Suarez Conquers the Monster Mile

In a race that was supposed to have some Sprint Cup Driver, Daniel Suarez outlasts Xfinity Series regulars to win the Drive Sober 200 from Dover International Speedway. This is his second win of 2016. This win will send Suarez into the “Round of 8” in the Xfinity Series Chase.

 

“I’m very proud of this team – the 19 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry. They did a really good job today and the guys just brought an amazing car. We had a ton of speed. This is one of those races that you would feel bad to lose the race. ARRIS, Juniper, Toyota – everyone that supports this program together, it’s pretty unbelievable to win.”

 

Suarez was able to pass third place finisher Justin Allgaier on the final restart.

 

“He (Justin Allgaier) was racing aggressive because clean air was everything. He got me right there on the restart and I was a little faster than him and I knew if I was close to his rear bumper that I was going to make him loose. I don’t think I ever touched him, but I just wanted to make him loose to be able to complete the pass. Like I said, very proud of everyone and I want to apologize to the 42 (Justin Marks), it wasn’t my intention to wreck him that way. I felt like I had the inside line and he went to the bottom and I apologize for that. Norm Miller (Interstate Batteries), thank you for this run today. Very proud of everyone on this team.”

 

Ty Dillon finished second, Allgaier finished third, Ryan Blaney, who replace Joey Logano, finished fourth, and Alex Bowman rounded out

 

The caution flag flew four times for a total of 35 laps. The first caution was brought out due to fluid on the speedway. The other three cautions were brought out due to accidents on the speedway.

 

Suarez led the most laps at 123, Erik Jones led 54 laps, Blake Koch led 15 laps, Allgaier and Elliott Sadler led three laps, and Ray Black Jr. and Corey LaJoie led one lap.

 

The time of the race was 1 hour, 55 minutes, and 18 seconds. The average speed of the race was 104.076 mph.

 

Suarez and Sadler are the two Chase drivers who will automatically advance due to their wins at Kentucky and Dover. Dillion, who recovered from Kentucky at Dover is the first driver out of advancement only three points behind Brennan Poole, Erik Jones is four points away from the cutout line, Ryan Seig is 10 points from the cutoff line, and Brandon Jones is 18 points from the cutoff line.

 

Next up for the NASCAR Xfinity Series is the Drive for the Cure 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the elimination race in the “Round of 12. Performance Racing Network and NBCSN will have all the coverage for the Xfintiy Series beginning at 8:00PM EST on October 7.

Caleb Whisler
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