Profundo en el Corazon de Tejas
Relieved to put last weekend in the rearview mirror, both figuratively and literally, Daniel Suarez rolled into Texas Motor Speedway with plans to run in the Xfinity race in addition to his regular Cup responsibilities. The 18 team grabbed the 5th fastest and 13th fastest times in the two practice sessions. When qualifying rolled around, he shot up near the top of the leaderboard during the first round with a 3rd place. But during the second round he could do no better than 15th, unable to move on to the third round.
When the race got started, he steadily moved up from his 15th place starting spot. By lap 11 he was inside the top ten, and at the end of stage 1 he was in 6th. After a speedy pit stop, he lined up 3rd on the restart. One lap later he was in the lead. But two laps after that he got loose and spun out. Fortunately he kept the car off the wall and away from the other cars, but after pitting under caution he restarted back in 25th.
Almost immediately he was back inside the top 20 and less than 20 laps later he was inside the top 15. His car did not handle well enough for him to continue making significant gains, so he finished the race in 12th place. But the time spent on the Texas track was invaluable experience.
All of the Cup drivers found the new track surface to be a challenge, and Daniel was no exception. In the three practice sessions, he finished with the 12th, 23rd, and 6th fastest times. In qualifying he was 10th in the first round, easily moving on. But in the second round he could do no better than 20th, so he did not advance to the third round.
Once the race got underway he made minor contact with the car ahead of him, sending him to the attention of the 19 crew on pit road. They massaged the nose of his car and got him back out on the track without losing a lap but in 39th place. It only took him about 10 laps to get back inside the top 30.
Following the competition caution on lap 30 he restarted in 19th place. Over the next 55 laps he ranged from a high of 17th and a low of 25th, which is where he finished stage 1. The pit stop at the end of the stage allowed his crew to perform a few more repairs to the nose of his car in addition to changing tires, adding fuel, and making a few adjustments.
He restarted in 26th and spent this stage ranging from a high of 22nd and a low of 29th. He finished stage 2 in 22nd place. But this time Scott Graves decided not to call him down pit road for service, so he restarted in 14th. The decision proved to be fortuitous, as Daniel was able to maintain a spot in the top 20 for the remainder of the race.
Daniel made a brief appearance in the top 10 near the beginning of stage 3, but fell back into the teens with 25 laps. Over the remaining laps, he ranged from a high of 10th to a low of 20th. When the checkered flag flew he brought his Stanley Toyota home in 19th place, a solid top 20 performance for a rookie driver on a new track surface.
In this race he earned 18 points, giving him a total of 125. That places him in 23rd on the drivers' standings, 2 positions further back than he was last weekend. Because he finished ahead of Erik Jones he crept 3 points closer to him, but Erik still has a 33 point lead over Daniel.
And on the separate rookie standings, here are the current numbers:
- Daniel Suarez --76
- Erik Jones --73
- Ty Dillon --67
- Corey LaJoie --58
- Gray Gaulding --45
By the way, Daniel inspired the title of this week's blog when he "sang" lines from Deep in the Heart of Texas. If you did not catch his musical performance, I think it is only fair to warn you that it is a good thing that he and his colleagues are top notch racecar drivers, because none of them appear to have any hope of forging a singing career. But that is exactly what makes this so enjoyable. Here is the link:
No comments:
Post a Comment