Suarez Wins at Miami, is the 2016 Xfinity Champion

Mark J. Rebilas / USA Today

HOMESTEAD, FL – RIS – After leading the driver standings for much of the season, Daniel Suarez won the Ford 300 NASCAR Xfinity race and the 2016 driver’s championship at Miami-Homestead Speedway.  He has become the first champion in any major series that has been foreign-born.  Suarez was born in Mexico. 

The 24-year-old Mexican bested fellow championship contenders Elliott Sadler, Justin Allgaier and Erik Jones on a botched restart with three laps to go.

"It's very hard to put into words," Suarez said. "I'm speechless right now. I'm just very proud of everyone and thankful to have the family that I have, my mom, my dad. They gave me all the tools to be here right now. They put me in a car even when we didn't have the support or the racing background. They supported me, and right now we are just living a dream."

Suarez thanked fans and his native country in Spanish in victory lane. His win was the first of the weekend for Joe Gibbs Racing, which has two drivers -- Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards -- vying for the Sprint Cup championship Sunday.

"For us, after two years, to be where we are tonight is amazing," car owner Joe Gibbs said. "This is going to be a big deal for our sport. It's huge."

It was just Suarez's third career victory, but the most important for obvious reasons.

Sadler, who gambled by taking two tires on the final pit stop, finished third in the race and second in the standings. The former Cup driver and sentimental favorite remained without a championship at any national level in a career spanning more than two decades.

"This is by far the hardest because I feel like this is the best team I've probably ever worked with," said Sadler, who drove with an interim crew chief because his usual one was suspended. "We felt like we could come in here and compete, and we made a great pit call there at the end to get some clean air."

Sadler asked Cole Whitt to give him the top lane on the restart, but Whitt declined.

Allgaier finished sixth and Jones ninth. Both got stuck behind Whitt, the leader, on the final restart, and when Whitt spun his worn-out tires, Allgaier and Jones fell way behind Suarez.

"It's really frustrating," Jones said. "I don't mean to bag on the guy so much, but it's like, 'Hey, we're up here racing for the championship.' And maybe we don't even win it if he pits and lets us move up, but at least we would have had a fair shot at it. I feel like we kind of got robbed of at least our chance to race for it. Yeah, it's just unfortunate. It just wasn't a great situation altogether."

The mess definitely benefited Suarez, who passed Sadler low and pulled away from the field. Suarez led 133 of the 200 laps in the race.

Suarez was last year's top rookie in the second-tier series. He began racing karts in Mexico and moved to North Carolina as a teenager to pursue a career at NASCAR's national level. He had to teach himself English by watching cartoons on American television, and Suarez moved through NASCAR's Drive for Diversity program to land a job with JGR.

Suarez is the first Drive for Diversity driver to win a championship.

Suarez has soared in his second season with Gibbs. As Jones struggled down the stretch, Suarez upped his performance. He won at Dover to move through the Round of 12 and was runner-up at Kentucky and third at Charlotte. Then, Suarez registered finishes of third (Kansas), fifth (Texas) and fifth (Phoenix) to set up his championship-clinching victory at Homestead while working with crew chief Scott Graves.

"I feel like Scott and I, we have come a long ways," Suarez said. "In the first half of the year, we were good, and in the second half of the year, we were great. That's something really good.

"I'm really looking forward for our future, but for now, I think I'm just very proud of the performance that Scott and the guys and Joe Gibbs Racing, they brought to this race. They brought my favorite car, and that's the car that I won Michigan with. That's just my baby, and we've got it here, and we won a championship."

The championship surely make him an even bigger star back home. On a return trip to Mexico with NASCAR officials last month, Suarez was celebrated as if he was Dale Earnhardt Jr.

After Suarez won in Homestead, Earnhardt Jr. congratulated the new champion via Twitter.

It was JGR’s first championship since 2009, when Kyle Busch won the championship.  JGR also clinched the owner’s championship in the Xfinity series, something they annually faced tough competition in Team Penske the last three years.  Team Penske’s run of two straight team championships came to an end on Saturday.

Unofficial Race Results for the 22Nd Annual Ford Ecoboost 300 - Saturday, November 19, 2016, Homestead-Miami Speedway

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, Pts, Bns, Tms, Laps, Status
1) 1, Daniel Suarez (C), No. 19 ARRIS Toyota, 200, 40, , 7, 133, Running
2) 11, Ty Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, 200, 40, 1, 2, 17, Running
3) 2, Elliott Sadler (C), No. 1 OneMain Chevrolet, 200, 38, , 1, 1, Running
4) 4, Ryan Blaney(i), No. 22 Fleetwood/REV Group Ford, 200, 0, , , , Running
5) 5, Austin Dillon(i), No. 2 Rheem/WATTS Chevrolet, 200, 0, , , , Running
6) 6, Justin Allgaier (C), No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet, 200, 35, , 2, 6, Running
7) 7, Kyle Larson(i), No. 42 ENEOS Chevrolet, 200, 0, , 3, 23, Running
8) 14, Brendan Gaughan, No. 62 South Point Chevrolet, 200, 33, , , , Running
9) 3, Erik Jones (C) #, No. 20 GameStop/PowerA Toyota, 200, 32, , 1, 3, Running
10) 15, Aric Almirola(i), No. 98 Fresh From Florida Ford, 200, 0, , 2, 9, Running
11) 9, Darrell Wallace Jr, No. 6 Leidos Ford, 200, 30, , , , Running
12) 23, Ryan Sieg, No. 39 Huntinator/AntlerGrow.com Chevrolet, 200, 30, 1, 1, 1, Running
13) 19, JJ Yeley, No. 44 Zachry Toyota, 200, 28, , , , Running
14) 8, Alex Bowman, No. 88 Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet, 200, 27, , , , Running
15) 10, Brandon Jones #, No. 33 Rain-X/Advanced Auto Parts Chevrolet, 200, 26, , , , Running
16) 13, Ryan Reed, No. 16 Lilly Diabetes/American Diabetes Association Ford, 200, 25, , , , Running
17) 18, Cole Custer(i), No. 5 Haas Automation Chevrolet, 200, 0, , , , Running
18) 16, Cole Whitt(i), No. 14 Florida Lottery Toyota, 200, 0, , 1, 3, Running
19) 25, Dakoda Armstrong, No. 28 Winfield Be Greater Toyota, 199, 22, , , , Running
20) 12, Blake Koch, No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, 199, 21, , , , Running
21) 26, Ryan Preece #, No. 01 Mizzy Construction Chevrolet, 199, 20, , , , Running
22) 20, Ross Chastain, No. 4 The Florida Watermelon Association Chevrolet, 199, 19, , , , Running
23) 31, Brandon Brown(i), No. 86 Brandonbilt Motorsports Chevrolet, 198, 0, , , , Running
24) 27, Jeremy Clements, No. 51 RepairableVehicles.com/AllSouthElectric.com Chevrolet, 198, 17, , , , Running
25) 39, Matt Tifft(i), No. 18 NOS Energy Drink Toyota, 197, 0, , , , Running
26) 35, Travis Kvapil(i), No. 15 KeenParts.com/CorvetteParts.net Ford, 196, 0, , 1, 1, Running
27) 17, Brennan Poole #, No. 48 DC Solar Chevrolet, 196, 14, , , , Running
28) 30, Ray Black Jr #, No. 07 Scuba Life Chevrolet, 195, 13, , , , Running
29) 28, Garrett Smithley #, No. 0 teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet, 195, 12, , , , Running
30) 34, Brandon Hightower, No. 13 Premier Recycling/Timmons Truck Center Dodge, 195, 11, , , , Running
31) 29, BJ McLeod #, No. 78 Main Gate Enterprises Inc Ford, 195, 10, , , , Running
32) 40, Jeff Green, No. 99  Ford, 194, 9, , , , Running
33) 38, Josh Reaume, No. 25 Lilly Trucking Chevrolet, 193, 8, , , , Running
34) 37, Josh Bilicki, No. 97 VroomBrands Chevrolet, 189, 7, , , , Running
35) 21, Corey LaJoie, No. 24 Youtheory Toyota, 167, 6, , , , Oil Leak
36) 22, Jordan Anderson(i), No. 46 UrbanCarryHolsters.com Chevrolet, 134, 0, , , , Accident
37) 33, Joey Gase, No. 52 Donate Life Florida Chevrolet, 87, 4, , , , Ignition
38) 36, Mario Gosselin, No. 90 BuckedUp Apparel/CrashClaimsR.Us Chevrolet, 49, 3, , , , Overheating
39) 32, Timmy Hill(i), No. 40 Phoenix Ait/UTVINT.com/OCR Gaz Bar Toyota, 43, 0, , 1, 3, Brakes
40) 24, Matt DiBenedetto(i), No. 10  Toyota, 2, 0, , , , Vibration

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series 
Race Comments: Daniel Suarez won the Ford EcoBoost 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, his third career NASCAR XFINITY Series victory. Prior to the start of the race, no cars dropped to the rear of the field under penalty. 
Failed to Qualify: (5) 93 David Starr, 89 Morgan Shepherd, 74 Mike Harmon, 70 Dexter Stacey, 77 Ryan Ellis.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 34 Mins, 34 Secs.
Average Speed: 116.455 MPH
Margin of Victory: 0.968 Seconds
Caution Flags: 7 for 39 laps: Laps: 5-7 (#13 Spin Turn 1 [None]); 25-32 (#16 Accident Turn 2 [99]); 90-95 (Fluid On Track [39]); 126-131 (#48 Accident Turn 2 [33]); 138-143 (#16, 51, 46 Accident Backstretch [Red Flag 4:09] [44]); 160-163 (Debris Backstretch [14]); 192-197 (#07 Spin Turn 4 [5]).
Lead Changes: 21 among 11 drivers: D. Suarez (C) 1-22; K. Larson(i) 23-26; T. Kvapil(i) 27; T. Hill(i) 28-30; K. Larson(i) 31-35; D. Suarez (C) 36-79; J. Allgaier (C) 80; R. Sieg 81; K. Larson(i) 82-95; T. Dillon 96-99; D. Suarez (C) 100-113; T. Dillon 114-126; D. Suarez (C) 127-137; A. Almirola(i) 138-142; D. Suarez (C) 143-151; J. Allgaier (C) 152-156; E. Jones (C) # 157-159; A. Almirola(i) 160-163; D. Suarez (C) 164-193; C. Whitt(i) 194-196; E. Sadler (C) 197; D. Suarez (C) 198-200.
Top 10 Driver Points:  (1) D. Suarez (C) 4,040;(2) E. Sadler (C) 4,038;(3) J. Allgaier (C) 4,035;(4) E. Jones (C) # 4,032;(5) T. Dillon 2,214;(6) R. Reed 2,205;(7) B. Koch 2,200;(8) B. Poole # 2,192;(9) R. Sieg 2,171;(10) B. Jones # 2,168.
Coors Light Pole Award: Daniel Suarez, #19 169.924 mph

Unofficial Points Report: 22nd Annual Ford EcoBoost 300, Homestead-Miami Speedway

Pos  Driver                 BPts Pts   Ldr   Nxt   Sts Pole Wins T5s  T10s DNF  PPos G/L
1.   Daniel Suarez (C)      16   4040  0     0     33  3    3    19   27   2    2    1
2.   Elliott Sadler (C)     19   4038  -2    -2    33  0    3    14   29   0    1    -1
3.   Justin Allgaier (C)    7    4035  -5    -3    33  1    0    13   27   2    3    0
4.   Erik Jones (C) #       35   4032  -8    -3    33  8    4    15   20   4    4    0
5.   Ty Dillon              13   2214  -1826 -1818 33  1    0    9    17   2    8    3
6.   Ryan Reed              1    2205  -1835 -9    33  0    0    1    7    2    5    -1
7.   Blake Koch            2    2200  -1840 -5    33  0    0    0    5    3    6    -1
8.   Brennan Poole #        4    2192  -1848 -8    33  0    0    4    17   1    7    -1
9.   Ryan Sieg              2    2171  -1869 -21   33  0    0    1    3    2    10   1
10.  Brandon Jones #        2    2168  -1872 -3    33  0    0    0    12   0    9    -1
11.  Darrell Wallace Jr     7    2163  -1877 -5    33  0    0    3    9    3    11   0
12.  Brendan Gaughan        8    2161  -1879 -2    33  0    0    4    16   1    12   0
13.  Dakoda Armstrong       0    718   -3322 -1443 33  0    0    1    1    1    13   0
14.  Jj Yeley               2    706   -3334 -12   32  0    0    0    3    3    14   0
15.  Jeremy Clements        1    693   -3347 -13   33  0    0    1    3    4    15   0
16.  Ross Chastain          5    670   -3370 -23   33  0    0    0    0    4    16   0
17.  Ryan Preece #          2    597   -3443 -73   33  0    0    0    1    6    17   0
18.  Garrett Smithley #     0    544   -3496 -53   32  0    0    0    0    3    18   0
19.  Ray Black Jr #         5    515   -3525 -29   33  0    0    0    0    5    19   0
20.  Bj McLeod #            0    459   -3581 -56   33  0    0    0    0    6    20   0
21.  Joey Gase              0    437   -3603 -22   33  0    0    0    0    6    21   0
22.  David Starr            0    374   -3666 -63   23  0    0    0    0    5    22   0
23.  Justin Marks           5    347   -3693 -27   17  0    1    1    1    4    23   0
24.  Jeb Burton             1    335   -3705 -12   14  0    0    0    1    1    24   0
25.  Alex Bowman            3    273   -3767 -62   9   1    0    3    7    1    26   1
26.  Mario Gosselin         0    257   -3783 -16   20  0    0    0    0    4    25   -1
27.  Mike Harmon            0    235   -3805 -22   26  0    0    0    0    8    27   0
28.  Jeff Green             3    219   -3821 -16   29  0    0    0    1    25   28   0
29.  Derrike Cope          0    202   -3838 -17   24  0    0    0    0    10   29   0
30.  Ryan Ellis             0    191   -3849 -11   16  0    0    0    0    4    30   0
31.  Corey Lajoie           1    177   -3863 -14   10  0    0    0    2    4    31   0
32.  Sam Hornish Jr.        6    157   -3883 -20   4   1    1    3    4    0    32   0
33.  Harrison Rhodes        0    121   -3919 -36   12  0    0    0    0    6    33   0
34.  Drew Herring           0    111   -3929 -10   5   0    0    0    0    1    34   0
35.  Martin Roy             0    102   -3938 -9    8   0    0    0    0    1    35   0
36.  Morgan Shepherd        2    94    -3946 -8    23  0    0    0    0    23   36   0
37.  Brandon Gdovic         0    92    -3948 -2    5   0    0    0    0    0    37   0
38.  Todd Peck              0    92    -3948 0     11  0    0    0    0    4    38   0
39.  T J Bell Jr.           0    89    -3951 -3    9   0    0    0    0    2    39   0
40.  Stanton Barrett        0    78    -3962 -11   5   0    0    0    0    0    40   0
41.  Josh Berry             0    74    -3966 -4    3   0    0    0    1    0    41   0
42.  Carl Long              0    64    -3976 -10   12  0    0    0    0    10   42   0
43.  Brandon Hightower      0    63    -3977 -1    7   0    0    0    0    2    46   3
44.  Chris Cockrum          0    56    -3984 -7    6   0    0    0    0    2    43   -1
45.  Cody Ware              0    54    -3986 -2    6   0    0    0    0    3    44   -1
46.  Scott Heckert          0    52    -3988 -2    3   0    0    0    0    0    45   -1
47.  Benny Gordon           0    51    -3989 -1    3   0    0    0    0    1    47   0
48.  Owen Kelly             1    50    -3990 -1    2   0    0    0    0    0    48   0
49.  Alex Guenette          0    49    -3991 -1    4   0    0    0    0    1    49   0
50.  Clint King             0    41    -3999 -8    3   0    0    0    0    0    50   0
51.  Matt Waltz             0    41    -3999 0     6   0    0    0    0    4    51   0
52.  Josh Reaume            0    37    -4003 -4    6   0    0    0    0    4    56   4
53.  Kenny Habul            0    36    -4004 -1    3   0    0    0    0    2    52   -1
54.  Dexter Bean            0    36    -4004 0     5   0    0    0    0    4    53   -1
55.  Andy Lally             1    35    -4005 -1    1   0    0    0    1    0    54   -1
56.  Alex Tagliani          1    35    -4005 0     1   1    0    0    1    0    55   -1
57.  Scott Lagasse Jr.      0    28    -4012 -7    2   0    0    0    0    0    57   0
58.  Dylan Lupton           0    27    -4013 -1    2   0    0    0    0    1    58   0
59.  Brandon McReynolds     0    27    -4013 0     2   0    0    0    0    1    59   0
60.  Bobby Gerhart          0    27    -4013 0     3   0    0    0    0    1    60   0
61.  John Jackson           0    24    -4016 -3    7   0    0    0    0    6    61   0
62.  Josh Bilicki           0    23    -4017 -1    3   0    0    0    0    1    68   6
63.  J D Davison            0    22    -4018 -1    1   0    0    0    0    0    62   -1
64.  Tomy Drissi            0    20    -4020 -2    2   0    0    0    0    1    63   -1
65.  Hermie Sadler III      0    20    -4020 0     2   0    0    0    0    1    64   -1
66.  Paige Decker           0    20    -4020 0     2   0    0    0    0    0    65   -1
67.  Alex Labbe             0    18    -4022 -2    1   0    0    0    0    0    66   -1
68.  Nic Hammann            0    18    -4022 0     2   0    0    0    0    2    67   -1
69.  D J Kennington         0    16    -4024 -2    2   0    0    0    0    1    69   0
70.  Anthony Kumpen         0    15    -4025 -1    1   0    0    0    0    0    70   0
71.  Michael Lira           0    15    -4025 0     1   0    0    0    0    0    71   0
72.  Camden Murphy          0    15    -4025 0     1   0    0    0    0    0    72   0
73.  Eric McClure           0    11    -4029 -4    1   0    0    0    0    0    73   0
74.  Mark Thompson         1    11    -4029 0     1   0    0    0    0    1    74   0
75.  Roger Reuse            0    8     -4032 -3    1   0    0    0    0    0    75   0
76.  Todd Bodine            0    7     -4033 -1    1   0    0    0    0    1    76   0
77.  Blake Jones            0    6     -4034 -1    1   0    0    0    0    1    77   0
78.  Derek White            0    5     -4035 -1    1   0    0    0    0    0    78   0
79.  Alli Owens             0    5     -4035 0     1   0    0    0    0    1    79   0
80.  Josh Williams          0    4     -4036 -1    2   0    0    0    0    2    80   0
81.  Tim Cowen              0    4     -4036 0     1   0    0    0    0    1    81   0
82.  Dexter Stacey          0    4     -4036 0     1   0    0    0    0    0    82   0
83.  Nelson Piquet Jr.      0    3     -4037 -1    1   0    0    0    0    1    83   0
84.  Chris Cook             0    1     -4039 -2    1   0    0    0    0    1    84   0
85.  Kyle Busch(I)          0    0     -4040 -1    17  9    10   14   14   2    85   0
86.  Austin Dillon(I)       0    0     -4040 -1    19  1    2    11   16   0    86   0
87.  Kyle Larson(I)         0    0     -4040 -1    16  0    2    11   14   0    87   0
88.  Joey Logano(I)         0    0     -4040 -1    13  1    2    7    12   0    88   0
89.  Denny Hamlin(I)        0    0     -4040 -1    2   0    1    2    2    0    89   0
90.  Chase Elliott(I)       0    0     -4040 -1    6   0    1    4    6    0    90   0
91.  Dale Earnhardt Jr.(I)  0    0     -4040 -1    2   0    1    2    2    0    91   0
92.  Aric Almirola(I)       0    0     -4040 -1    10  0    1    1    4    0    92   0
93.  Michael McDowell(I)    0    0     -4040 -1    1   0    1    1    1    0    93   0
94.  Brad Keselowski(I)     0    0     -4040 -1    15  1    0    5    12   0    94   0
95.  Paul Menard(I)         0    0     -4040 -1    8   0    0    4    6    0    95   0
96.  Kevin Harvick(I)       0    0     -4040 -1    7   0    0    2    5    1    96   0
97.  Ryan Blaney(I)         0    0     -4040 -1    8   0    0    4    6    0    97   0
98.  Kasey Kahne(I)         0    0     -4040 -1    1   0    0    1    1    0    98   0
99.  Ricky Stenhouse Jr.(I) 0    0     -4040 -1    1   0    0    1    1    0    99   0
100. Cole Custer(I)         0    0     -4040 -1    5   0    0    1    2    1    100  0
101. Matt Tifft(I)          0    0     -4040 -1    10  1    0    1    5    1    101  0
102. Trevor Bayne(I)        0    0     -4040 -1    1   0    0    1    1    0    102  0
103. Regan Smith(I)         0    0     -4040 -1    3   0    0    0    1    0    103  0
104. Clint Bowyer(I)        0    0     -4040 -1    1   0    0    0    1    0    104  0
105. Spencer Gallagher(I)   0    0     -4040 -1    7   0    0    0    1    0    105  0
106. Ben Kennedy(I)         0    0     -4040 -1    1   0    0    0    1    0    106  0
107. Matt Dibenedetto(I)    0    0     -4040 -1    19  0    0    0    0    17   107  0
108. Gray Gaulding(I)       0    0     -4040 -1    2   0    0    0    0    0    108  0
109. Alon Day(I)            0    0     -4040 -1    2   0    0    0    0    0    109  0
110. Cole Whitt(I)          0    0     -4040 -1    2   0    0    0    0    0    110  0
111. John Wes Townley(I)    0    0     -4040 -1    2   0    0    0    0    0    111  0
112. Joe Nemechek(I)        0    0     -4040 -1    2   0    0    0    0    1    112  0
113. Travis Kvapil(I)      0    0     -4040 -1    8   0    0    0    0    1    113  0
114. Alex Kennedy(I)        0    0     -4040 -1    1   0    0    0    0    0    114  0
115. David Ragan(I)         0    0     -4040 -1    1   1    0    0    0    0    115  0
116. Timmy Hill(I)          0    0     -4040 -1    21  0    0    0    0    13   116  0
117. Brandon Brown(I)       0    0     -4040 -1    3   0    0    0    0    0    118  1
118. Bobby Labonte(I)      0    0     -4040 -1    1   0    0    0    0    0    117  -1
119. Mike Bliss(I)          0    0     -4040 -1    3   0    0    0    0    2    119  0
120. Austin Theriault(I)    0    0     -4040 -1    3   0    0    0    0    1    120  0
121. Jordan Anderson(I)     0    0     -4040 -1    5   0    0    0    0    2    121  0
122. Spencer Boyd(I)        0    0     -4040 -1    2   0    0    0    0    1    122  0
123. Jennifer Jo Cobb(I)    0    0     -4040 -1    1   0    0    0    0    0    123  0
124. Josh Wise(I)           0    0     -4040 -1    8   0    0    0    0    8    124  0
125. Tyler Young(I)         0    0     -4040 -1    1   0    0    0    0    1    125  0
126. Claire Decker          0    0     -4040 -1    0   0    0    0    0    0    126  0
127. Chris Fontaine(I)      0    0     -4040 -1    0   0    0    0    0    0    127  0

BPts -  Bonus Points, -Ldr/-Nxt = Points behind Leader/Next higher, PPos = Previous Position, G/L = Points standing gain/loss, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Ron Fleshman with John Davison

RIS NASCAR Editor.  Has been with RIS since the middle 90's. Writes on each of the three main series of NASCAR.

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Volume 2016, Issue 8, Posted 12:11 AM, 11.20.2016