Suárez Finishes Third at Texas, Ford Driver Captures Second Consecutive Top-Three Result at Track

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Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-85):

● Daniel Suárez started seventh and finished 15th.

● The No. 41 driver remained in the top-five and stayed out on the track during the first two cautions, on laps 10 and 15.

● Suárez was in the second position by lap 20 and remained in the top-five until the third caution on lap 44.

● Unfortunately, as the Walmart Family Mobile driver was trying to leave his pit box during the third caution, he had to slow due to a competitor trying to enter the pit stall in front of him.

● The Mexico native restarted 17th. He remained in the top-20 until he pitted under caution on lap 73.

● Suárez received a pit road speeding penalty during the lap-73 stop and was forced to restart at the rear of the field on lap 77.

● The final caution of the stage meant a one-lap shootout to end Stage 1, which the Ford driver finished in 15th.

● During the stage break, Suárez did not visit pit road.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 86-170):

● Suárez started sixth and finished eighth to earn three bonus points.

● By lap 120 Suárez was in the third position.

● On lap 146 the 27-year-old made a scheduled green-flag pit stop for fuel, four tires and adjustments to help with his racecar’s tight condition.

● The remainder of the stage ran under green, and Suárez ended it in eighth.

● The team pitted during the stage break for four seconds of fuel and an adjustment.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 171-334):

● Suárez started second and finished third.

● He took the lead on lap 179 and held the top spot through the lap-186 caution.

● Caution was displayed again on lap 191, and the Walmart Family Mobile driver stayed out to maintain the lead.

● Although SHR teammate Aric Almirola took the lead from Suárez on lap 201, he held in the top-three until he made a scheduled green-flag pit stop on lap 241.

● The caution was displayed as Suárez was headed down pit lane, and when he returned to the track, he was able to earn the second spot after pit stops cycled through under caution.

● Suárez restarted second on lap 248 and maintained a top-five position until the conclusion of the race, ultimately finishing in third.

Notes:

● Suárez earned his fourth top-five and 11th top-10 of the season and his second top-five in six career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts at Texas.

● Suárez’s second consecutive third-place result at Texas equaled his previous best finish at the track – third, earned in the series’ previous visit to the track in March.

● Suárez led twice for 25 laps to increase his laps-led total at Texas to 34.

● Kevin Harvick won the AAA Texas 500 for the third consecutive year. His margin of victory over second-place Aric Almirola was 1.594 seconds.

● There were 11 caution periods for a total of 56 laps.

● Only 14 of the 40 drivers in the AAA Texas 500 finished on the lead lap.

● Ford took the top-four finishing positions and five in the top-10 in the AAA Texas 500.

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

“Tonight was a very solid night, and I am very happy with the performance and speed that we brought from the shop. Everyone back at the shop did a great job. We knew we would be fast here. We had a solid performance here last time. We did a good job. We had good execution and a good clean day. I am very happy for Stewart-Haas Racing, and the No. 41 Ford Mustang was pretty sporty. I am very happy for Kevin (Harvick) getting his ticket for Homestead.”

Next Up:

The next event on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Bluegreen Vacations 500k on Sunday, Nov. 10 at ISM Raceway near Phoenix. It is the penultimate race of the 10-race playoffs and the final race in the Round of 8. The event starts at 2:30 p.m. EST with live coverage provided by NBC and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

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