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Trackhouse Racing driver Daniel Suarez finished 10th in Sunday’s 400-mile NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
A late caution set up a two-lap dash to the finish line at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Martin Truex Jr. stayed out on older tyres but was unable to hold on. After a two-tire call, William Byron surged ahead and won the race in a Hendrick Motorsports 1-2-3.
Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman finished second and third, respectively. Byron won both stages as well. Truex dropped to seventh after the big bet, but it was still his best finish of the 2023 season thus far.
Maybe, since the race was held in Las Vegas, one of the top 10 drivers decided to gamble at the end. Martin Truex Jr. chose not to pit before the final restart, but he was unable to keep up with the cars on fresh rubber. On the final lap, Byron moved to the outside and checked out.
Joey Logano, the pole sitter and defending Las Vegas winner, came last and was the only car that did not finish the race. In the final stage of the race, the Team Penske driver was pushed high, exiting Turn 4 and collided with the outside wall before spinning on the infield grass.
The race was relatively clean, with only four cautions, including stage breaks. Byron led the most laps (176), with eight different leaders and 13 lead changes.
Alex Bowman took first place in this race a year ago and finished third in the latest one. Toyota drivers Bubba Wallace of 23XI Racing and Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing finished in the top five for their respective teams.
Austin Cindric, Truex, Justin Haley, Kevin Harvick, and Daniel Suarez rounded out the top 10 on Sunday.
The 58-year-old didn't lead a lap, but his 10th-place finish gives him top-10 finishes in all three Cup races so far and moves him up to fourth in the standings.
Suárez now ranks fourth in the 2023 points standings. He finished in the top 10 for the third time this year.
He started 24th and battled traffic early on before climbing to 11th in the second stage. Daniel Suarez raced as high as fifth in the final stage but was unable to catch the leaders.
“It was a roller coaster. We had a fast car all day. Some runs were better than others. I felt like, at times, that we had a car capable of fighting for the win. For some reason, I felt like we had a set of tires that were a little weird there and we lost some track position. Then we had a bad stop on the last one and lost another few seconds. It was a little difficult because we had to overcome a lot. But overall, the car had speed and the car was capable of running in the top-five. That is very promising.”
Daniel Suarez overcomes mistakes to finish fifth in the Auto Club Championship
Despite an early pit road speeding penalty, Daniel Suarez recovered to finish fifth in the final race at Auto Club Speedway's 2-mile configuration. Suarez entered and exited pit road without incident, unlike a mistake he made earlier in the race. However, the NASCAR driver was still regaining track position.
Daniel Suarez jumped several drivers by being among the first to stop. In the closing laps, he worked his way by Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, and Kevin Harvick. The Monterrey, Mexico native broke into the top five with five laps to go, taking the spot from Hamlin. It was the first time in a long time.
