Daniel Suarez got the good finish at the Indy Road Course he needed to stay in contention to make the NASCAR Cup playoffs but lost out on a chance for even more.
Suarez started on the pole for Sunday’s 82-lap race on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile course but lost the lead to eventual winner Michael McDowell early in the first stage.
With 35 laps remaining, Suarez went to the inside of Elliott and nudged him out of the way to take over the runner-up position behind McDowell. He then briefly retook the lead before he, McDowell and Elliott all made their final green flag stop on lap 50.
Suarez was in position to become the leader with the No. 1 pit stall, but the air hose briefly got caught under his car which slowed his stop and left him behind McDowell and Elliott in the running order when all three returned to the course.
With the race going caution-free the rest of the way, neither Elliott nor Suarez could make up much ground on McDowell, which left Suarez with a third-place finish.
Daniel Suarez, Trackhouse Racing, Freeway.com Chevrolet Camaro
Photo by: Matthew T. Thacker / NKP / Motorsport Images
“I mean, we win and we lose as a team, and that’s all I can say,” Suarez said. “The guys brought a very fast race car. I felt that maybe we were one adjustment behind in the first run with the back of the car, but then we made it a little bit better.
“But I felt like I was always one step behind (Elliott) and (McDowell), and then at the end, I felt that when my car came alive again, we had that issue.”
Suarez called the pit road issue “a little bit heartbreaking.”
“That’s part of the sport,” he said. “All we can do is continue to push, continue to build race cars like this, and I’ll keep on winning races.”
The fight to make the playoffs
With two races remaining in the regular season, Suarez now sits 17th in the series standings and 28 points behind Bubba Wallace.
With another road course coming up next week at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International, Suarez believes he could have an even better chance for a win there.
“We can perform I think even better,” he said. “I felt like (Saturday) we were very strong and today we were strong.
“We were lacking a little bit; I didn’t like my first half of the race. But I’m pretty sure we’re going to go back, analyze everything, and come back stronger next week.”
