Coming into Sunday’s race at Road America, Trackhouse teammates Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez had won the year’s first two road course events – Chastain at Circuit of the Americas and Suarez at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway.
Neither driver led a lap in Sunday’s 62-lap race, which was won by Richard Childress Racing’s Tyler Reddick, but both drivers managed strong performances. Chastain finished fourth and Suarez fifth.
Chastain started 12th and Suarez 17th but both were able to make their way up to the top-five in a race in which it was very difficult to pass.
“Trackhouse still had two in the top-five. Daniel and I were just talking and there were little bits and pieces we were off today and we still had top-five speed,” Chastain said. “Absolutely nothing to be ashamed about.
“Our (car) was fast enough, we were just lacking mainly rear grip on throttle and in the rights (turns) especially. Got really slick there at the end and those guys didn’t slow down in the end as much as we did. A fourth-place car was where we ran most of the day.”
Chastain seemed to make up a lot of ground in Stage 1 and got him on the same pit strategy as Reddick and Chase Elliott (who led the most laps), which helped keep him in the hunt for the win.
At one point, Kyle Larson nudged Chastain out of the way on Lap 37 of 62 racing for third but was able to return to the track in fourth.
Asked about the aggressiveness in the race, Chastain said, “It’s NASCAR Cup Series racing and that is what it’s all about.”
Suarez’s road to the front was a bit more difficult than Chastain due to the former’s struggles in qualifying. But Suarez – who earned his first career victory three weeks ago at Sonoma – seemed satisfied with the effort by his No. 99 team.
“I thought it was fine. For the car that we had, I thought that we maximized everything that we got,” he said. “Proud of my team and my pit crew today, everyone did a great job.
“I felt like we had a top-seven car and we finished in the top-five, so I felt like we did a good job with that. With that being said, it’s not a win. We have to continue to work and continue to get better.”
Just another great day at the office for @TeamTrackhouse. @RossChastain - P4@Daniel_SuarezG - P5 pic.twitter.com/2nvkrpOqt9
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 3, 2022
