Suarez is racing for a lot more than a trophy this weekend at Kansas

Suarez’ sponsor Stanley is putting up $1 million that will be donated to the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals should the Joe Gibbs Racing rookie win the Monster Energy Cup race on Saturday night through the Racing for a Miracle campaign.

On Thursday, the driver of the No. 19 Stanley Toyota kicked off the weekend by touring the Pediatrics Unit at The University of Kansas Health System, a Children’s Miracle Network Hospital. Through Stanley and the Ace Hardware Foundation, $100,000 pledge was donated to CMN. 

“For me, it's very special to be a small part of projects like this,” Suarez said. “Very happy to have Stanley Black & Decker part of our team doing these kind of things. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to spend half a day in the hospital with some of the kids that went through that process already, and some of the kids that are in the middle of the process. Actually four kids that they went through all this already that are going to be here with us tomorrow, with us meaning driver intros, the race. They are super excited. A couple of them they know a lot about NASCAR and they are super race fans. Super excited to be a small part of this. 

“Obviously, the rest of the kids that are in the hospital, they won't be able to be here, but they told me they were going to be watching on TV. I was able to bring them a little gift, a couple hats and stuff from Stanley Black & Decker, and it's very cool for me to interact with kids like this. It's something very cool because they will become race fans forever, and that's something very special for me…Hopefully, we can have a little bit of luck and make this dream happen for a lot of kids.”

Adjusting to Cup

Suarez is currently 20th in the Cup standings. The 2016 Xfinity champion posted consecutive seventh-place finishes at Phoenix International Raceway and Auto Club Speedway. 

Suarez says his biggest learning curve in making the transition from the NXS to Cup is staying on top of the game.

“It's so difficult to stay in the top of the game the entire race,” Suarez said. “The race is already longer and there's more stuff going on. I've been in this situation already a few times where in the beginning of the race we are pretty bad, and then we work, we work and we work, and then by the end of the race, we got either a top 10 or very close to a top 10. And that's a good example of staying in the top of the game with your team. 

“I feel like I still have a long ways to go in my learning career. My team already has a lot of experience, but Scott (Graves, crew chief) is still learning a few things, as well. And I feel like we are moving in the right direction. We just have to keep working to try to find more speed, and we know what our weak points are right now, and hopefully we can work hard on those and to get better.”

For the first time since replacing local favorite Carl Edwards, Suarez is returning to the former No. 19 driver’s home track. But this has been a solid venue for the 25-year-old from Monterrey as well. 

Suarez has three top-10 results in his previous three NASCAR starts at Kansas. He finished third in last October’s Xfinity race. He was ninth in his NXS debut in 2015. In his only truck start (also 2015), he finished sixth racing for Kyle Busch Motorsports. 

Dealing with the pressure

Despite invading Edwards’ country, Suarez says he feels no additional stress.

“I've been racing with pressure my entire life, so this is just one more,” Suarez said. “Carl did an amazing job. He's a great driver. He won a lot of races. Very successful driver. 

“But right now, a lot of things have changed for this year. You know, we still have obviously a lot of that team, but not everything is the same. We are working hard to try to put everything that I need working for myself and trying to find speed, and I know that we are going to get there. 

“It's just a process. I really feel like we were on this process a couple years ago in the XFINITY Series, and it takes time and it takes patience. We have to be smart and try to make this process as fast as possible."