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Suarez on his first Cup race: “I really felt like I went to school"

Daniel Suarez’s first competitive race in a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series car seemed more like school, but that’s OK with him.

Daniel Suárez , Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Daniel Suárez , Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Nigel Kinrade / NKP / Motorsport Images

Daniel Suárez , Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Daniel Suarez, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Daniel Suárez , Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Matt Kenseth, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Daniel Suarez, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Daniel Suarez, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Suarez entered the final races of Sunday’s rain-delayed Clash running up front and behind Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin but after an incident between Hamlin and Brad Keselowski on the final lap, Suarez ended up eighth.

Not bad considering, he only sat in a Cup car for the first time earlier this month at a test in Phoenix.

“I really felt like I went to school. I went to school with this race, racing with all of these guys and learning about the aero of the car and how the tires fall off,” Suarez said. “The fall off is not even close to the Xfinity cars and I learned that today.

“And how the car works – it works really, really different. There’s nothing similar in a race like this with 75 laps in a pack of 17 cars that I can practice. I think my team did an amazing job. They put me in the front and gave me the opportunity to finish in the top five and we just came a little short I guess.”

Suarez, who took over JGR’s No. 19 team when Carl Edwards decided to step away from the sport in the offseason, said he was glad he was able to help his teammates execute a near-perfect plan in the race.

“I think the plan worked out perfect. Five laps to go we were exactly where we wanted to be,” he said. “All four of us were in the front and were in a perfect spot to try to win this thing.

“There were some other cars and they have plans and they were pretty strong as well so I guess we have to shake what happened exactly here in this race and try to sort it out a little bit and we’ll come back better next week.”

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