Daniel Suárez entered the weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway with anticipation for a strong road course performance. Suárez started 13th and powered through the start to grab the 12th position on the first lap.  On lap 12, he entered the top-10 for the first time.  Suárez fell back to 11th again on lap 14.  Under caution on lap 21, Suárez pitted his No. 41 Haas Automaton Ford Mustang for four tires and fuel.  Restarted 23rd on lap 22 and methodically picked up spots to finish the stage in 10th.  Suárez stayed out during the stage break to maintain track position.

Suárez jumped up to sixth on lap-27 restart early in Stage 2.  By lap 29, Suárez had passed two cars to secure the fourth position.  Suárez reported that his No. 41 Haas Automaton Ford Mustang was fine and got better during the middle of the run.  Under caution on lap 43, Suárez pitted for four tires and fuel and restarted fifth.  The race remained green for the rest of the stage. While battling with the No. 48 of Jimmie Johnson, the No. 41 machine received right-rear damage, but Suárez persevered to finish eighth.

On the lap-52 restart, Suárez held steady in sixth, but fell back to eighth by lap 55.  After staying out during the lap-63 caution, Suárez reported that his car was “coming in” at the end of the run.  The Haas Automation team made a scheduled, green-flag pit stop on lap 73 for four tires, fuel and repairs.  Pitted again during a caution on lap 95 for four tires and fuel. Restarted 33rd with 11 laps to go.  Suárez worked his way up to 23rd, but on the final lap received contact from the No. 6 of Ryan Newman and finished 34th.

“Our No. 41 Haas Automation Ford Mustang was fast. We just didn’t get the finish we were hoping for. We’ve still got time to get a win this season.”

Date:  Sept. 29, 2019
Event:  Bank of America Roval 400 (Round 29 of 36)
Series:  Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Location:  Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval (2.28-mile, 17-turn road course)
Format:  109 laps, broken into three stages (25 laps/25 laps/59 laps)
Start/Finish:  12th/34th (Running, completed 108 of 109 laps)
Point Standing:  17th with 707 points

Next Up:
The next event on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Dover 400 on Sunday, Oct. 6 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. It starts at 2:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBCSN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Source: SHR