Daniel Suárez arrived at Daytona International Speedway with considerably more than NASCAR’s regular-season finale on his mind.
Suárez and his wife, Julia Piquet, are expecting their first child, a baby girl, and the Trackhouse Racing driver revealed Friday that the couple has reached the point where the call could come at virtually any moment.
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“I think it’s considered already full term because we are getting into 38 weeks, so it can happen anytime,” Suárez said Friday at Daytona. “She can call me right now and say, ‘Hey, you have to come back.’ We’ll see how things happen. Hopefully, things work out for me to be there.”
That possibility has created an unusual balancing act for Suárez on one of NASCAR’s biggest weekends of the year. Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 will determine the final field for The Chase, but unlike several drivers facing a make-or-break night at Daytona, Suárez already knows his postseason future is secure.
His plans away from the track are considerably less predictable.
Daniel Suárez Has His Route to the Hospital Ready
Suárez is not simply waiting for a phone call without a plan.
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The 34-year-old recently completed a hospital tour and made sure he knew exactly where he needed to go should Piquet go into labor.
“It’s funny you ask that question because we were just talking that last night. I had my official hospital tour, and I’m ready to drive as quick as possible, whenever the moment presents,” Suárez said.
“Hopefully, I’m home for that. I already know which floor I have to go, where I can park, where I’m going to chill, where I’m going to stress. I had an hour-and-a-half tour last night.”
It makes for an unusual race-weekend checklist. Suárez has a Cup car to race at Daytona, but he also knows the hospital floor, where to park and where he expects to do some inevitable stressing.
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And if the call had come Friday, Suárez was prepared to change his plans.
He was willing to skip qualifying at Daytona if Piquet went into labor. The call never came, and Suárez ultimately qualified 23rd for Saturday night’s race.
Once the green flag falls, however, the decision becomes more complicated.
Suárez and Piquet Have Already Discussed What Happens on Race Day
Being safely locked into The Chase gives Suárez some flexibility that drivers fighting for their postseason lives do not have. Still, there is an obvious difference between walking away from a qualifying session and leaving in the middle of the regular-season finale.
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Suárez said he and Piquet have already discussed that possibility.
“Any other weekend, I don’t think that would be the case, especially being in The Chase,” Suárez said. “If it’s Saturday or Sunday, I think it’s going to be tough. Julia and I, we already had a conversation, but hopefully it’s a Monday-through-Friday baby.”
For now, Suárez is hoping his daughter gives him just a little more time.
For much of the Cup garage, Saturday night is about surviving Daytona and securing a place in NASCAR’s championship fight. Suárez already has that part handled.
His biggest wait this weekend has nothing to do with The Chase.
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