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DANIEL SUÁREZ – 2019 Kentucky Race Report

Event: Kentucky 400 (Round 19 of 36)
Series: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Kentucky Speedway in Sparta (1.5-mile oval)
Format: 267 laps, broken into three stages (80 laps/80 laps/107 laps)
Start/Finish: 1st/8th (Running, completed 269 of 269 laps)
Point Standing: 18th with 469 points, 277 out of first
Note: Race extended two laps past its scheduled 267-lap distance due to a green-white-checkered finish.

Race Winner: Kurt Busch of Chip Ganassi Racing (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Kurt Busch of Chip Ganassi Racing (Chevrolet)
Stage 2 Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-80):

● Daniel Suárez started Stage 1 from the pole position and ended it 14th.
● Suárez maintained the lead position for the first 49 laps, then came to pit road for four tires, fuel and adjustments to help with the front end of his Mustang.
● After varying pit strategies the 27-year-old restarted 14th on lap 53.
● Suárez remained in the top-15 and stayed on the track throughout the next two caution periods.
● During the Stage 1 break Suárez pitted for fuel, two right-side tires and adjustments.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 81-160):

● The No. 41 driver began Stage 2 in 10th and ended it in 29th.
● Early in the run, the Haas driver relayed to the crew that he thought he had a loose wheel. As he continued in the run, he maintained something felt wrong with a tire.
● On lap 106, Suárez came down pit road for four fresh tires in hopes of relieving the vibration he felt. After review, the team determined he had a tire going down. Unfortunately, Suárez sped on pit road and received a penalty that forced him to make a pass down pit road under the green flag.
● The penalty put the Ford driver two laps down in the 33rd position. After pit stops cycled through late in the stage, Suárez was back to only being one lap down.
● He ended the stage in the 29th position, one lap down, and pitted for fuel, four tires and adjustments during the stage break.

Final Recap (Laps 161-269):

● Suárez earned his seventh top-10 of the season and his first top-10 in three career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts at Kentucky.
● Suárez’s eighth-place result bettered his previous best finish at Kentucky – 15th in last year’s Kentucky 400.
● Suárez led twice for 52 laps, including the first 49 laps from the pole. These were his first laps led at Kentucky.
● Kurt Busch won the Kentucky 400 to score his 31st career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory, his first of the season and his first at Kentucky. His margin of victory over second-place Kyle Busch was .076 of a second.
● There were seven caution periods for a total of 35 laps.
● Only 16 of the 36 drivers in the Kentucky 400 finished on the lead lap.
● Joey Logano remains the championship leader after Kentucky with an 11-point advantage over second-place Kyle Busch.

Notes:

● Suárez earned his seventh top-10 of the season and his first top-10 in three career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts at Kentucky.
● Suárez’s eighth-place result bettered his previous best finish at Kentucky – 15th in last year’s Kentucky 400.
● Suárez led twice for 52 laps, including the first 49 laps from the pole. These were his first laps led at Kentucky.
● Kurt Busch won the Kentucky 400 to score his 31st career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory, his first of the season and his first at Kentucky. His margin of victory over second-place Kyle Busch was .076 of a second.
● There were seven caution periods for a total of 35 laps.
● Only 16 of the 36 drivers in the Kentucky 400 finished on the lead lap.
● Joey Logano remains the championship leader after Kentucky with an 11-point advantage over second-place Kyle Busch.

Daniel Suárez, Driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“It was an eventful night, for sure. We just had a fast racecar, but we got a bit tight. I feel like we made the car better, but we never got the track position back. We had a tire going down and then I was speeding coming to pit road because I was wheel hopping because of the tire. It was one problem after another. We were fast enough to overcome that but not enough to get a better finish. I feel like the good thing is that we have the speed. We just have to keep working to have a cleaner day and keep working to try to keep that speed the whole race.”

Next Up:

The next event on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 on Sunday, July 21 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon. The race starts at 3 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBCSN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.