Daniel Suarez's car did not roll off the hauler with a lot of speed. Or maybe Daniel Suarez did not roll into Sonoma, California, with a lot of road course racing experience. In any case, he was only 30th fastest in the first practice and 20th fastest in the second and final session. Surprisingly qualifying went much better. He was 11th fastest in both rounds, locking in a top 12 starting position.
But once the race got started, he locked up his brakes in the final turn of the first lap, flat-spotting his tires, and getting minor damage to the nose of his car. He brought his car down pit road to the attention of Scott Graves and his crew for 4 fresh tires. When he got back out on the track and up to speed, he had fallen back to 38th, and it was only lap 3.
He had only moved up 2 spots when the yellow flag came out on lap 14. He stayed out and restarted in 9th. As the race resumed, he immediately fell back to 16th. Four laps later he came back down pit road for a green-flag pit stop. The strategy was to stop before pit road closed for the end of stage 1 so they could stay out during the stage-break caution and gain track position. His crew gave him fresh tires and fuel, and the 19 Stanley Camry came back out in 32nd. That is where he finished stage 1 at the end of lap 25.
Staying out allowed him to restarted in 16th. He stayed out during the next two cautions, allowing him to advance as far as 9th by lap 40. However on lap 44 he got spun out. No damage, but it dropped him back to 21st. Time for another green-flag pit stop, putting him back to 34th place. He advanced 12 spots during the final 6 laps of the stage, crossing the start/finish line in 22nd.
Once again that late green-flag pit stop allowed the 19 team to stay out during the stage-break caution, restarting in 14th. Over the next 16 laps he ran between 12th and 17th. Lap 70 was time for another green-flag pit stop. This one put him back to 29th. As his competitors came in for their green-flag pit stops, he advanced back up to 16th place. After another 19 laps it was time for another green-flag pit stop, coming back onto the track in 26th. Again he regained positions as the field cycled, bringing him back up to 18th place by lap 101. Nine laps later, he finished the race in 16th place.
He
earned 21 points, bringing his season
total up to 334 points. He remains 19th in the drivers' standings. He
finished 9 spots ahead of Erik Jones, gaining back 9 points, now 24
points back. And he finished 12 spots ahead of Ty Dillon, gaining 12 more points and moving to a total of 61 points ahead.
And on the separate rookie standings, here are the current numbers:
- Daniel Suarez --177
- Erik Jones -- 170
- Ty Dillon -- 154
- Corey LaJoie -- 114
- Gray Gaulding -- 101
Next
week the Cup series heads to back to Daytona, Florida, where anything can and has happened. I am praying that Daniel remains safe and grabs another good finish.
Happy Father's Day to all of the dads out there. Feliz
día del padre a todos padres. How appropriate that on Father's Day, Daniel Suarez's dad,
Alejandro, was able to come up to Michigan to cheer on his son. I am
sure both were hoping his attendance would bring good luck, especially because Daniel was returning to the scene of his first victory in the Xfinity series just one year ago.
The car they rolled out of the hauler was not that fast, though, only 22nd fastest in the first practice session. During qualifying, he managed the 13th fastest speed in the first round and advanced. But he was only 20th fastest in the second round, ending his qualifying attempts. The final two practice sessions saw him in 16th and 6th, so perhaps his team found some speed in his Stanley Camry.
Before the race they found something wrong with one his tires. As a result of changing tires he had to drop to the back of the field during the warm-up laps, so he was in 31st place on lap 1. During an early-race caution on lap 7, Scott Graves, his crew chief, called him down pit road for 4 tires, giving them strategy options during the upcoming competition caution. Those 4 fresh tires allowed him to moved up to 21st place by the competition caution on lap 25. And because they had just recently put 4 fresh tires on, this time down pit road they went with a 2-tire stop. When the race resumed on lap 30, Daniel was perched in 16th place. He spent the rest of stage 1 and all of stage 2 ranging between 14th and 19th place, finishing stage 1 in 19th and stage 2 in 18th.
Because their green-flag pit stop occurred just 6 laps before the end of stage 2, they were able to stay out during the stage-break caution. When the race resumed on lap 126, the 19 team restarted in 10th. Over the next 25 laps he ranged from 7th to 12th. But during the lap 151 caution, Daniel overshot his pit box. The extra second or two needed to back up the car had him coming off pit road in 20th.
During the next 25 laps, his position ranged from 18th to 21st. Then again during the next caution, Graves kept Daniel on the track, enabled them to restart in 12th. One lap later, another caution, and another decision to stay out, this time restarting in 10th. With only 10 laps to go, it looked like Daniel had a good shot at another top ten. And with gas mileage on everybody's minds, who knows? Maybe even a top five.
But instead of the bad luck hitting his competitors, this time the bad luck hit Daniel. Ahead of him, cars on older tires struggled on the restart. The resulting pingponging of cars found the 19 car in three- and four-wide situations. Those situations seldom resolve themselves without something bad happening to someone. Eventually someone from behind caught the back corner of his Stanley Toyota, hooking him toward the infield.
A car on his inside combined with some pretty fancy driving kept his car from spinning out of the control, but enough damage was done that they had to come down pit road for repairs and 4 fresh tires. Daniel restarted in 26th, and with only 5 laps remaining in the race, he was only able to advance 2 spots.
He ended the day in 24th place, earning 13 points, bringing his season total up to 313 points. He remains 19th in the drivers' standings. He finished 11 spots behind Erik Jones, losing more ground to him, now 33 points back. But even though he finished 4 spots behind Ty Dillon, he is still a strong 49 points ahead of him.
And on the separate rookie standings, here are the current numbers:
- Daniel Suarez --166
- Erik Jones -- 160
-
Ty Dillon -- 145
- Corey LaJoie -- 114
- Gray Gaulding -- 101
Next week the Cup series heads to California for the first road course of the season. It will be fun to see how Daniel does on road courses. Anybody know if he has had any experience on road courses in Mexico?
Once again Daniel Suarez found him handling double duty. In Xfinity, his practice speeds put him 10th and 4th. In qualifying, he was 12th in the first round, then 7th in the second and final round to determine his starting position.
When the Xfinity race got underway, he shot forward, up to 3rd on the first lap. He maintained a spot in the top six throughout stage 1, finishing in 5th place. He sang the same song in stage 2, until 3 laps before the end of the stage. His team opted to bring him down pit road, so he finished the stage in 22nd. But because he had recently pitted, he did not have to pit during the stage-break caution, allowing him to restart in 4th place.
Just like he did at the beginning of the race, he gained on the cars ahead of him. Ten laps later, he took the lead. Then it was time for a green-flag pit stop. He came back out onto the track in 13th place. But NASCAR caught him speeding on pit road, and the resulting pass-through penalty put him back in 28th on lap 70.
He picked his way forward one position at a time. A caution just 7 laps later allowed him to stay out, restarting 10th. He never fell out of the top ten again. Over the remaining 16 laps he gained 5 more positions, eventually bringing his car home in 5th place.
In Cup, his car was not showing the same amount of speed. He was only 26th fastest in both practice sessions. In qualifying, he was 21st in the first round, then 14th to determine his starting spot.
Once Sunday's race got started, he moved forward a little at a time. By lap 5 he was in the top ten. He was able to maintain a spot in the top 12 until his green-flag pit stop on lap 19. By the time the field cycled through their green-flag pit stops, he found himself in 13th place. Stage 1 ended 8 laps later with his #19 ARRIS Toyota in 15th place.
He started stage 2 in 16th place. Not counting cycling through green-flag pit stops, Daniel ran between 14th and 21st place. He was in 19th place when the race was red flagged for cleanup following two separate incidents, which is where he finished stage 2.
Because he pitted just 4 laps before the red flag, he was able to stay out during the stage-break caution. That allowed him to restarted 7th on lap 105, but he could not hold that position. He fell back to 15th before his green-flag pit stop on lap 123. After they cycled through, he was up to 14th place. The last caution flag flew on lap 141 out of 160. When the race resumed with 13 laps to go, he was on 19th place. He was able to advance to 15th before the race ended.
He earned 22 points, bringing his total in the drivers' standings up to 300 and continuing to hold in the 19th place. He finished 12 spots behind Erik Jones, so he lost ground to his key challenger in the rookie competition, now 22 points behind him. But he finished 3 spots ahead of Ty Dillon, increasing his lead over him to 53 points.
And on the separate rookie standings, here are the current numbers:
- Daniel Suarez -- 157
- Erik Jones -- 149
-
Ty Dillon -- 135
- Corey LaJoie -- 106
- Gray Gaulding -- 101
During post race inspection, it was noted that Daniel's car had a missing lug nut. His crew chief, Scott Graves, was fined $10,000.
Next week NASCAR rolls into Michigan International Speedway, which is where Daniel won his first race last year to kick start his run to the Xfinity championship. To get primed for next weekend, take a look at this clip:
Dover dished up another dose of double duty for Daniel. The extra practice from running in the Xfinity race has proven to be invaluable in providing Daniel with more opportunities to learn the tracks.
His #18 Subway crew unloaded a pretty fast Xfinity racecar, notching the 4th and 9th fastest speeds in the two practice sessions. Qualifying went even better, as he grabbed the 2nd fastest times in the first two rounds, finally ending up 3rd in the third and final round to determine his starting spot for the race.
As the race got underway, he ran in the top five for the first 45 laps. But after restarting 3rd on lap 46, he felt his right rear tire going down. As he tried to control his car and work his way to the inside wall to maneuver onto pit road, he dropped to back to 23rd. By the time he got back on the racetrack with two fresh right-side tires and some fuel, he was 2 laps down in 35th. When stage 1 ended on lap 60, he was 2 laps down in 32nd.
During the caution following the end of stage 1, Daniel stayed out, took the wave around, and got 1 lap back. Just 15 laps later, he was in the lucky dog position, the first car one lap down, when a caution got him the free pass to get back onto the lead lap. When the race resumed on lap 80, he was at the tail end of the longest line in 29th place.
If
you are going to have a problem during the race, it is best to have it
early so you have time to recover. And recover he did. Every lap or two, he would pick up another spot. In 11 laps, he was back inside the top 20. Another 10 laps, and he cracked the top 15. And 10 laps after that, he was in the top 10 again. But another caution and varying pit strategies saw him restarting 19th on lap 115. When stage 2 ended 5 laps later, he was in 16th.
He stayed out during the between-stages caution and restarted the race in 2nd place. One lap later he took the lead, which he held for the next 19 laps. While his car was not stout enough to catch the leader and eventual winner, he did wheel his car to a 3rd place finish.
Things were looking good over on the Cup side of the garage, too. He logged practice speeds that put him between 8th and 15th fastest. Qualifying went even better, finishing each round in the top ten and eventually earning the 3rd spot on the starting grid.
Once the race got underway, he maintaining a spot in the top 5 for the first 50 laps. The next 50 laps, he ran between 6th and 10th. During the last 20 laps of stage 1, he ran between 10th and 14th. As stage 1 ended, he came across the start/finish line in 10th.
He stayed out for the between-stage caution, restarting in 7th. He stayed in the top 10 for the next 20 laps. During the next 100 laps, he ran between 11th and 15th, eventually ending stage 2 in 13th place.
Stage 3 began with Daniel and his #19 Stanley Camry in 12th place. For the next 85 laps, he ran between 8th and 12th. But the race which had seen many cautions, allowing for frequent pit stops, suddenly went green for quite some time. On lap 325, Daniel's crew chief, Scott Graves, brought him down pit road for a green flag pit stop to get fresh tires and more fuel. As a result, he found himself 1 lap down in 20th place.
As luck would have it, a caution came out just 3 laps later, allowing them to take the wave around and get back on the lead lap. He restarted 16th and started moving forward. He was getting close enough to see the top 10 when a caution came out with just 4 laps to go. He pitted for 2 tires and lined up in 9th place for the final restart. That is when the day ended under caution as a result of a Talladega-style crash.
Thankfully Daniel came through unscathed, crossing the finish line in 6th place, his best finish thus far in his first Cup season. He was the highest finishing rookie as well as the highest finishing member of the Gibbs teams. He earned 32 points, bringing him to a total of 278 points, which keeps him 19th in the drivers' standings. He finished 9 spots ahead of Erik Jones, earning 5 points more than him, bringing Daniel to within 5 points of Erik. And he finished 8 positions ahead of Ty Dillon, earning 9 points more than him, positioning him 50 points ahead of him in the standings.
And on the separate rookie standings, here are the current numbers:
- Daniel Suarez -- 147
- Erik Jones -- 130
-
Ty Dillon -- 126
- Corey LaJoie -- 98
- Gray Gaulding --94
By the way, Daniel's #19 Stanley Camry was the random car chosen to go to back to the R&D Center this week.
Next weekend we are off to Pocono to dodge the Pennsylvania raindrops and tackle the tricky triangle, where Daniel will once again do double duty in both the Xfinity and Cup series.
