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With 28 laps to go, polesitter Kyle Larson brought out the
race's fourth caution when his right front tire came off after
making slight contact with Justin Haley's No. 31 Chevrolet.
As Kyle Busch wrecked shortly after the 110-lap race's last
restart, Suarez paced the field in his No. 99 Chevrolet, with
Chris Buescher racing behind him.
However, Buescher's No. 17 Ford never really threatened Suarez
around the 1.99-mile road course, and the 30-year-old Monterrey,
Mexico native went on to the history-making victory.
The Trackhouse Racing driver joined Mario Andretti (Italy), Juan
Pablo Montoya (Colombia), Earl Ross (Canada) and Marcos Ambrose
(Australia). Ambrose was the most recent, having won in 2012 at
Watkins Glen.
Suarez, who earned the 2016 Xfinity Series championship while
driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, nabbed his first win in his 195th
career start.
"I have so many thoughts in my head right now," Suarez said.
"It's been a rough journey. These guys believe in me --
Trackhouse Racing, (team owner) Justin Marks, everyone who
helped me get to this point. My family never gave up on me. A
lot of people did, but they didn't. Trackhouse has believed in
me since Day 1."
It was the third win of the year for Marks and Trackhouse, who
also have had two wins by Ross Chastain.
"This one is difficult to put into words," Marks said. "Daniel
Suarez, (crew chief) Travis Mack helped build Trackhouse.
They've been working so hard together, they've been so focused
and dedicated getting into victory lane. (Chastain) winning two
races was tough on them, but they never gave up and knew they
belonged in victory lane."
Buescher finished second by 3.849 seconds, followed by Michael
McDowell, Kevin Harvick and Austin Cindric.
After the weekend's qualifying session, the front row looked
exactly like it did last year -- with Larson on the pole and
teammate Chase Elliott right beside him. In that one, the
Hendrick Motorsports drivers finished in that order as they
battled their way around the road course in the state's wine
country.
At the race's start, defending winner Larson led his No. 5
Chevrolet around every circuit and claimed Stage 1, a short,
25-lap sprint that allowed the drivers to feel out their cars in
the second road-course event of 2022.
Following his stage win, Larson pitted and turned the lead over
to Elliott, who had come in for service before the segment
ended. A seven-time winner on road courses, Elliott kept the No.
9 Chevrolet at the point over Buescher.
But Elliott's team had a loose wheel while servicing his car
with two laps to go in Stage 2 and worked on it outside the pit
box, creating a drive-through penalty that Elliott had to serve.
Meanwhile, Joey Logano's No. 22 Ford inherited the lead and won
Stage 2 over Aric Almirola.
--Field Level Media
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