Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-130):
● Daniel Suárez started ninth and finished 14th.
● Early in the stage, Suárez radioed that his No. 41 Haas Automation Ford Mustang was tight in the center of the corners but loose on entrance and exit.
● During a caution on lap 67, Suárez pitted for four tires, fuel and wedge and air pressure adjustments.
● Near the end of the stage, Suárez reported that he was struggling for grip off the corners.
● Pitted for tires, fuel and slight chassis adjustments at the conclusion of the stage.
Stage 2 Recap (Laps 131-260):
● Started 13th and finished ninth, collecting two bonus points.
● Stayed out during a caution on lap 147, gaining valuable track position.
● Suárez worked his way back into the top-10 by lap 231.
● At the end of the stage, pitted for four tires and fuel.
Stage 3 Recap (Laps 261-500):
● Started 11th and finished 10th.
● Suárez battled for position with the No. 3 of Austin Dillon near the end of the 500-lap race.
● During the race’s final caution came on lap 447, Suárez pitted for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment.
● Started ninth for the lap-455 restart and finished 10th.
Notes:
● Suárez earned his second top-10 of the season and his second top-10 in five career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts at Martinsville.
● Brad Keselowski won the Martinsville 500 to score his 29th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory, his second of the season and his second at Martinsville. His margin of victory over second-place Chase Elliott was .594 of a second.
● There were seven caution periods for a total of 56 laps.
● Twenty of the 36 drivers in the Martinsville 500 finished on the lead lap.
● Kyle Busch leaves Martinsville as the championship leader with a 21-point advantage over second-place Denny Hamlin.
Daniel Suárez, Driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“We were good in the long run, but, unfortunately, we didn’t have a lot of longer runs the rest of the day. I felt like in the long run maybe my car was the best, but the short run wasn’t as good. It’s funny, because yesterday it was the opposite, but something good to build on and, hopefully, we can keep going in the right direction.”
Next Up:
The next event on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 on Sunday, March 31 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. The race starts at 3 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX.
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