Suarez Survives & Advances After Brutal Bristol Night Race

Daniel Suarez (Nigel Kinrade/NKP photo)

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Sometimes old and cliché sayings can prove to be the polar opposite in reality. In Daniel Suarez’s case, it was ‘what have you done for me lately?’ versus ‘what can you do right now?’ Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Suarez answered the latter question by doing just enough to advance to the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs for the first time in his career.

It wasn’t pretty, as Suarez ran in 30th place – trapped a lap down, and sometimes as much as three behind race leader and eventual winner Kyle Larson – but Suarez’s previous two races in the first round of the playoffs kept him above the cut line.

The Monterrey, Mexico, native moved on by 10 points over rival Ty Gibbs, though he knew the final outcome of advancing didn’t paint the picture of just how much speed his No. 99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 lacked throughout the Bass Pro Shops Night Race weekend.

“It was a struggle. Since yesterday when we unloaded the car for first practice, we just didn't have the speed,” said Suarez after the 500-lap grind was over. “As you know, with a short amount of practice, qualifying, and going to the race, if you don't have speed out of the trailer, it's very difficult to bring it back to speed.”

Suarez was scored 36th in practice, one spot above Josh Bilicki for the slowest on Friday. In qualifying, he endured a similar fate, starting the race 35th behind another cutline hopeful in Harrison Burton. With the difficulty of on-track passing, and just a pure lack of speed, Suarez earned no stage points.

Daniel Suarez (99) battled Kyle Larson to try and stay on the lead lap all night Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway. (Jacob Seelman photo)

His main battle was fighting the race leader Larson to not get put in an even deeper hole, as well as challenging for the free pass position. When it came to salvaging points, it was about playing defense on his competitors for Suarez and hoping trouble found them throughout the night.

The latter is ultimately what helped save Suarez’s playoff run.

Ty Gibbs’s No. 54 lacked handling for him to move forward Saturday, and both Gibbs and Martin Truex Jr. copped pit road penalties, giving the 32-year-old new life as the pair of Toyota drivers slipped from top-10 positions to buried deep in traffic as a result.

“We made it better, but it wasn't good enough,” Suarez said, discussing his fight with the race car during the night. “We were running 30th, 28th, 32nd all night long, and that's what we had. Luckily, we had a great second place [in] Atlanta, decent 13th-place [at] Watkins Glen after a broken wheel, and we were able to build a cushion. We definitely used every single point out of that cushion [to move on].”

Now Suarez looks toward new heights in his fourth season with Trackhouse Racing. He’s in the Round of 12, with three tracks ahead that will decide the fate of those making the top eight.

His best Kansas Speedway finish with Trackhouse is 10th in 2022. In his last three starts on the 1.5-mile oval, his top finish is 15th, with a recent 27th-place finish in the spring race earlier this year.

Then Suarez must take on Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. While always a traditional wild card, Talladega could be viewed as even moreso for the driver of the No. 99, as he only has two top 10s in 15 career starts on the high banks. The cut off race will be the Charlotte ROVAL, where in 2021 he was 13th, but in his last two starts he’s finished outside the top 30.

While momentum can prove track records and history different, what has become clear is this: Saurez cannot run 30th multiple laps down in a cutoff race and expect to find himself in the next round like he did Saturday night.

He opens Sunday at Kansas 10th in points, two spots out of the Round of 8 and six points back of two-time Cup Series champion Joey Logano for the final transfer spot.

“I can only control so much. I can only control what the No. 99 car can do and everything else is out of my hands,” he pointed out. “At one point there, I felt bad for Ty Gibbs because I had to hold him back quite a bit and he got passed, but I had to do that.

“I wasn't fast enough to run away from him, so I had to play games to be able to affect him as much as possible in a clean way.”

Now, it’s a new ball game. Instead of having to play defense, Suarez must go on the offense to open the second round of the playoffs.

“Luckily it worked out well,” he admitted. “We have to relax a little bit now and focus on the next round.”

Coverage of the Hollywood Casino 400 presented by ESPN BET at Kansas Speedway, the Round of 12 opener, begins Sunday, Sept. 29 at 3 p.m. ET on USA, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.