NASCAR Cup Series: Will Daniel Suarez earn his first victory in 2019?

Daniel Suarez has never won a NASCAR Cup Series race in 72 career starts. Will he earn his first victory in the 2019 season?

Of the 17 drivers who drive for one of the top five teams in the NASCAR Cup Series, including Stewart-Haas Racing, Joe Gibbs Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing, 14 are set to enter the 2019 season having won at least one race before.

One of the three drivers who drive for any one of these five teams who is set to enter the 2019 season with no career victories to his name is Stewart-Haas Racing’s Daniel Suarez.

Suarez is set to replace Kurt Busch as the driver of the #41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford in the 2019 season after spending his first two seasons driving the #19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Martin Truex Jr. is set to replace him at Joe Gibbs Racing.

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While Suarez spent two seasons driving for a top-tier team following his 2016 championship-winning Xfintiy Series season, he did not have much success in doing so.

Suarez recorded just four top five finishes, including a career-high second place finish in the July race at Pocono Raceway in the 2018 season, the lone race for which he has taken the pole position, and 17 other top 10 finishes in his 72 starts as the driver of the #19 Toyota. He finished in 20th in the championship standings in the 2017 season, and he finished in 21st in the standings in the 2018 season.

In both of his two seasons driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, Suarez was the only one of the team’s four drivers who failed to qualify for the playoffs. His three teammates all did so in both the 2017 and 2018 seasons.

In these two seasons, a total of five drivers drove full-time for the team at some point, with Suarez, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin doing so in both seasons and Matt Kenseth and Erik Jones each doing so in one (Kenseth in 2017 and Jones in 2018).

Suarez was the only one of these five drivers who failed to win a race in either the 2017 season, the 2018 season or both the 2017 and 2018 seasons despite the fact that he was one of the three drivers who drive for the team in both seasons.

It has been well-documented that Suarez has a lot to prove in the 2019 season, especially considering the fact that he is set to replace a driver who won at least one race in each of his five seasons driving for Stewart-Haas Racing and who finished the 2018 season in a sixth place tie in the championship standings after nearly qualifying for the Championship 4.

Suarez is effectively going from one top-tier team to another top-tier team after struggling for two whole seasons driving for the first top-tier team. However, a change of scenery could be just what the 27-year-old Mexican needs to get him to victory lane for the first time in his career.

Look at what happened to Joey Logano’s career after he left Joe Gibbs Racing. He drove for the team from the 2009 season through the 2012 season, and he earned just two victories during that time. He never finished higher than 16th place in the championship standings driving for the team.

In the seven seasons that have taken place since then, Logano has driven for Team Penske, and he has only finished outside of the top eight in the championship standings once. He has earned 19 victories, and he was crowned champion for the first time in his career to conclude the 2018 season.

Does guaranteed success await Suarez at Stewart-Haas Racing? Absolutely not. But should he be written off for not having success driving for Joe Gibbs Racing? Absolutely not.

With all things considered, including the fact that he came close to winning a couple of races driving for Joe Gibbs Racing despite the fact that he struggled during his tenure with the team, don’t be surprised to see him earn his first career victory in the 2019 season.

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The 61st annual Daytona 500 is the first of 36 races on the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series schedule, and it is scheduled to get the 2019 season underway from Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida on Sunday, February 17. Will Daniel Suarez find victory lane for the first time in his Cup Series career at any point throughout the nine-month 2019 season?

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