Daniel Suarez knows what it feels like when a room goes quiet, when someone no longer feels like themselves or senses their voice carrying less weight within a team. He has admitted to going through that phase during the latter part of his time at Trackhouse Racing, even as he remained involved in discussions and contributed to development. That perspective is why, when news broke that Joe Gibbs Racing had filed suit against Chris Gabehart, Suarez chose his words carefully.
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Reports had already linked Gabehart with a move to Spire Motorsports before December. Then came claims in the lawsuit filed by JGR that he had access to past setups and other data from JGR that he planned to take with him to the rival camp.
Suarez, now driving for Spire, was in no mood to point fingers, even with the storm clouds hanging overhead. He also shares a thread from the past. Suarez was at JGR in 2017-18 while Gabehart was part of the same setup.
Speaking during a media session about what Gabehart could bring if he lands at Spire, Suarez said, “Yeah, you know, actually, Chris (Gabehart) and I, we fought for the championship back in 2016. He was the crew chief for Erik Jones, and I was with Scott Graves. He’s extremely smart and extremely competitive.”
“At the time, he was a crew chief. I have nothing but respect for him. Obviously, you know, I never really got to work with him… only one race, actually, in 2017. I have nothing but respect for him. He was extremely fast in 2016.
“He was the biggest threat for us to win the championship with Erik Jones. So, I have nothing but respect for everything that he has done in his career,” he continued.
Now settled into the No. 7 ride at Spire, Suarez opened the season with a P13 at Daytona and has already turned his focus to Atlanta. As for Gabehart, the legal things have yet to settle, and until that clears, any move to Spire looks stuck in neutral.
