With Talks of Resurgence, Kevin Harvick Sets Expectations Straight for Daniel Suarez and Trackhouse Racing

Feb 28, 2024 | 9:00 AM EST

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Trackhouse Racing had a splendid outing at the AMS as their #99 Daniel Suarez clinched a close victory from Ryan Blaney’s hand. The race ended with a rare three-wide finish, a sight that most NASCAR fans do not remember witnessing. Suarez’s Chevy Camaro ZL1 was eventually the first to cross the line 0.003 seconds earlier than Blaney. The victory surely boosted the 32-year-old’s confidence as he was winless since his last triumph at Sonoma Raceway in 2022. While the Mexican driver garnered newfound confidence from his win, retired Cup Series driver Kevin Harvick expressed the need of the hour for Trackhouse Racing and wished to see Suarez continue on this momentum.

A lot of sacrifices will be needed from Daniel Suarez

Harvick opened up with his take on the Ambetter Health 400 victor on an episode of NASCAR on FOX. When asked about Suarez’s historic win at the AMS a couple of days back, he came up with an interesting reply. Harvick wants Daniel Suarez to hold on to his momentum and win at least 6-7 races this season. Needless to say, it will be a successful season for Trackhouse Racing as a whole if their #99 gets a grasp on this.

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He said, “Here’s the thing I want to see now though, I want to see that momentum continue for multiple weeks, right? I want to see if they can take what they did this weekend and turn that into momentum, that will be a multi-win season. Because that’s really the next step that those guys need, is to be able to, we’re talking about the #99 car, to be able to win multiple races in the season.”

Harvick brought forward the examples of William Byron and how the 26-year-old HMS driver figured this way out. He also mentioned Jimmie Johnson‘s iconic seven championship wins. Harvick said he believes that it is the approach that makes the difference in these cases. The driver needs to set a goal and not get blown away by just one victory. It is a sacrifice that needs to be done by the whole team together, according to the retired veteran.

He added, “Well, it’s an approach, right? It’s that sacrifice, week after week, after week, no holds bar. Don’t hold anything back on your preparation has to be the same week after week, after week. Well, not only is that for the driver, that’s also for the team. That’s also for the pit crew to do that.”

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As for Daniel Suarez, he is also gearing up to showcase his dominance this season and transcend to new heights. The driver recently opened up about his goals during a podcast appearance on Dale Earnhardt Jr’s ‘The Dale Jr Download’.

Suarez not satisfied on just being the “okay driver”

The highly ambitious Mexican is not pleased by just settling as a good or okay-ish driver. He intends to push his limits towards greatness. “I’m not okay being a, a good driver. I want to be a great driver and I want to be in that next step,” revealed Suarez in a conversation with Dale Jr.

Further revealing how he had a conversation regarding the same with his team and his new crew chief Matt Swiderski, Suarez revealed that while some people “may be happy” being an “okay” driver as a part of an “okay” team, his goals are different. “For me, that’s not the goal because I know that to be able to continue for a championship, you have to win between three to five races. That’s what you have to do. If you can win between three to five races, you can actually have a real shot for the championship. You have points, you have confidence, you have momentum, you have a lot of things,” he added.

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Do you think the #99 driver will be able to turn his words into actions? Let us know in the comments below!