Daniel Suarez reiterated Saturday he doesn’t want his Atlanta Motor Speedway victory to be the only highlight of the season. Suarez is looking at a return to the NASCAR postseason for the first time since 2022, courtesy of being the first to the …
Daniel Suarez reiterated Saturday he doesn’t want his Atlanta Motor Speedway victory to be the only highlight of the season.
Suarez is looking at a return to the NASCAR postseason for the first time since 2022, courtesy of being the first to the finish line in a three-wide photo finish last weekend. But the Trackhouse Racing driver isn’t looking that far ahead.
“We have a long way [to go] before the playoffs,” Suarez said at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. “In my mind, I don’t want to be one of those drivers that wins one race to get into the playoffs and that’s it. I don’t want to be part of that. The goal here is to do more than that, to be strong in the regular season championship.
“I know that to be able to contend for the championship, you have to win three or more races and that’s the goal. The goal is to build a strong season where we have stage points, where we have wins, so that when we get into the playoffs, it’s not just, ‘Oh, we made the playoffs,’ but in a strong fashion. That’s the goal and we’re working hard, everyone at Trackhouse Racing, to be able to deliver that.”
He scored his first career win at Sonoma in 2022 in his sixth full season as a Cup Series driver. It was his only victory that season. Last year, he went winless and failed to make the postseason, and Atlanta marks his second career win.
Suarez has seen that winning multiple races is the key to success. Ross Chastain, his Trackhouse teammate, won two races in 2022 and competed for the championship. Chastain won twice last year and finished in the top 10 in points again.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1428]
By winning early in the season, Suarez admitted his No. 99 team may now be able to find more ways to earn points. Unless there are more than 16 different winners, he has a guaranteed playoff spot through his win, so focusing on stage points and playoff points for his seeding can become more of a priority.
“I had a meeting with Squid (Matt Swiderski), my crew chief, about it,” Suarez said. “It definitely gives us a lot more freedom. We want to gamble wisely; you don’t want to do just wild gambles and hope for the best, like a stage running long and hoping for things to just fall in your lap. But you can gamble a little bit in the setup. You can gamble a little bit on the strategy. You can push the limits a little bit harder in a few areas. I think it’s a very good thing.
“With that being said, it’s also very important to continue to be consistent, to continue to be strong, and to have in mind that yeah, we’re in the playoffs, but in my mind, one win won’t do it to be able to get to Phoenix to fight for a championship. You have to really build your resume over the year, and we have to continue to do that.”
Suarez finished a career-best 10th in the championship standings when he made the playoffs in 2022. Saturday, he qualified 16th at the first intermediate racetrack of the season.
“I think, honestly, this weekend for us is going to be a very, very important weekend,” Suarez said. “For everyone, because we have a lot of mile-and-a-half [tracks], and this is the first one with this package, and we have to see where we stack up and where we’re strong and where are the areas that we aren’t very strong that we have to work on. We’re going to find out a lot of things today and tomorrow, and I’m very excited for that.”
Ross Chastain was the fastest overall driver Saturday in NASCAR Cup Series practice at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, leading the way at 184.269mph (29.305s). The Trackhouse Racing driver ran 22 laps in practice but his fastest lap was his second. Noah …
Ross Chastain was the fastest overall driver Saturday in NASCAR Cup Series practice at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, leading the way at 184.269mph (29.305s). The Trackhouse Racing driver ran 22 laps in practice but his fastest lap was his second.
Noah Gragson was second-fastest in practice at 183.661mph, Ty Gibbs third at 182.859mph, Tyler Reddick fourth at 182.846mph and Denny Hamlin fifth at 182.723mph.
Bubba Wallace was sixth at 182.673mph, Chase Briscoe seventh at 182.439mph, William Byron eighth at 182.346mph, Kyle Larson ninth at 182.328mph and Chris Buescher rounded out the top 10 at 182.094mph.
Cup Series point leader Kyle Busch was 17th fastest in practice. His lap was 181.421mph.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1428]
Derek Kraus was 34th fastest in practice at 177.293mph. Kraus is making his Cup Series debut in the No. 16 Chevrolet for Kaulig Racing.
There were two incidents — the first, for Ryan Preece, was significant.
Preece spun on his own in Turn 2 and made contact with the left side of his Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse to the outside wall. It was Preece’s fourth lap on track.
The other incident was for Todd Gilliland, who scrubbed the wall off Turn 2. Gilliland was in the second group of drivers who got on track for practice.
There are 37 drivers entered in the Pennzoil 400. In addition to the 36 charter teams, JJ Yeley is entered in the No. 44 for NY Racing Team.
Kyle Larson led the way in the best 10 consecutive lap average. It was Larson over William Byron, Tyler Reddick, Kyle Busch, and Zane Smith.
It was a race of remarkable ebb and flow. It was race of breathtaking four-wide action into corners not built to accommodate such derring-do. And it was totally appropriate that Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor …
It was a race of remarkable ebb and flow.
It was race of breathtaking four-wide action into corners not built to accommodate such derring-do.
And it was totally appropriate that Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway would end in a three-wide photo finish, with Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez eking out a victory over Ryan Blaney by what looked to be an inch or two at the finish line.
NASCAR timing and scoring showed Suarez ahead of Blaney by 0.003s at the stripe, with Kyle Busch in third, 0.007s behind the race winner.
As the three drivers sped through the final two corners, Suarez held the outside lane with Blaney on the bottom and Busch in the middle. Suarez surged forward approaching the finish line to earn his second career victory—and his first since June of 2022 at Sonoma—by the thinnest of margins.
Taking another look at the three-wide finish between Daniel Suárez, Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney at Atlanta:
Suarez, whose No. 99 Trackhouse Race Chevrolet suffered damage to the hood on a lap two crash in Turn 1, had the lead for a restart with five laps left, after the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford of Josh Berry collided with Carson Hocevar’s No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet on lap 249 of 260 to cause the 10th and final caution of the race.
Blaney, the defending series champion, grabbed the top spot almost immediately and held it for four laps, but Suarez and Busch mounted runs on the final lap on in the top and middle lanes, respectively. Blaney chose to make his bid for victory from the bottom lane and fell just short.
“It was so close, man,” said Suarez, still marveling that he was the winner. “It was so close. It was good racing. Ryan Blaney there, Kyle Busch, Austin Cindric also was doing a great job giving pushes. In the back straightaway he didn’t push me because he knew I was going to [screw] his teammate, but man, what a job.
“We wrecked [on] lap two. The guys did an amazing job fixing this car. I can’t thank everyone enough, Trackhouse Racing, Freeway Insurance, Chevrolet, all the amazing fans here. Let’s go!”
Blaney held the bottom line…but it wasn’t quite enough. Lesley Ann Miller/Motorsport Images
As the final lap unfolded, Blaney was shocked at the force of the runs challenging him.
“I thought I laid back enough in [Turns] 1 and 2 to not let both lanes get that big of a run,” Blaney said. “I did that like the three laps before the end, and I was able to manage it kind of fairly well, and they just got both lanes shoving super hard. I just chose the bottom, and it was the safest place to be.
“What a cool finish. Appreciate the fans for sticking around. That’s a lot of fun. That’s always a good time when we can do that, race clean, three-wide finish to the end. Happy for Daniel. That was cool to see. Fun racing with Kyle. I can’t complain; I’ve won them by very, very little, too, so I can’t complain too much when I lose them by that much.”
To Busch, the outcome was predictable, given the positions of the cars in the final two corners.
“Yeah, typically whoever is behind getting into [Turn] 3 prevails at the start-finish line with the side draft and everything, so I was… I think I was second to the No. 12 (Blaney) right there, and the No. 99 was the furthest back, and he made the ground back up with the side draft and stuff…
“It’s good to see Daniel get a win. We were helping each other, being Chevy team partners and working together there. Shows that when you do have friends and you can make alliances that they do seem to work, and that was a good part of today.”
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1428]
The start of the race was a harbinger of the wild finish.
Moments after crossing the finish line to complete the first lap of the race, Todd Gilliland checked up near the front of the field and stacked up the cars behind him. All told, 16 cars were involved, a track record for a single incident at the 1.54-mile speedway.
The machines of Alex Bowman, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, Noah Gragson all sustained heavy damage. Austin Dillon and Harrison Burton, early victims in last Monday’s DAYTONA 500, both were part of the melee.
Burton was able to continue, as was Suarez, who made multiple pit stops as his crew worked to repair has car. Dillon lost two laps on pit road but regained them as the beneficiary under the third and fourth cautions.
If the lap two wreck was an impediment for nearly half the field, the first attempt at green-flag pit stops in Stage 2 was equally discomfiting. Pole winner Michael McDowell locked his brakes near the pit road entrance in Turn 3 and collided with DAYTONA 500 winner William Byron, costing both drivers a lap.
Speeding penalties impeded Busch, Berry, Ross Chastain, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Bubba Wallace, with Erik Jones’ crew drawing a penalty for a runaway tire. Like McDowell and Byron, those drivers all found themselves a lap down after their respective pass-throughs under green.
Through subsequent cautions, however, they regained the lead lap, and Busch raced his way into contention for the win.
Cindric finished fourth, followed by Wallace, Stenhouse, Chastain, McDowell and Chris Buescher, all of whom made commendable recoveries to earn top-10 results.
The race featured a record 48 lead changes among 14 drivers — the fifth straight race at Atlanta with more than a dozen leaders. Gilliland led a race-high 58 laps, a team record for a single race by a Front Row Motorsports driver. Cindric was out front for 32 laps, followed by Blaney (31) and Busch (28).
Suarez led twice for nine laps.
Joey Logano, the defending race winner, received unwelcome news before the start of the race. The driver of the No. 22 Ford was deemed to have violated NASCAR rule 14.3.1.1 governing driver protective clothing and equipment.
Logano’s left driving glove featured webbing between the thumb and forefinger, an unauthorized modification of SFI-approved equipment. Under an at-track penalty, Logano dropped from the second position to the rear of the field for the start and began to serve a pit-road pass-through when the pileup in Turn 1 on lap two slowed the field.
The misery of others was serendipity for Logano, who completed his pass-through without losing a lap. By the end of Stage 1 he was 12th, and after the top 10 pitted during the stage break, Logano was second when Stage 2 went green.
On lap 99, Logano passed Gilliland for the lead as part of a pack of six Fords at the front of the field. On the final lap the stage, however, Logano’s fortunes soured once again when his No. 22 Mustang pushed up the track on the backstretch and collected Chris Buescher and Denny Hamlin.
Towed to his pit stall, Logano lost eight laps and any hope he might have had of defending his 2023 victory.
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube on Sunday, March 3 at 3:30pm ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Ross Chastain, a non-playoff driver, led the way in Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series practice at Las Vegas Motor Speedway while two others crashed due to tire issues. Chastain recorded the fast time of 186.858mph (38.899s) on his third lap. The …
Ross Chastain, a non-playoff driver, led the way in Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series practice at Las Vegas Motor Speedway while two others crashed due to tire issues.
Chastain recorded the fast time of 186.858mph (38.899s) on his third lap. The Trackhouse Racing driver ran a total of 16 laps in practice.
Chris Buescher was second fastest at 186.638mph, Tyler Reddick third at 185.957mph and Chase Elliott fourth at 185.459mph.
Elliott, however, then crashed in Turns 3 and 4 after his right rear tire went down. He hit the outside wall with the right rear and right front of his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, which will force him into a backup car for Sunday’s race.
William Byron was fifth fastest at 185.401mph, Carson Hocevar sixth at 185.274mph, Martin Truex Jr. seventh at 185.192mph and Kyle Larson eighth at 185.160mph. Ty Gibbs was ninth at 184.837mph and Bubba Wallace completed the top 10 at 184.799mph.
There were three playoff drivers outside the top 10. Ryan Blaney was 12th (185.514mph), Christopher Bell 17th (183.943mph) and Denny Hamlin 30th (181.990mph).
The defending race winner, Joey Logano, was 13th with a 184.376mph lap.
Daniel Suarez was 26th fastest in practice. He crashed in the final minutes of the session, spinning off Turn 2 and hitting the tire pack on the inside wall on the backstretch. Suarez will also be in a backup car for Sunday.
In the best 10 consecutive lap average it was Kyle Larson over Byron, Reddick, Buescher and Elliott.
There are 36 drivers entered in the South Point 400.
Ross Chastain wishes he could take back the try-to-shoot-the-gap move he made on Sunday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway. It wound up taking him out of the race at the end of the first stage. The Trackhouse car bounced off Kyle Busch and then …
Ross Chastain wishes he could take back the try-to-shoot-the-gap move he made on Sunday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway. It wound up taking him out of the race at the end of the first stage.
The Trackhouse car bounced off Kyle Busch and then spun in front of Christopher Bell in Turn 3 on lap 60. Chastain was trying to shoot past the slowing Busch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. — stacked up in the far outside lane as Stenhouse ran out of fuel.
It was too small a hole for Chastain to make with two other drivers running side-by-side to his left. The No. 1 shot to the inside of Busch, hit Busch’s driver’s side, and then spun to the left in the path of Bell and the field.
“I saw [Stenhouse] slow and tagging the fence and obviously they were that much slower. I should have just stayed in behind them,” Chastain said. “[Going] four wide was obviously not the right call. I saw a hole and just tried to slide through there. Wish I wouldn’t have.”
The contact from hitting Bell caused significant right-front damage to Chastain’s Chevrolet. He will finish 38th, last, without any stage points in the YellaWood 500.
Bell’s team repaired the damage to the nose of his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and he rejoined the race.
Chastain entered the weekend 12 points above the NASCAR Cup Series playoff grid cutline. He is likely to fall below a transfer spot going into the Charlotte road course, the elimination race for the second round.
“No idea; I don’t look too far ahead,” Chastain said of potentially being in must-win mode next week. “We’ll see how it all shakes out the rest of the day.”
Busch Light will become a primary sponsor of Ross Chastain and the No. 1 team at Trackhouse Racing next season at the start of a multiyear agreement. “With our longstanding commitment to NASCAR, we’ve activated many different types of programs with …
Busch Light will become a primary sponsor of Ross Chastain and the No. 1 team at Trackhouse Racing next season at the start of a multiyear agreement.
“With our longstanding commitment to NASCAR, we’ve activated many different types of programs with our sponsorship throughout the years, and we’re thrilled to team up with Trackhouse Racing and Ross Chastain to continue finding compelling, creative ways to bring 21+ fans, NASCAR enthusiasts and Busch Light consumers closer to the sport they love,” said Krystyn Stowe, Head of Marketing Busch Family & Natural Family at Anheuser-Busch.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1428]
“Our goal is to showcase the things 21+ fans love while enjoying their favorite sport and favorite beer, and we can’t wait to do this along with Trackhouse Racing and Ross as they join the Busch Light family.”
Busch Light will join Trackhouse Racing after a longstanding partnership with Kevin Harvick and Stewart-Haas Racing. Harvick, the 2014 Cup Series champion, is retiring at the end of the season.
Busch Light, which is also the official beer of NASCAR, has been involved in the sport for over 44 years. Its programs include sponsorship of the Busch Pole Award in the NASCAR Cup Series as well as the Busch Light Clash, a non-points event at the start of the season.
“On the farm in Alva, Florida, Busch Light has always been the beer of choice for all of our celebrations, and now that they are right by my side as my sponsor – it’s a dream come true,” said Chastain. “This sponsorship means so much to me as the brand not only supports NASCAR but also places value and extends their support to communities that are close to my heart – the humble, hard-working people across the U.S. who enjoy cracking a cold one after an honest day’s work.”
The 2024 season will be Chastain’s sixth full year at the Cup Series level and his third with Trackhouse Racing. The 30-year-old Chastain has grown into a consistent contender under Trackhouse Racing founder Justin Marks, who hired Chastain after buying Chip Ganassi’s NASCAR operation.
Chastain had a breakout year in 2022 when he won two Cup Series races and finished second in the championship standings.
“Ross has already accomplished so much in his career and we’re so proud that an iconic brand like Busch Light sees his commitment not only to the sport, but to his fans,” Marks said. “Being sponsored by the official beer of NASCAR is such an honor and we can’t wait to see what Ross and Busch Light accomplish together in 2024 and beyond.
“It has been Trackhouse’s goal from day one to build something special and different. Something that resonates with the fans and partners in NASCAR. For Busch Light to recognize this and commit to the vision is both humbling and inspiring as we continue to write a special chapter in the history of this sport.”
