By Cole Cusumano

Coming off the best season of his young NASCAR Cup Series career to date, it was hard to imagine Daniel Suarez anywhere except Stewart-Haas Racing — but low and behold, 2020 a shocking twist with the Monterrey, Mexico product replaced by Cole Custer in the No. 41 car. 

Now on his third team in four full-time bids, the 28-year-old has had to acclimate to yet another new organization in Gaunt Brothers Racing.

Assuming a vastly different role than years past, Suarez was signed to aid in the growth of the small budget team as they field their first full-time car. The thought process behind this was big-name sponsor appeal, his large and loyal following, and that a return to racing Toyotas would make for a relatively smooth transition.

The new partnership immediately got off to a rocky start after Suarez failed to qualify for the Daytona 500. Since then, the driver of the No. 96 has gone on to produce fairly lackluster results, but he’s accomplishing what he was signed to do masterfully.

Only coming off his second top-20 finish of the year at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and his best result being 18th at Bristol Motor Speedway, there’s more than meets the eye to Suarez’s 2020 season.

While he isn’t breaking any records, Suarez has proven to be a valuable asset for the Gaunt Bros. in doing what he was signed on to do. The 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion has  hardly torn up any cars, and as a result, he’s completed 99.1% of laps run this season. Historically, Suarez has not been one to bring equipment back to the shop in one piece, so this is a warmly welcomed sight for a team who can’t afford disaster.

Suarez has now proven he can run a clean race and provide essential data for an up-and-coming team. So, what should be the expectation for the second-half of 2020?

It’s now time for the driver of the No. 96 to produce results. Obviously he isn’t going to contend for wins or top-10s, but in order for this season to be a legitimate success, top-20s should be the goal with a top-15 or two mixed in there.

Admittedly, Suarez is probably one of the few drivers who is suffering due to no practice. We’ve seen smaller budget teams like Front Row Motorsports and Levine Family Racing succeed with limited track time, but going from Joe Gibbs Racing and Stewart-Haas Racing to the Gaunt Bros is bound to be an arduous adjustment.

With the release of the schedule through August, Suarez had to have been pleased seeing the doubleheader at Dover International Speedway. The Monster Mile is arguably the Mexico-native’s best track statistically, and racing there back-to-back offers track time and the opportunity for quick improvements.

Looking ahead to Kentucky Speedway this weekend, this is a track where he’s finished inside the top-20 each year of his Cup career and it’s also a place where he led laps in 2019; The same stats can be said about Dover. 

While we shouldn’t expect Suarez to be a serious contender at either track, both should serve as places where he can find moderate success during the second-half of the season. The driver of No. 96 has done a commendable job thus far, but now the objective should be consistently improved results.