“Anything can happen at Bristol”: Daniel Suarez’s crew chief talks about the driver’s playoff qualification chances

NASCAR driver Daniel Suarez's crew chief recently shed light on his expectations from him in the playoffs. Suarez secured a P13 finish at Watkins Glen, the fourth-best finish among all playoff contenders.

Former Xfinity Series champion Suarez pilots the #99 Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing Team, competing full-time in the Cup Series. Over his NASCAR career, he has claimed six victories across NASCAR’s top series, including a Cup win at Atlanta this year. He also holds 11 wins in 76 starts in the NASCAR Brazil Series.

The Go Bowling at the Glen playoff race saw unfortunate results for nearly all drivers in the title run. Suarez started in P8 but got stuck in the gravel before stage 2 ended, losing out on the progress he had made. A P13 finish, however, was decent compared to other playoff drivers.

Daniel Suarez's crew chief Matt Swiderski spoke to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel about his expectations from the driver in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol. Swiderski said(via X, formerly Twitter)

"I would have liked to be one position better at Atlanta and be really comfortable, but I think we did kind of what we set out to do and build a little bit of a cushion. You always want more of a cushion going into the races like this, especially at Bristol, but I think we feel pretty good that we just have to have a solid night and hopefully stay out of trouble. I think you guys know anything can happen at Bristol, so it's only so comfortable."

As things currently stand, Daniel Suarez is in P5 in the driver standings, 36 points above the Round of 12 cut-off line. The #99 has shown promise this season and would be looking to make a solid run to secure his first championship title in the Cup Series.

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Tyler Reddick points at Daniel Suarez’s wreck for his shattered Watkins Glen run

23Xi Racing driver Tyler Reddick expressed that his on-track incident with Daniel Suarez in stage 2 of the Go Bowling at the Glen is where the tide turned on his race.

Regular season champion Tyler Reddick started the race from P16, climbing to P7 by the end of stage 1. Although he has a strong road course reputation, the #45 driver ended with a disappointing P27 finish. Following the end of the race, Reddick was asked to share his thoughts on his performance at The Glen. He said (via Frontstretch):

"We were decent I thought in Stage 1 and we got clipped by 99 and I don't know if we couldn't really find anything we can fix but we just never were same." [00:05]

"I mean in Stage 1, I was pretty solid but I think the biggest thing is there was enough of us just stuck in a train together that like it was just really really hard to get out of line or anything. You couldn't really get clocked on anything." Reddick added.

Despite a disappointing finish at Watkins Glen, Tyler Reddick is comfortably ahead of the Round of 12 cut-off line. He is currently P6 in the driver standings, right behind Daniel Suarez.