Once the race got underway, he struggled with an extremely loose car. He fell back a few spots, finished the first stage in 5th place. His pit crew gained him a couple of spots, allowing him to restart in 3rd. But once again he slipped back, ending stage two in 6th place. Another stellar pit stop once again gained him a couple of spots, and some bad luck for his competitors saw him restarting in 2nd. Now with a car too free on the bottom and too tight on the top, he lost a couple of spots but held onto 4th.
But then, about 40 laps after the stage break, Daniel felt a vibration. He brought his car down pit road for 4 new tires and fuel. Back on the track he found himself in 18th place one lap down. But he was still feeling a vibration. In the meantime, the rest of the field went through a cycle of green-flag pit stops. Once they were complete, Daniel was running in 5th place.
Almost immediately the caution flag flew again, and this time he lost a few spots on pit road. When the race went green again, he restarted in 9th. Over the next dozen or so laps, he pulled forward a few spots, all the way up to 6th.
Another dozen laps, and Daniel was the one who brought out the caution flag. He spun out but kept the car off the wall. After pitting for 2 fresh tires, he restarted in 19th one lap down. But with only 15 laps left in the race, he did not have enough time to get back onto the lead lap. He was still in 19th one lap down when the race concluded.
Over in the Cup series, Daniel and crew snagged the 2nd fastest time in the first practice session, but that was based on being set up for mock qualifying runs. In the second and third sessions, he was 17th and 18th fastest. In qualifying, he was 15th in the first round and 13th in the second. That was one spot shy of advancing to the third and final round, so he started the race from the 13th spot on the grid.
Once the green flag dropped on Sunday afternoon, Daniel managed to hold a spot in the low teens. He was in 12th when the green-flag pit stops got started on lap 39. When they wrapped up on lap 48, he was in 11th. Ten laps later he cracked the top ten for the first time, then finished stage 1 in 9th place.
He ran in the top ten (9th or 10th) during the first 25 or so laps of stage 2. After another cycle of green-flag pit stops, he slipped back to 12th. That is where he was running when stage 2 came to an end.
He restarted stage 3 in 12th. A quick caution with some nimble driving saw him climb back up into 9th place. But a loose car had him losing a few spots, back to 12th when it was time for more green-flag pit stops on lap 200. For the remaining laps of the race, he ran between 11th and 13th. When the checkered flag flew, he crossed the finish line in 12th place.
This was a good, steady race for Daniel. He was not up there challenging for the lead, but he was outrunning several of the playoff drivers. Other than during green-flag pit stops, he was never further back than 13th. For his first Cup start at this track, that is a more than respectable performance.
This finish netted Daniel 27 points, bringing his total to 595 and holding him in 20th place in the drivers' standings. He was the best finishing rookie by far, finishing 21 spots ahead of Erik Jones and 16 spots ahead of Ty Dillon. He earned 23 more points than Erik, trimming the difference to 63 points. And he earned 18 points more than Ty, increasing that difference to 152 points.
Here are the separate rookie standings:
- Erik Jones --246
- Daniel Suarez -- 233
- Ty Dillon -- 180
- Corey LaJoie -- 153
- Gray Gaulding -- 139
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