Suarez on 2020: ‘We’re still building’

LAS VEGAS — This week, Daniel Suarez knows he will make his debut with the Gaunt Brothers Racing team Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

After missing the cut for the 2020 Daytona 500 last week — and subsequently ending a 108-race streak of consecutive Cup Series starts — the goal for this year is clear.

“To improve every single weekend,” Suarez said to The Racing Experts. “If we start racing 30th, then 25th and we can improve every weekend, I feel like we can be good.

“I feel like we have everything to be able to do that. A lot of things are going to change through the year, especially with all the changes we’re going to have for next year.

“We just have to be smart and hopefully by the end of the year we can be more in the top 10.”

For this weekend’s Pennzoil 400, 38 drivers were entered, meaning every driver on the entry list would be guaranteed a starting spot.

2020 marks the first full-time season for Gaunt Brothers Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series and Suarez’s fourth full-time season in the series.

Suarez placed 30th in both practice sessions at the speedway Friday, turning a total of 54 laps.

“We have a lot of work to do,” Suarez said. “We are pretty much a brand-new team. We’re still building.”

In five premier-series starts at Las Vegas, Suarez has earned one top-10 finish; an eighth-place run in September of 2018 while driving for Joe Gibbs Racing.

The Pennzoil 400 will be run on Sunday, Feb. 23 at 3:30 p.m. ET (TV FOX, radio PRN).