A Sunday Drive through Wine Country

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.