Suarez returns to site of NASCAR’s closest finish
The best year of Daniel Suarez’s life began in February when he won the NASCAR Mexico race at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, an event essentially staged with Suarez as the star.
Later that month came the closest finish in NASCAR history, a photo-finish victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway that locked Suarez into the playoffs after a one-year absence.
In the six or so months since, Suarez became an American citizen, married Julia Piquet, built a house and was the guest of honour in Mexico City last week when NASCAR said it would race there next year in its first international Cup Series event of the modern era.
Now it is back to Atlanta, where NASCAR’s 10-race playoffs begin with Suarez back in the championship hunt after missing the field a year ago.
His Atlanta win in February was just the second of his Cup career and he surprisingly beat champion Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch in a three-wide photo finish by .003 seconds.
The finish was so unbelievable that Blaney isn’t even mad that he lost.
“I didn’t feel upset about it. It was pretty wild and I put in my head like: ‘I’ve won them by that much, too,’ ” Blaney said.
“That I lost one by half a foot, I can’t really be mad about it. That was a great finish. A spectacular finish. The only time I wasn’t upset about running second, at all.”
Today, Suarez starts the playoffs ranked 11th in the 16-driver field. The first of three rounds runs until later this month at Bristol Motor Speedway, with the road course in Watkins Glen, New York, sandwiched in between. Four drivers will be eliminated at the end of each round.
Yes, this has been the best year of Suarez’s personal life. Now is the time to make it the best year of his professional life, too. He’s the only Trackhouse Racing playoff representative because teammate Ross Chastain did not qualify.
He feels well positioned for a better showing than his 2022 playoff debut, when he finished 10th. “I feel like, as a driver, I’m much better than two years ago. The team is better than two years ago. We’re smarter, we’re faster,” Suarez said.
“But we still have a lot of work to do. Hopefully, we can execute well and have a good first round and then a second round. One step at a time.
“We cannot be thinking about the Watkins Glen race. We’re focusing on Atlanta right now.”
Alex Bowman opens the playoffs ranked 12th in the standings and aware that people are wondering how safe his seat is at Hendrick Motorsports.
“That rumour has certainly been annoying,” Bowman said ahead of his future with Hendrick Motorsports potentially coming to an end.
“Obviously, my contract is through the end of 2026. All I can tell you is what my bosses have told me, and that is that there are no plans to change anything. As far as I know, I’m driving the No. 48 next year.”
He admitted he “called everybody” to ensure he was safe and was guaranteed he’s good. “Everything’s fine,” he said. Bowman is in his seventh full-time season with Hendrick Motorsports and has made it to the playoffs six times. He made it this year with a win on the streets of Chicago.