NASCAR driver Suarez finds calm at animal sanctuary ahead of Michigan race
· Yahoo Sports
Manchester — Before driving 200 miles per hour in a bid to qualify for the NASCAR Cup Series on Saturday evening, driver Daniel Suárez took the morning to clear his head through his other passion: animals.
Suárez visited SASHA Farm, a large farm animal sanctuary in Manchester on Saturday morning. Staff led him on a tour of the farm, where he interacted with turkeys, pigs, cows, an ox and goats.
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Suárez's visit to SASHA tied in with his passion for rescuing and rehabilitating animals — the NASCAR driver and his father rehabilitate dogs at their car shop, he said.
“(This farm is) very beautiful," said Suárez. "You get to see all the love and care that all these animals get."
Suárez's passion for rehabilitating animals began when he saw his father take in stray dogs growing up. He said his wife grew up raising chickens, too.
So far this year, Suárez has visited several animal shelters primarily focused on dogs and cats, he said. But his visit to SASHA — which has nearly 200 farm animals that call the sanctuary their forever home after abuse, neglect, abandonment or exploitation — was different.
"I’ve never been in a farm like this, where you see cows, goats, pigs, everything. So I’m enjoying my time here a lot," Suárez said.
On his tour of the farm, Suárez pet 800-pound pigs, looked at turkeys and fed cows. He also pet Bhima, a Gyr Ox whose mannerisms farm executive director Shara Jones compared to a labrador retriever.
Suárez spent time with the animals before his qualifying race for the Cup Series at 6:10 p.m. Saturday at the Michigan International Speedway. This race follows his latest Cup win at the Coca-Cola 600 in May.
“He is coming here to kind of relieve some of his stress and kind of to go into a zen mode before he goes into his qualifications," said Jones. "So because this place is so special – we call it our happy place – it really is healing inside-out. So we wanted to share that with him, and because he loves animals and rescues them, too."
Beyond providing Suárez a space to clear his mind before the race Saturday night, Jones said the sanctuary is a place for people with life stress or ailments to come and heal. She said it's a safe space that helps people calm down.
Suárez said it was "a shame" that he had to leave after his tour of the farm.
"I'm enjoying my time here a lot," he said.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: NASCAR driver Daniel Suárez visited SASHA Farm before his race Saturday