“It feels good because we haven’t been running well lately,” Suarez said. “I feel like this is just the beginning of the weekend. The real business is (Sunday) and we have to keep this rolling.”
But the 2016 Xfinity Series champ failed to produce similar results when he was abruptly bumped to Cup on the heels of the stunning departure of Joe Gibbs Racing fixture Carl Edwards.
The 26-year-old Suarez has yet to win a Cup race in 56 career starts and has only two top-five finishes. He’s 20th in the standings in the No. 18 Toyota and will likely need a win to earn an automatic berth into NASCAR’s playoffs.