Daniel Suarez likes his team's direction after Texas event. Find out why

FLORENCE, S.C. - At Spire Motorsports, Daniel Suarez could be turning the corner - both literally and figuratively.

Suarez, who left Trackhouse to join his current team, placed sixth this past Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway. It was his third top-10 finish of the season - he was fifth at Atlanta and 7th at Darlington Raceway.

Darlington, coincidentally, was where Suarez helped Harvest Hope and Coca-Cola Consolidated volunteers with food packing on Tuesday.

How can a driver not be in good spirits after a day like Sunday?

"We had good speed; we were so close to the pole, so we were very fast," said Suarez, who has not won a Cup race since Atlanta in 2024. "Sunday's race was good - tricky at times, but good speed and we have to continue to build on that. I do feel there's room for improvement."

Only three of Suarez's 11 finishes this season are 20th or worse.

With Sunday's success, morale is high for Suarez's team.

"It's very easy to build chemistry when you're fast and you have good results," Suarez said. "But it's very difficult to build chemistry when you're running 25th or 30th. Everyone on the No. 17 team is jelling and building that relationship. So as long as we're fast, it's so much easier and so much more fun."

Suarez knows more work has to be done.

"We're never comfortable," he said. "There's always things to do to get better. We haven't won races yet, so we've got to continue to fight and be able to win races."

The fight must be brought by more people than just the driver.

"It's about having the right people around you and the right car," Suarez said. "You could have the best driver in the world, but if you don't have the right car - it's wrong. And you could have the best team in the world. But if you don't have the right driver, it's wrong.

"You just have to have the right combination," he added. "But so far, we've clicked well; we just need to continue to fight and get better."

On Sept. 6, Suarez will get another shot at Darlington in the Cook Out Southern 500.

"Darlington is definitely one of the toughest race tracks that we have - especially with the Southern 500 because it's a very long race," Suarez said. "It feels like it's the longest race of the year. Although it's long in miles, it's also long for how difficult it is. But that's what also makes racing here so fun."

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