Daniel Suárez qualifying his No.99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet Camaro for the 2025 Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. (Photo Credit: Sydney Redden | The Podium Finish)
HAMPTON, Ga — After pulling off a win in one of the closest finishes in NASCAR history at the same facility last season, Mexico’s Daniel Suárez looks to take home his third career NASCAR Cup Series victory in the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday.
The driver of the No. 99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing has his work cut out for himself as he rolls off 29th alongside his teammate and Cup Series rookie contender, Shane van Gisbergen.
One year ago, Suárez won the spring race in Atlanta in the closest three-wide finish in Cup Series history, with just a 0.007-second difference between him, Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch, the second and third-place finishers. Suárez aims to rally through the field again, hoping to secure another strong finish and potentially achieve victory once more at the 1.54-mile oval.
The native of Monterrey, Mexico kicked off the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series campaign last week with a 13th-place finish in the 67th Annual DAYTONA 500. He successfully recovered from a spin with just eight laps remaining, which caused Ryan Preece to take flight for the second time since 2023 following his violent crash in the summer race at Daytona that year. As he heads into Sunday’s competition, he currently sits 12th in the points standings.
Daniel Suárez celebrating with burnouts after winning the 2024 Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. (Photo Credit: Joshua White | The Podium Finish)
“It was a lot of fun, even more fun for me, right, because I was the one that won the race,” Suarez was asked in a press conference regarding his appearance in the “So Damn Close: Atlanta ’24” documentary about the 2024 Ambetter Health 400. The film highlighted one of the closest finishes in NASCAR Cup Series history.
“Probably wouldn’t have been that much fun if I finished second or third. In general, it was a lot of fun because it was the first time we got to sit down and actually see it together and talk about it, talk about what was on Blaney’s mind, what was in Busch’s mind, in my mind. Obviously, everyone had a different mindset of what to do, what not to do.”
Suárez also spoke about what was going through his mind in the closing laps of last year’s Atlanta spring race and what type of confidence he was given to make his race-winning move.
“Honestly, I didn’t have many options because Austin Cindric was the driver that was behind me. He was lifting a lot, just trying not to help me. Obviously, his teammate was leading the race at that time. My options were very limited when it came to the second lane, trying to create a run. The No. 47 of Ricky (Stenhouse Jr.), he was being very aggressive on the rear bumper of the No. 2. Even with that.”
Suárez elaborated on how he could “feel” the drafting effects at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
“I can see it. I can feel it.”
Despite qualifying 29th for Sunday’s race, Suárez has the second-best average finish among all NASCAR Cup Series drivers at Atlanta Motor Speedway since its reconfiguration in 2022. Suárez has finished inside the top 10 in five of the six Cup contests since 2022. His last three finishes since the summer of 2023 at the track have resulted in two runner-up finishes and a victory in 2024.
Suárez is determined to defend his hard-earned victory at the 2024 Ambetter Health 400, setting his sights on adding yet another coveted trophy to his collection in this thrilling Sunday showdown.
The Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway will air live on FOX at 3 pm EST on Sunday, February 23.
