By Caleb Whisler, Staff Writer
The day for Daniel Suarez began early at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Monster Energy All-Star Race because of the criteria set forth for the event.
Suarez had to run the Monster Energy Open late Saturday afternoon. Suarez was able to advance to the main event after winning the second stage. It would have been Suarez’s second appearance in the event.
“It was good. It was fun. I’m very proud of my guys. The pit crew did an amazing job again. Last year we were able to make it and this year we’re able to again, so I’m very proud of that,” Suarez said after the Open.
When it came to the All-Star race, Suarez had to start in the back of the field. Within the first 10 laps of the first stage, Suarez had worked his way to the 11th position. At the end of the first stage, Suarez finished 10th.
During the stage break, his pit crew was able to gain six positions on the field. Once the race restarted, Suarez made a power move on the high side to finish the stage in second. Once he worked his way forward, Suarez was in contention to possibly win the race.
With two laps remaining in the final stage, Suarez knew that he had a car capable of winning, but knew it would be a struggle battling two Fords.
“For whatever reason restarts, my car was taking like one lap to go and those guys, when two Fords were connected, they were pretty strong. We just – I needed a little bit more right there. The 11 (Denny Hamlin) got disconnected with myself a little bit. I tried to side draft the 4 (Kevin Harvick), but it was just tough. After that it was pretty much game over because I started racing the 22 (Joey Logano) instead of the 4,” Suarez said.
Despite finishing third, Suarez wanted to win the $1 million.