June. \u201cBut we didn\u2019t have much money. We were always looking for a sponsor and money. We had to somehow find a way to pull me to the next level. My dad and myself wanted to do something more in the sport, to be more professional, but we had no experience in what we were doing.\u201d
Suarez eventually caught the eye of Jim Morales, who operated a race team in Mexico. By the time Suarez was 16, he was racing Mini Stocks in NASCAR Mexico and became the youngest driver to win a race in that series.
Morales advised Suarez his best chances to advance in the sport were to head to Europe for open-wheel racing or the United States for NASCAR. At first, Suarez chose Europe. But after a year in Italy, he decided to give NASCAR a try.
Suarez moved to the Charlotte area in 2011, but his first year in the United States was difficult. Struggling with the English language, Suarez drove for an independent team in racing\u2019s lower levels with no success.
He practiced speaking with the engineers and mechanics at the race shop. He made a point of watching English-speaking television and movies.
As Suarez became fluent in English, his racing fortunes improved. In 2013, he was chosen to for NASCAR\u2019s Drive For Diversity, a development system that spotlights minority and female drivers. He was also chosen for NASCAR Next, which helps prepare selected young drivers for a career in the sport.
He won three races in NASCAR\u2019s K&N Pro Series East in 2013 and \u201914. He drove in three Xfinity races in 2014, during which he was noticed by JGR, which signed him to its Xfinity team.
Suarez made the most of that opportunity. He was rookie of the year in the Xfinity in 2015, then won the 2016 championship, winning three races in the process.
A few weeks ago, Suarez was eating lunch with his girlfriend and her family when he received a phone call from Gibbs. Suarez left the table and listened to what Gibbs had to say: Edwards was unexpectedly retiring, Gibbs said, and Suarez was the team\u2019s choice to move into the No. 19.
The news from Edwards \u2013 who at age 37 seemed to be in the prime of his career \u2013 had caught Gibbs completely unaware.
\u201cThis one threw us a curve ball, to be sure,\u201d said Gibbs, who also coached Washington to three Super Bowl victories. \u201cBut that\u2019s part of life and what we do.
\u201cAbout 90 percent of the time, what happens with a coach is you\u2019ve got to tell a guy you\u2019re done at (age) 35, 36 or 37. Normally, you\u2019re telling the athlete it\u2019s over.\u201d
Gibbs said he has encouraged Suarez to lean on JGR teammates Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth for advice.
Gibbs said Busch called him recently.
\u201cHe\u2019s driving me crazy!\u201d Gibbs recalled Busch saying. \u201cHe\u2019s calling me, like, five times a week.\u201d
Suarez will take part in a test on Jan. 31 at Phoenix International Raceway (one that will also be attended by Dale Earnhardt Jr., who is returning to racing after missing the second half of last season with a concussion).
Then it will be on to Daytona and Suarez\u2019s rookie season as a Cup driver. Gibbs said Suarez will also drive in some Xfinity races, with Busch, Hamlin and Kenseth also possibly helping filling in for that team.
\u201cI know this won\u2019t be easy,\u201d Suarez said. \u201cBut I couldn\u2019t be on a better team to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n