Running Better and Better Every Week

Up in the lake country of New Hampshire, Daniel Suarez started the weekend with a car that was 11th fastest, 15th fastest, and 7th fastest in the three Cup practice sessions.  He ran similar speeds in qualifying, grabbing the 12th best time in the first round, easily advancing.  In the second round, he could do no better than 15th and failed to continue on to the third and final round.  But once qualifying was over, one of the cars ahead of him had its time disallowed, so Daniel ended up starting the race in the 14th spot.

Once the race got underway, he battled a loose-handling car.  Gradually he fell back until he finished the first stage in 21st on lap 75.  Since he had pitted for 4 tires during a caution just 8 laps before the stage break, he stayed out and restarted 13th on lap 83.  Within 4 laps, he cracked the top ten in 9th place.  During the rest of stage 2, he ran as far forward as 8th place and as far back as 13th.  That is where he was running when stage 2 ended on lap 150.

During the stage break, a slow pit stop saw him coming off pit road in 21st.  Over the next 60 laps, he made minor gains, advancing to 17th place.  Green-flag pit stops covered the next 30 laps, and as they cycled through, Daniel found himself running in 10th place.  He fell back 2 spots during the next 12 laps.  Following a caution on lap 261, the 19 ARRIS Toyota pitted, then restarted in 11th place.

And that was the last time Daniel would run outside the top ten.  Little by little, he picked up one position after another.  When the checkered flag flew, he crossed the finish line in 6th place, tying his best finish in the Cup series.  Oh so close to a top five!! 

He earned 31 points this race, bringing his season total up to 404 points.  He maintained his 18th spot in the drivers' standings.  He finished 33 spots ahead of Erik Jones, earning 30 more points than his closest opponent, closing the gap to only 23 points.  He finished 10 positions ahead of Ty Dillon, gaining 10 points on him, now putting him 82 points ahead.

As I suspected, Daniel's top-notch performance allowed him to regain the lead in the separate rookie standings.  This is what they look like now:

• Daniel Suarez -- 198
• Erik Jones -- 194
• Ty Dillon -- 168
• Corey LaJoie -- 133
• Gray Gaulding -- 117

Following the race, it was discovered that Daniel's car had one unsecured lug nut.  Crew chief Scott Graves was fined $10,000 for the infraction.  No point penalty.