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  • NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart to compete in NASCAR Xfinity Series Race July 4 at Indianapolis

    NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart to compete in NASCAR Xfinity Series Race July 4 at Indianapolis

    Tony Stewart will compete in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race July 4 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in a Ford Mustang from Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR).

    The three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and 2020 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee will headline the inaugural Xfinity Series event on Indianapolis’ 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course, with the 62-lap race serving as Stewart’s 28th overall start at the Brickyard but his first in the Xfinity Series. Stewart has competed in 18 Brickyard 400s, five Indianapolis 500s and four IROC Series races. Stewart is a two-time Brickyard 400 winner (2005 and 2007) and a member of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame.

    “Everyone knows what Indy means to me, so I can’t think of a better place to race on Fourth of July weekend,” said Stewart, who grew up 45 minutes from Indianapolis in the towns of Columbus and Rushville, Indiana. “It’s going to be cool making history by turning left and right in a stock car at the Brickyard, and the racing will be full of action and contact. Any time you can drive any racecar at the speedway is special, and you know I’m going for the win. The date is already circled on my calendar.”

    The road course at Indianapolis has hosted INDYCAR, Formula One, sports cars and even MotoGP, but never NASCAR. And while Stewart is no stranger to Indianapolis, be it in open-wheel Indy cars or full-bodied stock cars, he has never driven the road course in any type of racecar. But Stewart has proven to be prolific when turning left and right. He has eight road-course wins in the NASCAR Cup Series, including his 49th and final career victory in 2016 at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway. Stewart is second to only Jeff Gordon for the most road-course wins in the NASCAR Cup Series with a tally that includes Sonoma in 2001, 2005 and 2016 and Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International in 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2009.

    Outside of the NASCAR Cup Series, Stewart has a road-course win in IROC and a near win in the prestigious Rolex 24 At Daytona. Stewart won Round III of IROC XXX on the Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway road course en route to the 2006 series championship. He also competed in the prestigious Rolex 24 At Daytona five times, with a best finish of third in 2005 with co-drivers Jan Lammers and Andy Wallace. Stewart nearly won the 2004 Rolex 24 At Daytona, where with co-drivers Wallace and Dale Earnhardt Jr., they led 355 of the 526 laps available and had a commanding five-lap advantage before mechanical problems less than 20 minutes short of the finish ended their shot at victory and placed them a disappointing fourth.

    Stewart’s most recent road-course outing came in a demonstration run last October at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas. He took an SHR-prepared Ford Mustang specially outfitted with a passenger seat around the 3.426-mile, 20-turn layout and showed Haas F1 Team drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen how to wheel a 3,200-pound racecar around America’s only purpose-built Formula One track.

    “It was a lot of fun for me to get in one of our Ford Mustangs and do that exhibition run at COTA,” Stewart said. “It kind of got my juices flowing to get back in a car again, and what better place to come back than Indianapolis Motor Speedway.”

    The Indiana 150 will mark Stewart’s 95th career Xfinity Series start and his first since the 2013 season opener at Daytona, where Stewart collected his 11th Xfinity Series victory. It will also mark Stewart’s first NASCAR start since the 2016 NASCAR Cup Series season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

    “People sometimes say, ‘We miss seeing you behind the wheel,” and I’m like, ‘Well, you’ve just got to go to different places now’,” said Stewart, who has collected 23 wins in an assortment of sprint car races since retiring as a full-time NASCAR driver at the end of the 2016 season. “I’m racing 100 times a year in a sprint car, but seeing some of these road-course races – especially the Roval at Charlotte – piqued my interest a bit, and running the stock car at COTA, it kind of fed my hunger. All of it has led me back to the place I’ve always called home – Indy.”

    Details regarding Stewart’s car number, crew and primary partner will be announced closer to the race.

  • Decision to run XFINITY Series on Indianapolis road course could save division’s future at track

    Decision to run XFINITY Series on Indianapolis road course could save division’s future at track

    For a sport whose fans can be hostile toward change, the upcoming 2020 season in NASCAR may very well be the new standard by which to measure the sport’s future. Changes have been the norm in the off-season, with everything from the Cup Series short track/road course packages being changed again to the pit stop rules changing in the XFINITY Series and the Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series.

    On Wednesday, another change was announced as NASCAR stated that the XFINITY Series event on July 4 would be held on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course.

    Ben Kennedy, NASCAR’s managing director of racing operations and international development, was optimistic about the change as the XFINITY division will now be holding five road courses in its 2020 campaign.

    “As we’ve seen in recent years, road course racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series provides some of the most thrilling action of the entire season, and we are excited to bring it to an iconic venue like Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

    “[Track owner] Roger [Penske], [track president] Doug [Boles], and the entire IMS team have been tremendous partners in growing the Brickyard weekend, and we’re looking forward to what promises to be a must-see event during July 4th weekend.”

    The change could very well be the shot in the arm that the division needs regarding its efforts at IMS as the majority of the events held there since their first visit in 2012 have been less than stellar. NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch has won four of the eight events held there, while XFINITY regulars have only won three of the events (Ty Dillon in 2014, William Byron in 2017, Justin Allgaier in 2018).

    Drivers and fans alike have agreed that the division’s product at IMS has suffered compared to how it was on the O’Reilly Raceway Park venue, in which the division last visited in 2011. However, given the quality of the road racing product that the division has put together in recent years, an IMS road course event could bring added excitement to an otherwise dull affair.

    Another thing to consider is that an IMS road course event could further fuel the possibility of an IndyCar/NASCAR crossover event, let alone an IndyCar/NASCAR double-header weekend in the future. Considering most of the allure at IMS comes from its history with the IndyCar Series, there is little doubt that bringing in stars from the open-wheel and sports car world would raise the event’s stock a bit.

    Sports car star Jack Hawksworth almost won on the IMS road course as an IndyCar rookie in 2014, and considering how well he fared at Mid-Ohio in a Joe Gibbs Racing entry, he’d be a shoo-in for the competition. Another driver to consider would be 2019 Indianapolis 500 winner Simon Pagenaud, who has won on the IMS road course three times including a dominant run in 2016 on his way to the season championship.

    Of course, this is all speculation. But if the XFINITY Series can make the Charlotte Roval look good on their first try, then there’s no doubt that the idea of an IMS road course race could turn a few heads and pique some interest.

    NASCAR is going into the 2020 season doing everything they can to make sure that the fans and drivers are able to enjoy the on-track product. With that being said, changing the XFINITY event at IMS to a road course event is a step in the right direction in rectifying an otherwise dull event. There’s no doubt that it’ll be a good race for both fans and drivers.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Indianapolis

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Indianapolis

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Kyle Busch: Busch blew his engine on lap 87 and finished 37th at Indianapolis.

    “The race was called the ‘Big Machine Vodka 400 At The Brickyard,’” Busch said. “What a great sponsor for a NASCAR race. It’s a good time for NASCAR fans to claim their first top 10, because they all ‘finished fifth.’ But don’t you dare ever call Mark Martin ‘pint-sized.’”

    2. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin went to a backup car after his car caught on fire after slamming the wall in Saturday practice. He still finished 6th in a backup car, and will start the playoffs in second.

    “Saturday practice was an ordeal,” Hamlin said. “NASCAR hasn’t seen a car filled with that much smoke since Winston was sponsoring the Cup.”

    3. Kevin Harvick: Harvick started on the pole and led all but 42 laps on his way to capturing his second Brickyard 400 triumph.

    “What a win,” Harvick said. “It was quite a thrill to climb the fence with Tony Stewart. That was exciting, plus it makes me confident that NASCAR catch fences can handle anything.”

    4. Martin Truex, Jr.: Truex finished 27th at Indianapolis and will start the championship playoffs in 3rd place.

    “The NRA says NASCAR is becoming anti-gun,” Truex said. “Has the NRA seen what’s going on in a NASCAR infield? Everyone is packing, and everyone is loaded. Wait just a minute. I must be thinking about coolers.”

    5. Joey Logano: Logano won Stage 1 at Indianapolis and finished second, over 6 seconds behind Kevin Harvick.

    “Harvick’s car was just too good,” Logano said. “In NASCAR, a six-second lead is an eternity. And, for the fans watching a race that isn’t close, it’s also an eternity.

    6. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski crashed hard on lap 48 after contact with Erik Jones.

    “I went hard into a tire barrier,” Keselowski said. “The tires went flying. Those tires covered a very dangerous angle on the track. All I know is that it needs to be ‘retired.’”

    7. Chase Elliott: Elliott finished 9th at Indianapolis.

    “Jimmie Johnson missed making the playoffs,” Elliott said. “That breaks a streak of 15 straight playoffs. Jimmie went from ‘Seven-time,’ to ‘Fifteen-time,’ to now, ‘Not This Time.’”

    8. Kurt Busch: Busch finished 30th at Indianapolis after damage in a lap 106 wreck marred his race.

    “I got mixed up in a tangle between Jimmie Johnson and William Byron,” Busch said. “And I absolutely accept no blame in the fiasco. If someone wants to blame me, I’ll deny it vehemently, because I refuse to be anyone’s punching bag.”

    9. Ryan Blaney: Blaney finished seventh at Indianapolis and heads to the playoffs with 2,004 points, 41 behind first-place Kyle Busch.

    “I’m not satisfied with just making the playoffs,” Blaney said. “I want to win the championship. I just spoke those words into my exhaust, because it’s a ‘pipe dream.’”

    10. Clint Bowyer: Bowyer finished fifth at Indianapolis and claimed a spot in the playoff field.

    “My Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Daniel Suarez is currently feuding with Ryan Newman,” Harvick said. “It’s become so bad, many people have suggested we build a wall between them.”

  • Bowyer, Newman make 2019 playoffs

    Bowyer, Newman make 2019 playoffs

    In what has been an up and down year for Clint Bowyer’s No. 14 team, the Kansas native made it into the Playoffs. Bowyer came into the Indy race facing the possibility of elimination but the Stewart-Haas Racing driver clinched a spot with a fifth-place finish.

    “I definitely think we got the ship in the right direction,” Bowyer said to PRN Radio. “Talking about the ship, it was setting sail for the 4 car today. That’s a Stewart-Haas car, that’s a Ford Mustang. I’m excited about our momentum, single-digit finishes here with three in a row, rolling into the Playoffs. We finally got some mojo, some things going on our side. So we just got to keep that together and roll off into the Playoffs and move on to some rounds.”

    Roush Fenway Racing driver Ryan Newman Racing also raced his way into the Playoffs by earning an eighth-place finish Sunday afternoon at Indy. Newman started 22nd and worked hard for his ninth top-10 of the season.

    “Our credentials don’t show a lot for leading laps, poles, wins and stuff like that,” Newman told PRN Radio. “The effort that went into that, might be that of a guy that’s leading the points. We’ll just have to keep on going. Real proud of everybody at Roush Fenway getting this Acorns into the Playoffs. These next three races, there’s no guarantee getting into the next 10.”

  • Logano falls short at Indy

    Logano falls short at Indy

    It was a good effort for Joey Logano and his No. 22 crew but they fell a little short of scoring that elusive win at Indianapolis.

    Logano qualified fourth and really did not fall back at all during the race. He was able to win the first stage and finish fourth in the second stage. The Team Penske driver swapped the lead a couple of times with Kevin Harvick. In fact, Logano led 11 laps and even had a shot to win the race with a late-race restart that came with nine to go. In the end, Logano had to settle for second place.

    “We were the second best car of the cars that were still running,” Logano jokingly told PRN Radio. “Which may actually mean we were a fourth-place car in general. Proud of our Shell Pennzoil team. We needed a solid day, we had a rough month. It was nice to be able to finish where we should and have a shot at winning the race.”

    “I would like to do it again, I don’t know if we had something for them. I was hoping for a green-white-checker at the end there, I was hoping for a caution. I was saving my tires there and he (Harvick) was too far up there to catch. Like I said, good momentum builder with the Playoffs coming up and we’ll head to Vegas, the track we won at the last time we were there. Coming off a solid finish here, so we’re ready to go.”

    Logano is seeded fourth in the playoff standings.

  • Byron, Hamlin, Larson ready for Playoffs

    Byron, Hamlin, Larson ready for Playoffs

    With a disastrous qualifying effort of 29th earlier Sunday, Byron had his work cut out for him for a good finish. At the end of Stage 2, the No. 24 team finished ninth. He had a close call with his teammate Jimmie Johnson at the beginning of Stage 3 but fortunately carried on and wound up with a fourth-place effort.

    “It was a good run for us,” Byron said to PRN Radio. “We obviously got the damage early on pit road. I was really surprised how well the car ran. I think we could have been even better with less damage but should’ve, could’ve, would’ve, we still ended up fourth and really happy with that. Just grinded it out and had a good day. It was a lot of wild starts, a lot of wild things going on. I was fortunate to hang on.”

    Byron will be seeded 13th in the playoff grid.

    Like Byron, Denny Hamlin and his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota had a poor qualifying outing of 33rd Sunday morning but had to start from the back due to an engine problem in practice. However, he worked his way through the field hoping to give Joe Gibbs Racing another crown jewel win. Hamlin finished eighth in Stage 1 but did not record a top-10 finish in Stage 2.

    He was unable to lead a lap, but with four wins, Hamlin is playoff-bound and is ready to pursue the championship.

    “I thought we had a second-place car but these cars and the track is such a hard combination together,” Hamlin said to PRN Radio. “We just couldn’t get the track position. Whoever was out front just had a tremendous advantage and that’s why the 4 (Harvick) controlled the race and everything worked out for them.”

    “We got to get a little bit better, not going to a backup car, blowing tires and things like that. Certainly, we had to go to the back in most races. This is another great rebound for us.”

    Hamlin is seeded second in the playoff points grid.

    Kyle Larson and his No. 42 team were not so lucky after a crash on Lap 130 which eventually took him out of the race. He wound up in 33rd place. Despite the finish, the Chip Ganassi driver is making the Playoffs once more in his career.

    “I feel good,” Larson said to PRN Radio about the playoff run. “Our cars have been really good here the past couple of months. Been extremely happy about that and our car today especially. I hate that I made the mistake there and spun, but overall, proud of the team and the cars we been bringing to the track lately.”

    Larson finished second in both stages and will be seeded ninth in the standings.

  • Blaney and Elliott earn top-10 finishes, playoff bound

    Blaney and Elliott earn top-10 finishes, playoff bound

    Consistency is why Ryan Blaney did not have to worry about making the Playoffs. The No. 12 team had no wins coming into the Indy race but had seven top fives and 11 top-10 finishes.

    Blaney qualified ninth at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and was fairly consistent all afternoon during the Big Machine Vodka 400. He finished fourth in Stage 1 and third in Stage 2. The No. 12 driver even took the lead at one point off the restart and led once for 19 laps. Unfortunately, it would be the only time Blaney would be in the lead. Even with a few late-race yellows, they weren’t enough and left the Team Penske driver frustrated with a seventh-place finish.

    “Lost the lead when the caution came out on the pit stop cycle and not going to pass anybody,” Blaney frustratingly said to PRN Radio. “So, whoever was in the lead was the best car. We lost the lead and that was pretty much it.”

    Blaney will be seeded 12th in the Playoff standings.

    Chase Elliott, on the other hand, had quite an eventful day from the start. During the first caution, Elliott was bumped from behind and turned around on pit road. He was fairly quiet all day, not scoring any stage points and trying to make ground up. With the late-race cautions and the way pit strategy played out, Elliott claimed the ninth position after contact early on.

    “It was pretty much destroyed,” Elliott described to PRN Radio about his car. “Our NAPA team did a nice job to somehow piece it back together. The splitter is gone on the left front and the right side, I tore it off later. So yeah it was a long day. We kind of just had to fight and came with a top-10. All things considered, I thought it was okay.”

    Elliott is seeded seventh in the playoff grid.

  • Wallace scores best career finish since Daytona 500 in 2018

    Wallace scores best career finish since Daytona 500 in 2018

    Despite all the talk about who was in and who was out of the Playoffs, another driver received a lot of attention after the race was over. Bubba Wallace, driving the famed No. 43 of Richard Petty Motorsports, brought home the No. 43 World Wide Technology Chevrolet to a third-place finish.

    “I haven’t had a high like that since Daytona last year,” Wallace explained to PRN Radio. “Man, we unloaded with a ton of speed and we’ve been unloading with that last month and a half, two months. We just haven’t transitioned that over to the race but for some reason, it started off Saturday morning to right now. And it led to a third-place finish at Indy, a racetrack where I showed up last year for my first Cup debut and didn’t see the place until the drop of the green flag of the race.”

    “To come here, it just speaks volume to my guys at Richard Petty Motorsports are what they are able to do with such limited resources. I can’t thank World Wide Technology enough for making that big leap last year and making another leap with us this year. You know being here, jumping on our cars. We’re not where we want to be, but we can always be better. This is a hell of a day, just thankful and grateful to be here.”

    The third-place finish was Wallace’s first top-five of the season.

  • Harvick dominates at Indy

    Harvick dominates at Indy

    Kevin Harvick won the 26th annual Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard on Sunday. He dominated the race leading all but 42 laps en route to his second victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the 48th of his career.

    “Yeah, this is great. Got to say thanks to all the fans. Can’t tell you how much, yeah, that’s great. How much coming to Indianapolis means to me, as a kid I watched Rick Mears win Indy 500s and got to be around him as a kid, and he was my hero, so coming here and winning here is pretty awesome.” Harvick said.

    This was Harvick’s third victory of the season and his 17th top-10 finish in 2019.

    “Yeah, I don’t know if we had the best car, but we had the fastest car. We gave up the lead there on one of those restarts and then we came and pitted and the caution came out and it worked our way. We’ve given so many away just because of circumstances here, and the way that the caution flag fell today actually worked in our favor. It gave us control of the race and we were able to keep control of the race and not make any mistakes and here we are in Victory Lane at one of the greatest places on earth to race,” Harvick said.

    In a rare schedule that saw qualifying early Sunday morning, Harvick qualified on the pole. Stages were broken into 50/50/60 laps to make up the 160 lap race.

    Stage 1: Lap 1- Lap 50

    On Lap 12, potential playoff contender Daniel Suarez slapped the wall off Turn 2 and brought out the first caution of the day. Chaos broke out on pit road when an incident saw Chase Elliott get turned around causing a backup on pit road. Jimmie Johnson, Martin Truex Jr., Bubba Wallace, William Byron and Austin Dillon were all involved.

    Johnson had the most damage and would have to come back down pit road for a right rear issue. After the restart, Kurt Busch had a left front tire rub which saw him making a pit stop shortly after on Lap 17. As a result of the incident on pit road, Truex had left front damage on his car. Also during this stint, Brad Keselowski reported a possible vibration, but it was minimal.

    The second caution flew on Lap 43 when the No. 00 of Landon Cassill hit the wall hard after a right-front tire went down. Cassill walked out under his own power and was okay.

    Under the caution, Joey Logano and Ryan Newman played pit strategy by staying out to get the top spots and everyone else wound up pitting.

    A restart came with four to go in Stage 1, however, the field was slowed once more with Erik Jones and Keselowski making contact with each other off Turn 2. Jones hit the wall hard and Keselowski’s car went sliding down to hit the tire barrier. Both drivers would be unharmed.

    Due to the incident so late in the stage, Stage 1 ended under yellow with Team Penske’s Joey Logano taking the stage win. Kyle Larson, Harvick, Ryan Blaney, Newman, Johnson, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Alex Bowman and Chris Buescher rounded out the top-10 stage finishers. A red flag would eventually come out to allow track workers to clean up the accident.

    Stage 2: Lap 57- Lap 100

    Stage 2 almost saw a long green-flag run to the end of the stage before a caution was brought out by Kyle Busch. His motor expired and his car came to a stop on pit road going up in smoke. NASCAR would fly the yellow flag due to the car being stopped.

    At the time of caution, Johnson was the leader and green flag pit stops were taking place. Harvick had already pitted on Lap 85 and caught a lucky break with the timing of the yellow. Harvick would cycle out as the leader for the restart. Like the ending of Stage 1, another caution was seen for debris in Turn 2 on Lap 97 and the stage ended under yellow once more.

    This time it was Harvick who would end up winning the stage. Logano, Larson, Blaney, Logano, Clint Bowyer, Suarez, Kurt Busch, Johnson and Byron were the top-10 stage finishers for Stage 2.

    Stage 3: Lap 105- Lap 160

    When Stage 3 began, a major wreck broke out in Turn 2 when Johnson hit the wall. This would end Johnson’s championship hopes for the first time in his career. Kurt Busch, Byron, Buescher, Menard, Kligerman and Daniel Hemric were also involved in the crash.

    In what seemed like a potential race losing moment for Harvick, Blaney took the lead for a short while before green flag pit stops began with 34 to go. Harvick pitted from the lead two laps later and once again, a caution was flown for the No. 42 of Larson who hit the wall.

    Two more yellows were seen. The first occurred with 26 to go for Bowman spinning off Turn 2 and hitting the inside wall on the backstretch. The other caution came with 14 to go when Matt Tifft hit the wall in Turns 1 and 2.

    This would set up a late race restart with nine to go. Logano was on the outside row and tried to make a move on Harvick on the backstretch. However, Harvick closed him off, checked out from the field and went on to win his third race of the season and the 48th of his career.

    “As long as I was side-by-side going into Turn 1, I just didn’t feel like they were going to pass me,” Harvick added to PRN Radio. “I felt like I could hold my car in the second lane for the first three corners and nobody ever made it to the fourth corner on the inside line. So for us, I just needed to stay side-by-side and I wasn’t trying the bottom again, and that didn’t work. Luckily, things worked our way.”

    With three wins this season, Harvick is going to compete for the championship and hopes to win his second title for the first time since 2013. Harvick led five times for 118 laps for his second career Indy win.

    There were nine cautions for 48 laps and 13 lead changes among eight drivers.

    Up Next: With the playoff grid set, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers began their 10 race playoff run next weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

    Official Results

    1. Kevin Harvick, led 118 laps, won Stage 2
    2. Joey Logano, led 11 laps
    3. Bubba Wallace
    4. William Byron, led one lap
    5. Clint Bowyer
    6. Denny Hamlin
    7. Ryan Blaney, led 19 laps
    8. Ryan Newman
    9. Chase Elliott
    10. Paul Menard, led one lap
    11. Daniel Suarez
    12. Austin Dillon
    13. Ty Dillon
    14. Aric Almirola
    15. Chris Buescher
    16. Ryan Preece
    17. Michael McDowell
    18. Matt DiBenedetto
    19. Corey LaJoie
    20. David Ragan
    21. Alex Bowman
    22. Ross Chastain
    23. Reed Sorenson
    24. Ryan Sieg, three laps down
    25. B.J. McLeod, three laps down
    26. J.J. Yeley, three laps down
    27. Martin Truex Jr., four laps down
    28. Garrett Smithley, four laps down
    29. Josh Bilicki, five laps down
    30. Kurt Busch, five laps down
    31. Ricky Stenhouse Jr, seven laps down
    32. Matt Tifft, OUT, Crash
    33. Kyle Larson, OUT, Crash
    34. Daniel Hemric, OUT, Crash
    35. Jimmie Johnson, OUT, Crash
    36. Parker Kligerman, OUT, Crash
    37. Kyle Busch, OUT, Engine
    38. Brad Keselowski, OUT, Crash
    39. Erik Jones, OUT, Crash
    40. Landon Cassill, OUT, Crash

  • Suarez misses out on Playoffs

    Suarez misses out on Playoffs

    Daniel Suarez could not afford any trouble at Indy as he was tied with Ryan Newman after the Southern 500 in Darlington last week.

    It was a difficult day though for his No. 41 team with a qualifying effort of 20th. During the race, things got off to a rocky start early when he slapped the wall off Turn 2 and brought out the caution on Lap 12. Suarez had to come down pit road and make a pit stop so his team could check for potential damage. His car would be fine but he had a lot of ground to make up after restarting in the back.

    Due to the incident early on, he was unable to record a top-10 finish in Stage 1 but he did manage to finish sixth in the second stage. The No. 41 team tried to use a different strategy with 34 to go by coming down pit road and hoping there would not be a caution for the rest of the race. If the strategy worked, Suarez would have cycled out as the leader.

    However, cautions breed cautions and that would eventually cost Suarez a chance to make it to the PLayoffs. From here on out, Suarez will only be able to contend for wins as he missed the Playoffs by just a few points.

    “We did a good job, we just didn’t have enough speed,” Suarez said to PRN Radio. “We just have to keep working and we have 10 more races to get it into victory lane.”