The Tricky Triangle, Part 2

At this second visit of the year to Pocono, NASCAR decided to test a two-day weekend, with practice sessions on Saturday and qualifying plus the race on Sunday.  Because of the short time between the end of qualifying and the start of the race, pit stalls were selected based on the qualifying results from last week.

During the practice sessions Daniel was the 6th fastest (with a mock qualifying run) and 23rd.  He had a good qualifying session, with the 2nd fastest time, then 5th fastest, then 8th fastest, locking in a top ten starting position for the race.

 

When the green flag dropped, Daniel gained one position on the first lap.  But the first lap also generated a caution.  When the race resumed 5 laps later, he restarted in 12th.  Green flag pit stops ran from lap 15 through lap 46, and when they concluded he was running 20th.  He gained 2 positions before the end of stage 1, crossing the start/finish line in 18th on lap 50.

To regain some of the lost track position, his crew chief, Scott Graves, called for fuel and only 2 tires during the stage break caution.  When the race resumed on lap 55, he was in 6th place.  Except for one brief lap in 11th place, he maintained a spot in the top ten for over 40 laps.  Then with 3 laps left in stage 2, Scott Graves called him down pit road to the attention of the 19 crew.  That resulted in a 24th place finish for stage 2, but gave him the option of staying out once the race resumed.

And the plan worked.  When stage 3 got underway on lap 195, Daniel was in 5th place.  Except for cycling through green flag pit stops, he held a position in the top ten, eventually crossing the finish line in 7th place for his third consecutive top ten finish and his seventh overall.

He earned 30 points this race, bringing his season total up to 464 points, maintaining 18th in the drivers' standings.  He finished 1 spot ahead of Erik Jones, grabbing 1 more point than his closest rookie rival.  He has closed the gap to a mere 5 points.  And he finished 10 positions ahead of Ty Dillon.  Those additional 10 points have now stretched his lead to 104 points.

This is what the separate rookie standings look like now:

• Daniel Suarez --212
• Erik Jones --202
• Ty Dillon -- 171
• Corey LaJoie -- 142
• Gray Gaulding -- 133

Points update:  Following the race, Erik Jones car was found to have an illegal suspension piece.  As a result, his team was docked 25 points, and his crew chief was suspended for two races and fined $50,000.  Erik Jones' drop in points moved him behind Daniel in the standings.  Daniel is now the highest ranking rookie in the drivers' standings as well as the separate rookie standings.  This shift moves him into 17th place, 20 points ahead of Erik Jones.