Daniel Suarez rolled into Bristol with two teams. He was slated to drive the #20 Xfinity car as well as his regular #19 Cup car. On the Xfinity side of the garage, his car did not unload with a lot of speed, posting the 17th fastest and 10th fastest times in the two practice sessions. Rain delayed the start of qualifying, so it ended up consisting of a single 20-minute session. Daniel logged the 7th fastest time to grab a starting spot in the fourth row.
Once the green flag dropped on the Friday evening Xfinity race, Daniel ran in the top ten throughout the race. He cracked the top five by lap 24 and was permanently there by lap 44. He finished stage 1 in 4th place and stage 2 in 3rd place. Initially he was happy with the handing of the car, but then it began to tighten up. It was good on the short runs but would get too tight in the center so he had trouble turning the car. As the race wound down he found himself running in 2nd, but by that time he had used up too much of his tires to reel in the eventual winner. But his top notch run netted him a second place finish and plenty of experience for the next day's Cup race.
Meanwhile, over in the Cup garage, he logged the 12th and 14th fastest times in practice. During qualifying, he advanced through all three rounds, with the 10th, 5th, and 12th fastest times. He lined up on the outside of row six to start the Saturday evening race. As the race got underway, he shot forward, gaining 4 spots on the very first lap. He got as far up as 7th place before his car got tight. He fell back to 12th by the first caution on lap 61, but the adjustments during the pit stop did not seem to improve the handling of the car. By the end of stage 1 on lap 125, he had fallen back all the way to 18th.
He seemed to be locked in the teens through stage 2, never further back than 19th place, never further forward than 14th place. That is where he found himself at the conclusion of the stage.
Stage 3 showed a bit more promise. He restarted in 9th, running between there and 13th for the next 100 or so laps. Following a caution on lap 352, he restarted in 10th and moved forward, as far up as 7th place. He stayed in the top ten for the next 25+ laps before once again falling back into the mid teens.
When the race concluded he crossed the start/finish line in 15th place. He earned 22 points, bringing his total up to 537 and maintaining 17th place in the drivers' standings. He finished 13 spots behind his chief rookie rival, Erik Jones, earning 28 fewer points. He is now 37 points behind him. Even though Daniel lost more ground in the points to Erik, at least Erik did not pull off the race victory. That would have been more damaging to Daniel's run at the rookie title. But Daniel did finish 21 positions ahead of Ty Dillon. Those 21 additional points have now given Daniel a lead over Ty of 142 points.
Here are the separate rookie standings. Note that Daniel has fallen behind Erik.
- Erik Jones --229
- Daniel Suarez -- 225
- Ty Dillon -- 175
- Corey LaJoie -- 149
- Gray Gaulding -- 135
For the second time in the last four races, one unsecured lug nut was found on Daniel's car. There is no point penalty, but crew chief Scott Graves was fined $10,000.
When Daniel Suarez pulled into Michigan International Speedway, he was returning to the track where won his first race in one of NASCAR's three national series. Last year he wheeled his Xfinity car around Kyle Busch to drive away and snag his first win, which propelled him into the playoffs and toward his championship. When his hauler arrived, it dropped off a Cup car that got progressively better throughout the practice sessions, logging times that ranked 20th, 14th, and 9th. Qualifying was just okay, with a 19th in the first round and a 16th in the second round. That was not enough to move him into the third and final round, so he ended up with a 16th place starting position for Sunday's race.
During the initial laps of the race, Daniel's car was free in the corners with chattering front tires. He ran in the mid teens throughout stage 1, crossing the start/finish line in 14th on lap 60.
Instead of pitting, Scott Graves left the 19 car out on the track during the stage-break caution, so Daniel restarted stage 2 in 1st place. He fell back to 2nd on the first green-flag lap but maintained that position for over 20 laps. Then, on lap 89 green-flag pit stops began. Two laps later the ARRIS Surfboard Toyota pitted for four tires, fuel, and a chassis adjustment. Once green flag pit stops cycled through on lap 113, he found himself back in 2nd place. He fell back a few spots during the final laps of stage 2, claiming a 5th place position and the extra points that go with it.
During this stage break caution, Scott Graves did bring Daniel down pit road to the attention of his over-the-wall crew. It was a quick stop, changing only 2 tires, adding fuel, and making a slight adjustment. When stage 3 got underway, Daniel restarted in 12th place. He was struggling with his car and fell back 3 spots within 4 laps.
And then Kasey Kahne cut in front of Daniel, clipping the left front corner of the 19 car. Daniel ended up out of control, hurtling toward the inside fence. He hit the wall, bounced off, and hit it a second time. His day was over. I can't say that I am surprised that Kasey is out of his ride for next year.
Daniel ended the day in 37th place, earning a mere 7 points, and bringing his season total up to 515. He dropped to 17th place in the drivers' standings. He finished 34 spots behind Erik Jones, earning 40 fewer points, now positioned 9 points behind him. And he finished 16 positions behind Ty Dillon, earning 9 fewer points, reducing Daniel's lead to 121 points.
This is what the separate rookie standings look like now:
- Daniel Suarez --224
- Erik Jones --217
- Ty Dillon -- 174
- Corey LaJoie -- 147
- Gray Gaulding -- 133
