Races March 10, 2026March 10, 2026 Spire Motorsports Driver Spins and Later Gets Collected in Wreck on Lap 254 Date: March 8th, 2026 Event: Straight Talk Wireless 500 (Round 4 of 36) Series: NASCAR Cup Series Location: Phoenix Raceway (1.022-mile oval) Format: 312 laps, broken into three stages (60 laps/125 laps/127 laps) Start/Finish: 4th /30th (completed 254 of 312 laps) Point Standing: 17th with 98 points Notes: Daniel Suárez, driver of the No. 7 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Spire Motorsports, sustained heavy front-end damage that ultimately ended his day early and resulted in a 30th-place finish at Phoenix Raceway. A strong start with a seventh-place showing in Stage 1 earned the NASCAR Cup Series veteran four bonus points. After earning a venue-best starting spot of fourth in his 17th Cup Series start at Phoenix, Suárez ran inside the top 10 throughout Stage 1 and took the green-and-white checkered flag in seventh, lining up 13th for Stage 2 following pit stops. On Lap 104 while running in the 15th position, slight contact with a competitor sent Suárez spinning into the wall, prompting a caution and a pit stop for four tires, fuel, and repairs to the right-rear and splitter. He restarted at the tail of the field with a caution on Lap 133 allowing the team to pit again for adjustments and fresh tires. By Lap 157, the car was more secure on entry and exit, and Suárez was back inside the top 20 for the conclusion of the second stage. Suárez made a scheduled pit stop at the stage break for additional adjustments and restarted 26th for the final segment. He narrowly avoided an incident on Lap 247 while making his way back into the top 20, but a multi-vehicle wreck just eight laps later ended Suarez’s day and dropped the No. 7 team to 17th in the driver championship point standings. Daniel Suárez, driver of the No. 7 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet Camaro for Spire Motorsports: “We had a very fast Freeway Insurance Chevrolet Camaro on Saturday. At the start of the race, the balance wasn’t quite what I wanted, and when we lost a bit of track position it became challenging. The car got a little loose as we ran which put us in a slightly compromised situation. Overall, though, I feel good about my No. 7 team. The car showed a lot of speed. There are a few things to clean up on the execution side, including my own performance, but we’ll be ready for next week at Las Vegas.”
