Daniel Suarez is still on somewhat of a learning curve. The young driver is in his first full year at Stewart-Haas Racing has two years of experience in the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup series. And part of that learning has to do with defending himself.
He’s done just fine in that department so far it seems.
The 2016 Xfinity Champion has not hesitated to defend himself as he climbs the NASCAR ladder.
The Mexican born driver has been quick to shoot back on social media when a “fan” questioned his ability to speak English in 2017, and earlier this season he was quick to use himself against Michael McDowell when the two had a disagreement about qualifying at ISM Raceway.
After the Martinsville race, where Suarez finished 10th, there was some controversy on the internet after a reporter seemed to imply that a fan had perhaps thrown a beer can at him. Ryan Blaney, who had qualified fourth was being interviewed on TV as Suarez could be seen walking behind him and what appears to be a can of liquid hits nears his feet. The aftermath wasn’t shown on TV as Fox Sports cut to b-roll from the race at that moment.
Turns out, Suarez did notice something hitting near him, but:
“I don’t think that thing was thrown at me,” he said Friday at Texas Motor Speedway. “I was walking. The guy had to be extremely good to try to hit me that close while I was walking. I was talking with Ryan Blaney during the week and he said, ‘Man, I just hear this explosion and I turned around and it’s sad that people are doing that, but think about it, Denny Hamlin was on your left, I think that thing was for him.’ So we were laughing about it. I don’t really know. I turned around and saw a lot of drunk people there, but I doubt it was for me. Who knows? It may have been for me, but who knows?”
Even if it was aimed directly at him:
“I don’t care.”
There was also the implication that a fan had yelled something at him. That was also a non-issue for Suarez, who wondered if it did actually happen at all.
“I read something on Twitter or somewhere that somebody said something about Mexicans, but that’s not true. I was there,” Suarez said. “I actually spent 30 seconds there waiting for my interviews and nobody said anything. It’s just people making stuff up. Nobody said anything and I doubt that thing was for me. Like Ryan said, I thought it was very funny when he said because I never thought about it, he said, ‘People don’t like Denny too much at that place.’ So it may have been for him, but who knows?”
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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