For the season finale, Daniel Suárez and the No. 41 Haas Automation Mustang team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) head to Homestead-Miami Speedway in South Florida for Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race. Just like he began the season, Suárez will pilot the red-and-black Haas Automation paint scheme.
Suárez joined SHR in January for his third full-time season in the Cup Series. The 27-year-old endured a manufacturer change, a rules package change in addition to everything else that comes up with joining a new team. While the No. 41 team has not found their way to victory lane yet, it will be the best Cup season of Suárez’s career.
Last Sunday at ISM Raceway near Phoenix, the Ford driver started from the 15th position and rebounded from a pit road speeding penalty early on to be in the 11th position when the final caution of the race came out with nine laps to go. Ultimately, he finished 15th after contact with competitors vying for a top-10 spot in the final laps.
The 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion has one more chance to become the first Mexican born driver to earn a victory in NASCAR’s most prestigious series. Suárez does know how to find his way to victory lane at Homestead as this is the same track where he captured the victory in 2016 to earn him the Xfinity Series title.
The Mexico native has two Cup Series starts at Homestead. He’s looking to improve on his best finish of 30th at the 1.5-mile venue.
In the Xfinity Series at Homestead, Suárez has a sixth-place finish and one victory, respectively. For starting positions, he has one pole award and an outside pole position. In his 2016 championship winning season, he led 133 laps to capture the season ending title.
In the Gander Outdoor Truck Series, Suárez has two starts with a best finish of sixth, earned in November 2016. His average starting position is 11.5 and average finishing position is 18.0.
In his last 10 starts at 1.5-mile tracks, the Haas Automation driver has two top-five and four top-10 finishes, along with one pole which he captured at Kentucky Speedway in July. Overall, he has an average start of 11.7 and an average finish of 14.9, along with 134 laps led.
Haas Automation, founded in 1983 by SHR co-owner Gene Haas, is America’s leading builder of CNC machine tools. The company manufactures a complete line of vertical and horizontal machining centers, turning centers and rotary tables and indexers. All Haas products are constructed in the company’s 1.1-million-square-foot manufacturing facility in Oxnard, California, and distributed through a worldwide network of Haas Factory Outlets.
SHR has two victories at Homestead with a total of seven top-five finishes and 13 top-10s in 31 starts at the mile-and-a-half track. Suárez’s SHR teammate, Kevin Harvick, is one of four drivers competing for the season ending championship this weekend.
With one race remaining, Suárez is 17th in the standings with 823 points and has four top-fives and 11 top-10s this season, along with 166 laps led. He has an average start of 14.1 and an average finish of 16.5.
DANIEL SUÁREZ, Driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
How has been working with your teammates this year when it comes to stuff on the track?
“Most of the time we come to the track with very similar cars, but sometimes we come with very different cars. We’re good about sharing information and that really helps when someone brings a different car. We can provide notes on what worked, etc., We’ve all been good teammates and I’m very fortunate to have such a great group of guys.”
How would you consider your season has gone?
“I would say that I’ve had a good season. Of course I wish we would have a couple of wins and that would make it a great season. My crew has been great to work with. I really enjoy the guys and they work really hard. This is obviously my first year with this group of people, and I think the more we continue to work together, the better we’ll get.”
