LAS VEGAS, Nev: Daniel Suárez didn’t have much to celebrate in the first four races of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, but that changed with a strong second-place finish in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Suárez had been making headlines throughout the week after a crash last weekend at Phoenix Raceway involving Katherine Legge, who was making her NASCAR Cup Series debut.
The former NASCAR Xfinity Series champion was outspoken about the approval process for competing in the Cup Series, though he didn’t place all the blame on Legge herself.
Once the engines fired for the fifth race of the season, Suárez put Phoenix behind him and focused on building on his recent success at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
It wasn’t an easy day for Suárez. Starting midpack, the Monterrey, Mexico native steadily worked his way through the field, finishing 13th at the end of Stage 1.
The No. 99 Trackhouse Racing team kept Suárez in contention with a strong pit stop, setting him up to restart Stage 2 inside the top 10.
Suárez held his ground inside the top 10 through a round of green-flag pit stops.
Stage 3 was intense for the two-time NASCAR Cup Series winner. With the leaderboard constantly shifting, Suárez needed track position to stay in the fight for his first win of the season.
The team rolled the dice on pit road with a two-tire stop to start Stage 3. Despite the gamble, Suárez managed to hold onto track position until his final pit stop on Lap 244, following the last caution of the race for Noah Gragson.
Suárez pitted for tires and a splash of fuel to make it to the finish. Another clutch stop by the Trackhouse Racing team gave Suárez the edge off pit road, putting him in control for the restart.
Under intense pressure, Suárez fended off a hungry pack of challengers. But a hard-charging Josh Berry — another driver with a strong history at Las Vegas — was determined to capture his first Cup Series win.
The two made contact on the backstretch while battling for the lead, with Berry ultimately pulling ahead on Lap 252.
Suárez settled for second, finishing 1.358 seconds behind Berry and securing his first top-five result of the 2025 season.
“Yeah, a little disappointed,” said Suárez after the race. “But first of all, congratulations to the No. 21 team and Josh. They did a great job. They’ve been fast lately. They’ve been in contention. So congratulations to them.
Although pleased with the overall balance of his car, Suárez knew that to give Trackhouse Racing its first Cup Series win of 2025, he would need to improve on the short runs.
“We did everything right, you know? The team did an amazing job on the strategy, pit stops,” explained Suárez.
“We did everything right. Our car was fast. We just struggle a little bit in the short run. I mention to my crew chief just a little bit ago, before the last run, I told him, Hey, we want to be up front, I need a little bit better short run.”
Suárez admitted that the late-race contact with Berry might have affected the handling of his car at a crucial moment in the race.
“I was having too much contact over there in (turns) one and two,” Suárez explained. “Unfortunately, I feel like that’s why we lost the race, just a little bit too much contact. I mean, I almost wrecked in (Turns) one and two.
“But overall, just very, very proud of everyone at Trackhouse. We’ve been working very hard and it’s showing. Freeway Insurance, Chevrolet, Coca-Cola, Quaker State, all the sponsors that help us be here.”
Follow Chris Knight on X (Twitter) @Knighter01 or email at [email protected].
