NASCAR Playoff Media Day Notebook: Notable Moments From Wednesday

26 weeks of blood, sweat, and tears, have led us to this moment. The start of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. 16 drivers have earned the right to chase a championship, and on Wednesday at the Charlotte Convention Center, NASCAR held its annual NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Media Day. Ahead of Sunday's Playoffs-opening race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the drivers took on all questions, including some hard hitters, softballs, and everything else in between.

Here are some notable moments from Wednesday:

Daniel Suarez Reflects on Potential Best Year of His Life

As he heads into his second career NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs appearance, Trackhouse Racing's Daniel Suarez has had one hell of a year professionally, and personally. Now, he hopes it spills over into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

"Yeah, this year has been amazing," Suarez detailed. "Probably one of the best years of my life, and hopefully we can continue that trend for the next 10 weeks."

Between winning the NASCAR Mexico Series event at the LA Memorial Coliseum, to winning his second career NASCAR Cup Series event at Atlanta in February to being awarded his United States citizenship, and getting married to longtime partner Julia Piquet, he's had a lot of big moments in 2024. However, Suarez says one stands above the rest.

"It's very tough man, if I don't say the wedding, man, Julia is going to kill me," Suarez laughed. "That's not a good question. No, no, definitely, the wedding was unbelievable. I'm going to win a bunch of races in my career, I'm going to win championships. You know, the wedding, and the U.S. citizenship that was a big deal for me. I've been working toward that for 10 years. It's been quite a journey. Hell of a year."

Martin Truex Jr. Found Out He Made the Playoffs Via Text Message

Martin Truex Jr. was able to advance to the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs in his final full-time season, despite an early-race crash, which put him out of the race on Lap 3 of the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

After his crash, while not knowing his Playoff fate, Truex couldn't stomach waiting at the track to see if things would fall his way. He strapped into a plane and took the hour-and-a-half-half flight home.

"I did not stick around. I tried for a few minutes, and I got pretty antsy, so I just got the hell out of there," Truex explained. "When I landed at home, a text message said, 'You made it,' so, all was good. It was a rough flight, but I made it, so it was good."

Truex called the mistake at Darlington the stupidest thing he's done in his racing career.

“For sure. Yeah, we’ve all done stupid things, certainly, and that one was at the top of my list," Truex said. "Yeah, the key is to learn from those things and not just lock and forget about them. Kind of a reminder of how delicate things can be and how quickly they can change and go away."

Truex, who took the championship in 2017 after piling up a mountain of Playoff Points, is the next-to-last seed heading into the Round of 16, so, he knows there isn't room for him to make any more mistakes.

"With this format and the way it is, and not having any bonus points per se, it’s a reminder you have to be on it," Truex stated. "No mistakes. One mistake and you’re probably done. Yeah, we’ll see.”

Round of 16 Schedule "Nerving" for Christopher Bell

While Christopher Bell heads into the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs on a two-year streak of advancing to the Championship 4, the driver who has three wins this season feels the wildcard-esque lineup of tracks in the opening round of the Playoffs has him a bit worried.

“The first one is going to be very – it’s very nerving for sure, and then the second round too, that has been the scary round with Talladega mixed in there," Bell said. "But I think the Round of 16 and the Round of 12 are going to be the ones that you feel a little bit handcuffed at. Then, if you’re fortunate to make it to the Round of 8, then it’s off of performance and you can just go out there and lay it on the table.”

While the opening round will be a worry for Bell, and the other 15 drivers in the Playoff field, Bell feels confident in the fact that he truly thrives in the high-pressure of the Playoffs.

“I just really, really enjoy these moments and being a part of something that is as pressure-packed as the NASCAR playoffs," Bell explained. "These 10 weeks are very, very stressful and once the 10 weeks are over, it is something that is very relieving that you’re in offseason, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. The way I look at it is, there are 20 other drivers that would love to be in this spot right now so it’s a privilege. It’s a privilege to be here and I don’t take that for granted.”

Tyler Reddick Feeling Better; No Baby Naming Rights on the Line in Playoffs

Tyler Reddick gutted (no pun intended) his way through last weekend's Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. With a severe stomach ailment, which required Reddick to receive medicine from his race team mid-race to hold off the effects, he was able to finish solidly in 10th place.

That performance, while in adverse conditions, allowed him to take home the NASCAR Cup Series regular season championship by just one point over Kyle Larson. Reddick says his stomach issues have since passed, and he is feeling a lot better heading into this weekend in Atlanta.

“I'm feeling better," Reddick said, "I couldn't fall asleep I was in a lot of pain until about 6:30 in the morning, I was finally able to get some sleep, woke up and I probably should have laid and bed and slept all day but it was the one day, we don’t get very many days off or moments to catch up on things, so we were thrashing trying to clean the house before it gets too cold outside. So, probably didn’t take all the efforts I should have to recover, I guess probably a big one though is I knew how bad I felt I couldn’t celebrate and have a couple of drinks..."

When Reddick was chasing his first NASCAR Xfinity Series championship with JR Motorsports back in 2018, he and his wife Alexa had a bet going into the race. Alexa was pregnant with their son, and Reddick wanted to name him Beau. Alexa said if Reddick won the title, he'd get his wish.

He won the title. While they don't have another bundle of joy on the way, does Reddick have any additional incentive tied to winning the NASCAR Cup Series title this season?

“I try to dangle a prize out in front of myself, if I win this, I win that, I’ll get this car, I’ll get this watch, I’ll buy property something like that," Reddick stated. "It’s always fun to give yourself mini goals right like it’s important to have them. There are a lot of reasons to be motivated to win a championship, but it also kind of depends on where you’re at in life. Years ago, when I was at JR Motorsports, I almost needed to get from things to reset my focus and that second year, going forward with RCR was a little different, just like it is now, things are different. Things change as you get older and things in life change around you.”

Kyle Larson Focused on Not Becoming Complacent as Top Seed

While Kyle Larson will enter the opening round of the Playoffs as the top seed, the driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 knows how bitter and cruel the NASCAR Cup Series points format can be. The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion is not counting his chickens before they hatch, and refuses to become complacent on his Playoff run.

“Yeah, I don’t at all get confident in the points we have," Larson admitted. "It’s nice, but I've been in rounds where I think I was 20-something points good on the cutline and missed making it to the next round. It’s nice to have those points, you work hard to earn them, but they don’t mean everything.”

While Larson wants to ultimately make it to the Championship 4 for the third time in the last four seasons, he knows whether he makes it to Phoenix with a shot at championship or not will not dictate whether his 2024 season is a success or not.

“I try not to think about missing the final four. So, right now our plan is to do a good job and then give ourselves an opportunity in Phoenix. If we happen to miss the final four then I can try to judge if it's a bad season or not, but we’ve already got four wins to this point, so I wouldn't call it a bad year,” Larson said.

Photo Credit: Toby Christie, Racing America