Daniel Suarez: "Good is not enough in the Cup Series"

But he’s expecting a lot more in 2018.

Suarez was almost literally thrown in the Cup series at the last minute with the unexpected departure of Carl Edwards from Joe Gibbs Racing in January last year.

Suarez, fresh off winning the Xfinity Series title in 2016, was tapped as Edwards’ replacement in JGR’s No. 19 Toyota. He ended up finishing 20th in the series standings, with one top-five and 12 top-10 finishes.

The native of Monterrey, Mexico, needed to be a quick learner and he believes that experience will prove valuable in his sophomore season.

“I feel like the biggest gains was to learn how to race in the Cup Series. That’s a big difference versus the Xfinity Series,” Suarez said last week at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour. “As well, to learn how to get better every weekend.

“We had several weekends where we were good, but good is not enough in the Cup Series. You have to be great. And to push those limits with your team – I think that that's something that I learned, as well, last year, and to be patient.”

Suarez, 26, also had to deal with the expected departure of his crew chief last season, when Dave Rogers took a personal leave of absence last March and was replaced by Scott Graves. Graves had served as Suarez’s crew chief in the Xfintiy Series when the duo won the championship.

The No. 19 team also saw changes in its engineering staff last year and Suarez got a new car chief in the offseason.

Some continuity should help Suarez’s adjustment to the Cup series.

“Last year at this point we had everything together already, but as we went into the season, a lot of things changed – crew chief, car chief, engineers, a lot of things changed, and I felt like that was the reason of having everything a rush in the beginning,” he said.

“But that’s not the rookie season that everyone wants, but sometimes that’s what makes you tougher. I feel like that taught me a lot of things last year to prepare myself better for this year and I feel like we are going to show that on the race track.”

Suarez has already set many new marks in NASCAR – he’s the first Mexican-born driver to compete full-time in the Cup Series and in 2016 he became the first Mexican driver to win a national series race with his Xfinity victory at Michigan.

He welcomes exposing the sport to new eyes.

“I spent a month in Mexico and Brazil, and it feels very good to meet people that have been following you for a long time or even just last year in the Cup Series,” he said. “It just feels very good to know that there are people all over the world supporting you and following your racing.

“I feel like NASCAR is doing a great job letting the world know what we are doing as a NASCAR family, and as well what I’m doing here in NASCAR.

“I feel very proud to be a small part of it.”