A near miss at EchoPark Speedway but Suarez is positive about Spire's early season performance

Daniel Suarez, for most of Sunday’s race, had a quiet and unassuming day, but he was again in the picture when it came down to deciding the EchoPark Speedway winner.

“Honestly, I thought we were in an amazing spot,” Suarez told RACER and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio about the double overtime finish. “The (No.) 77 leading the top lane, the (No.) 1, myself. I thought we were in a beautiful spot to commit to each other and make it work, but the (No.) 97 slammed on my left side and pushed me wide, and I feel like that broke down the top lane a little bit.”

Suarez lined up sixth, the third driver in the outside lane, for the second overtime attempt. Carson Hocevar, his Spire Motorsports teammate, led the lane with Ross Chastain, his former teammate, sandwiched between them.

On the first lap of the second overtime, Suarez got shuffled to the third lane when Shane van Gisbergen, who got underneath him going down the backstretch, washed up into him in Turn 3. Fortunately, the loss of momentum was brief. Suarez was able to get a run down the frontstretch at the white flag and then take advantage of Hocevar running Wallace into the wall entering Turn 1.

A final strong run down the backstretch into Turns 3 and 4 brought Suarez back to the lead pack. He surged past van Gisbergen coming to the checkered flag to take the fifth position.

“I have to see the replay, but I think the (No.) 1 committed to the (No.) 77 only 80%, not 100%, so I don’t know,” Suarez said. “I feel like we could have done a little bit better. I felt that we gave that one away because we were in a perfect spot to execute. I really wanted to be on the outside, and that’s exactly where we were. I don’t know; I’ll have to go back and see the replay. I haven’t seen it.”

Suarez, however, could not help but gush over the performance and speed from his Spire Motorsports team. It’s been three races, including the Clash at Bowman Gray, plus a North Wilkesboro test, with Suarez behind the wheel of the No. 7 Chevrolet, and he’s felt fast in all three races.

“These guys have something good going on,” Suarez said. “I’m very happy to be a part of this group.”

The team is seventh in points after the first two races of the season.

“I can’t wait to be in COTA,” Suarez said. “I can’t wait. That’s one of my favorite racetracks and I know that we’re going to be in the fight once again. We just have to focus on the little things and execute, and eventually, the wins are going to come. But we have to continue to focus on the little things.”