Photo Credit: Jonathan Moore/Getty Images for NASCAR
Daniel Suarez put together a strong rookie campaign last year, which left many believing that he’d be a driver to watch this season. Those words have held true as he currently leads the series standings and came close to winning for the third straight week in a row.
On Saturday in the TreatMyClot.com 300, Suarez ran in the runner-up spot, trying to save fuel while trying to catch Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch for the lead.
“In the whole run we were saving fuel,” Suarez commented. “I knew that we were one to one-and-a-half laps short. I was saving fuel. I wasn’t worrying about the 20 (Erik Jones) or 18 (Kyle Busch), I was just trying to finish the race because I knew that we were short.”
In a matter of moments, the race changed hands. He watched his teammate Erik Jones run out up ahead of him with three laps to go. Suarez said at that moment, he started saving even more. It seemed that the race was going to fall into his lap as Busch blew a right front tire, handing the lead to Suarez as he entered turn one. With his first victory in sight, all Suarez had to do was complete the next lap.
Then, it happened. His No. 19 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry began to sputter off of turn two and he was out of fuel. Instead of picking up the win, he’d cross the line in the fourth spot.
Despite not getting the result he wanted, the Mexican driver is not letting it get him down as he takes the positives in knowing they had a strong car all race long.
“I think it’s been the closest race that I ever had and would have loved to get that first victory,” he said. “It’s not bad. The team is amazing with the chemistry that we have. We win and we lose together and today we were close and that’s pretty much all I can say.
“I can tell you our first victory is coming, and it’s coming fast.”
