Daniel Suarez will start Sunday’s DuraMAX Drydene 400 at Dover Motor Speedway from eighth, directly alongside his Trackhouse Racing teammate and last week’s winner, Ross Chastain.
It’s still a respectable effort, his third top-10 of the year, but the result is much more impressive when you consider the pain surrounding the Monterrey, Mexico-native this weekend, after suffering an injury to his left foot in training on Thursday.
No brake, only throttle this weekend ? pic.twitter.com/71nnk1fTWH
— Daniel Suárez (@Daniel_SuarezG) April 29, 2022
Speaking to FOX Sports’ Jamie Little between rounds, Suarez was fairly nonchalant about the condition of his foot, as I’m sure most professional athletes would be in this situation.
“Right now, I’m fine,” Suarez told Jamie Little. “When I put a little bit of pressure on it, is when I have a little bit of pain, but once you’re in the race car, you only go, so we’re going to be fine here, victory lane is going to be even sweeter.”
"I made a mistake, to be honest."
Talking with Daniel Suárez about only making one qualifying lap and the injury he suffered to his foot in training this week. pic.twitter.com/sj6RDebdVb
— Jamie Little (@JamieLittleTV) April 30, 2022
Suarez, driving the No. 99 CommScope Chevrolet, was able to make a total of 18 laps around Dover Motor Speedway on Saturday, three in qualifying and 16 in practice.
The 30-year-old looks to finally add his name to the list of first-time winners this season, after seeing his Trackhouse Racing teammate Ross Chastain visit the victory lane on two occasions at COTA and Talladega.
The first NASCAR Cup Series victory for Suarez has been 189 starts in the making, as the Xfinity Series Champion enters his sixth full-time season of competition at NASCAR’s top level for his fourth different organization.
Statistically speaking, the one-mile oval known as “The Monster Mile” has been one of Suarez’s best tracks on the Cup Series circuit, scoring five top-10 results in nine starts, and only a pair of finishes worse than 14th.
The best piece of news for Suarez this weekend? In the last 11 NASCAR Cup Series events at Dover Motor Speedway – dating back to 2016 — seven times has the winner started from inside the top-10.
