Daniel Suárez at 9 pm ET Monday, March 16, 2015 Photo – Daniel Suárez Twitter
Daniel Suárez is our guest on Fan4Racing Fan2Fan NASCAR & Race Talk on Monday, March 16, 2015 at 9 pm ET. During the LIVE broadcast, call 714-202-9918 or tweet @Fan4RacingSite or @Sal_Sigala with any questions or comments.
No. 18 ARRIS Toyota Camry Team Finishes 11th At Phoenix International Raceway
Daniel Suárez and his No. 18 ARRIS Toyota Camry team found themselves in Avondale, Arizona, for the fourth NASCAR Xfinity Series race weekend of 2015, the Axalta Faster. Tougher. Brighter 200 at Phoenix International Raceway. It was the first event of the new year at a track that Suárez has raced at in the past, recording a top-five and a top-ten in three NASCAR K&N Pro Series West events at the one-mile oval, and one win in two NASCAR Mexico Series starts.
“A few days ago I really felt like the race here in Phoenix is like a home track for me seeing as we are not racing in Mexico,’ said Suárez. “This is a pretty good track for me in a personal way. This was the first track that we have come to in 2015 so far where I have a little bit of experience in different race cars. My confidence was a little bit higher. We keep learning and we have a long way to go. We have to keep working and hopefully we can keep building on those top-tens for the next few weeks.”
After serving as the Grand Marshal for the Mexico Series event on Friday night, the 23-year-old Monterrey, Mexico, native began race day in top form, posting his best series qualifying effort to date, a sixth-place finish in the last round.
The Axalta Faster. Tougher. Brighter 200 green flag flew shortly after 1 p.m. local time and the No. 18 began its quest for its second consecutive top-ten finish of the season. After the first few laps of the event, Suárez radioed to his team that he felt a little loose on entry. The No. 18 team was able to make some adjustments, in addition to four tires and fuel, during the first caution of the afternoon near lap 48.
Suárez restarted in the 11th position on lap 55, staying close to the race leaders and battling to get back into the top-ten. That would come a few laps later, as he turned in some of his best laps of the afternoon and moved back into the tenth position on lap 61.
The second caution of the afternoon flew on lap 96. Suárez radioed that his car was running well, shortly before coming down pit road for four tires and fuel, restarting the event in tenth with 99 laps to go in the event.
Suárez stayed silent on the radio over the next 21 laps, commenting that he felt the car getting loose when the third caution came out on lap 122. He came down pit road for two tires and fuel, restarting in 11th on lap 133.
Five laps later, was the fourth caution of the afternoon. Although Suárez still felt his car was running a bit tight on entry into the corners, the team stayed out, restarting the event on lap 143 in the seventh position.
The race went green the rest of the afternoon, with Suárez battling to improve his position. He raced hard over the last 57 laps, but fell just shy of his second top-ten of the year, finishing in the 11th position.
“We improved a lot,” said Suárez. “I think I made a lot of mistakes last weekend in Las Vegas and I was really focused on those mistakes and listened to people. We did a way, way better job with this track. I think we were a top-ten car the whole race long. In the long run with two tires it was pretty good the first however long and then in the second run I wasn’t that fast, but again it was a full day of learning. We have to keep learning and keep working and I think we are going to be there.”
Joey Logano won the Axalta Faster, Tougher, Brighter 200, his first series win of 2015 and the 22nd of his career. Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Matt Kenseth came in second, followed by Kevin Harvick, Austin Dillon and JGR driver Erik Jones, who recorded his first career series top-five.
Next on the schedule for the Xfinity Series is Fontana,CA with the green flag shortly after 4 pm ET and will air live on Fox Sports 1.