Suárez Leaves Kansas With 14th-Place Finish

Race Winner: Brad Keselowski of Team Penske (Ford) in overtime

Stage 1 Winner: Kevin Harvick of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)

Stage 2 Winner: Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

 

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-80):

● Daniel Suárez started Stage 1 from the 34th position and ended the stage 29th.

● Suárez was in the 27th spot when the competition caution came out on lap 30.

● The Haas Automation driver reported his Mustang was tight on exit and free on entry. Suárez came down pit road for fuel, two right-side tires and adjustments. He restarted 12th on lap 35.

● The second caution came out on lap 59 while Suárez was 17th. He stayed out and restarted in the eighth position on lap 65.

● In a 14-lap shootout to the stage end, the Ford driver dropped back to 29th with an ill-handling Mustang.

 

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 81-160):

● The No. 41 driver started Stage 2 in 24th and completed it in 25th.

● Suárez began Stage 2 in 24th after pitting for fuel, four tires and adjustments.

● Suárez came down pit road on lap 143 for a scheduled green-flag stop for four tires, fuel and adjustments and returned to the track in the 27th position.

● The 27-year-old worked his way back up to 25th, where he ended the stage.

● Suárez stayed out during the Stage 2 break and took the wave-around to start the final stage on the lead lap.

 

Final Stage Recap (Laps 161-271):

● Suárez began the final stage in 24th and concluded it in 14th.

● The Mexican native made his only scheduled green-flag pit stop of the stage on lap 208 from 21st for fuel, four tires and adjustments. He returned to the track 24th.

● The caution came out on lap 217 with Suárez in the 20th spot while green-flag stops were still cycling through. He took the wave-around to gain one of his two laps back.

● After the restart, the Haas Automation driver worked his way forward and came down pit road under caution on lap 242 for four tires and adjustments. He restarted 22nd.

● The final caution came out with a just a few laps to go, and Suárez was the beneficiary of the free pass. Suárez pitted for four tires and adjustments and returned to the track in the 14th spot, where he ultimately finished.

 

Notes:

● Suárez earned his eighth top-15 of the season and his second top-15 in five career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts at Kansas.

● Brad Keselowski won the Digital Ally 400 to score his 30th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory, his third of the season and his second at Kansas. His margin of victory over second-place Alex Bowman was .205 of a second.

● There were seven caution periods for a total of 41 laps.

● Only 14 of the 40 drivers in the Digital Ally 400 finished on the lead lap.

● Joey Logano leaves Kansas as the new championship leader with a nine-point advantage over second-place Kyle Busch.

 

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

We’re leaving Kansas with a 14th-place finish. We were able to make something out of our day with the Haas Automation Mustang. We battled a few different things and one of those was a hole in the nose of the car, but Billy and the guys kept after it and we came back from two laps down to finish on the lead lap.”

 

Next Up:

The next event on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the nonpoints Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race on Saturday, May 18 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. The race starts at 8 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio beginning at 6 p.m. with the undercard Monster Energy Open.

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