It can be said that The start of the round of 12 of the Nascar Cup Series playoffs was difficult for Daniel Suárezbut the Mexican driver once again managed to finish in an acceptable position and remain very involved in the fight for the championship.
The next Nascar event is this Sunday at the famous track in Talladega, Alabama (2 pm Eastern/11 am Pacific/TV: NBC).
With a car without balance as he himself characterized it, Daniel Suárez kept his 10th. place in the general standings after finishing 13th. of the race in Kansas Citywhere ironically his Trackhouse Racing teammate, Ross Chastain – already eliminated from title contention – won.
“Our No. 99 Chevy was very good yesterday (Saturday), but we didn’t have it today,” Suárez said after the race in Kansas City, the first of three corresponding to the round of 12, a race in which his car did not. It responded ideally in short corners or on straights, he said.
“We just struggled with balance all day. We don’t feel very well. It was a decent finish, but I definitely feel like our Chevy had a lot more potential,” added Suárez, 32, originally from Monterrey.
It should be remembered that Suárez did a real juggle to reach the round of 12, when at the close of the round of 16 he defended himself with his teeth and thanks to the 31st place achieved in Bristol in the face of a lot of adversity with his vehicle he had enough to advance. His second place in Atlanta two races earlier had helped him a lot.
The 12 drivers who are fighting to reach the round of 8 are: 1. William Byron (3,074 points), 2. Ryan Blaney (3,068), 3. Christopher Bell (3,068), 4. Kyle Larson (3,058), 5 . Denny Hamlin (3,051), 6. Alex Bowman (3,048), 7. Chase Elliott (3,044), 8. Joey Logano (3,044), 9. Tyler Reddick (3,040), 10. Daniel Suárez (3,030), 11. Chase Briscoe (3,019) and 12. Austin Cindric (3,019).
This means that Suárez needs to make up two positions during the races in Talladega (October 6) and North Carolina (October 13) to get to the next round. At the moment it appears 14 points below of the waterline. One of the first positions this Sunday or the next would virtually give the Mexican his ticket.
By the way, Daniel Suárez made a noble gesture this week by bringing pet food to the Charlotte racetrack as part of Nascar’s efforts to help the victims of Hurricane Helene, which devastated the region.
The positions of the Mexican Suárez in Talladega
At Talladega, the Alabama track that gained greater fame for the comedy film “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” (2006) with actor Will Ferrell, the Mexican has not had very outstanding “comic” finishes within the Cup Series. Suárez, however, recorded three top tens in his past five starts. Their positions there in the highest category were: 19, 15, 10, 16, 12, 32, 28, 34, 23, 23, 31, 8, 9, 10 and 26.
“In Talladega, as we all know, anything can happen,” Suárez had anticipated a couple of weeks ago about the 500-mile race. He will race there with his No. 99 Chevy painted black and neon pink. It will be unmistakable.
The winner of a Nascar race gets 40 points, second place 35, third place 34, fourth place 33, and so on. At the end of the race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course four drivers will be eliminated from championship contention, and Only the top eight will be fighting the round of 8 from October 20 to November 3 in the Las Vegas, Homestead and Martinsville races.
And after that, the top four in the standings will compete for the Nascar Cup Series crown in the Nov. 10 race in Arizona.
Keep reading:
– Daniel Suárez: citizenship, then marriage and then the fight for the Nascar title
– The heart-stopping ending with which Daniel Suárez obtained a great victory in the Atlanta race
– Checo Pérez revealed that he would like to compete in Nascar after his time in Formula 1