Rookie Suarez continues impressive run with third straight top ten

Suarez, who qualified eighth for the Overton’s 400 at Pocono Raceway, finished seventh and was the top Monster Energy Cup Series rookie for third week in a row.

“I think it was a good day,” Suarez said. “We were seventh or sixth most of the day. We were in the top 10. That was the speed that we had.”

In the first stage, Suarez dropped in the field after an early wreck. By Lap 21, Suarez worked his way up to second as other drivers pitted. He remained up at the front of pack until he pitted on Lap 35.

He restarted fifth for the second segment and ran in the top 10 until the No. 19 team pitted with three laps remaining in the stage. When the rest of the field pitted prior to the third stage, Suarez stayed on the track and lined up sixth for the final segment.

Suarez was in the top five when he pitted on Lap 125. With 20 laps remaining, Suarez was running sixth but was passed by Keselowski over the next five laps.

“At the beginning of the race, we were a little bit off but the guys never gave up working on the race car. We kept making improvements on the car.

“I’m very proud of this group at Joe Gibbs Racing, to keep the momentum going.”

Suarez improved his finish by eight positions over his Cup debut at the Tricky Triangle in June. He’s earned seven top 10 finishes in 21 starts this season and is 18th in the standings.

Team owner Joe Gibbs has been pleased with the his latest addition to JGR.

“Daniel got moved up this year and he had a lot to learn in a short period of time,” Gibbs said. “He seems to have a steadiness about him. He gets off, sometimes, early in the races and may fall back some, but towards the end of these races he’s shown that he can definitely be a solid top 10 car. That’s three-in-a-row for him.

“We’ve been impressed, I think everyone has — Arris, DeWalt, Subway — we talk about it all the time. I think they’re really proud of Daniel and the progress they’ve made.”