CUP: Daniel Suarez ramps over another car; Josh Berry ends last-place streak in 2nd place
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Daniel Suarez’ Twitter page, @Daniel_SuarezG
Daniel Suarez picked up the 5th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Mobil 1 301 at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway when his #99 Choice Privileges Chevrolet crashed after 117 of 301 laps.
The finish, which came in Suarez’ 317th series start, was his first of the season and first in a Cup Series race since August 24, 2024 at Daytona, 41 races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 21st for the #99, the 696th from a crash, and the 878th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 41st for the #99, the 1,433rd from a crash, and the 2,014th for Chevrolet.
Suarez remains one of the most popular drivers in the garage area – never more so than this past summer, when he won in a backup car in the XFINITY Series’ return to competition in Mexico City. He’s finished runner-up at both Las Vegas and the regular season finale in Daytona, but the latter meant he’d missed out on a walk-off win to qualify for this year’s Playoffs. Soon after came news that Suarez would not return to Trackhouse Racing in 2026, when he’s expected to be replaced by upstart Connor Zilisch. While already 27th in points at the end of 26 races, Suarez has struggled even more in this stretch run. A 25th-place run in Darlington was followed by back-to-back crashes in Gateway and Bristol, placing him 35th and 37th.
This week, only the 36 full-time teams made the trip north to Loudon. Suarez had a strong start to the weekend, running 10th-fastest with a lap of 29.958 seconds (127.138mph), but struggled in qualifying despite a faster lap of 29.788 seconds (127.864mph), good enough for just 32nd on the starting grid. Suarez had struggled as the first car on track to take time.
Securing the 36th and final spot was Todd Gilliland, whose #34 Grillo’s Pickles Ford turned the slowest lap of the session at 30.254 seconds (125.894mph). With no pre-race penalties, he remained on the outside of the final row alongside 35th-place Cody Ware’s #51 Parts Plus Ford.
When the green flag dropped, Gilliland’s outside line pulled ahead, allowing the #34 to cross the line in 35th spot, 2.834 seconds back of the lead to Ware’s 2.886. The field then stacked up in Turn 1, trapping Ware in the low lane behind Cole Custer’s #41 HaasTooling.com Ford as cars went two and three-wide. Gilliland remained to Ware’s outside on the backstretch, but Ware got the advantage into Turn 3. But the field bunched up again at corner exit, putting Ware at the bottom of a three-wide battle with Noah Gragson’s #4 Farm Rich Ford to his right and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.’s #47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet further up the track. Gragson pinched Ware off at corner exit, and Gilliland – now behind Stenhouse – completed the pass at the stripe. This kept Ware in last, 3.687 seconds back of the lead.
In the early laps, Ware’s car was tight off the second half of the corner, but he remained within sight of the car in 35th, which by Lap 7 was Kyle Busch in the #8 Morgan & Morgan Chevrolet, 8.637 seconds back of the lead to Ware’s 9.017. On Lap 12, Ware closed to within two-tenths of Busch, and by Lap 19 was told “these guys are coming back to you.” But when Ware lost some time to Busch, the crew suggested he turn down int the corner earlier. This seemed to help as on Lap 25 he was running faster lap times than both 33rd-place Custer and 34th-place John Hunter Nemechek in the #42 Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota. Ware and team then asked about an issue with the tires, perhaps a flat-spot from locking up the right-front heading into the corners. The team didn’t notice anything wrong. Heading down the backstretch on Lap 32, Ware was the first driver to lose a lap to the leaders as then-leader Joey Logano rushed past with Josh Berry’s #21 Motorcraft / Quick Lane Ford in a close 2nd.
By Lap 54, several other drivers had been lapped, and Busch dropped to 35th spot Erik Jones in the #43 Family Dollar Toyota. Ware was now running faster lap times than Jones, but still had about a half-lap to make up on him. On Lap 63, Ware was about to lose a second lap to new leader Ryan Blaney when Austin Dillon’s #3 Toys for Tots Chevrolet bumped him between Turns 3 and 4, sending Ware into a spin. Ware couldn’t refire the engine and lost his second lap in the process before he continued along under yellow. He stayed out to get a lap back, leaving him the only car one lap down for the one-lap sprint to end Stage 1. This awarded him the “Lucky Dog” after that lap was run, putting him back on the lead lap with the rest of the field.
Ware received adjustments under the stage caution, but along with Stenhouse was frantically catching the tail end of the pack as the race restarted on Lap 78. He was 4.255 seconds back of the lead at the stripe, then two laps later closed within six-tenths of a 35th-place Custer. Moments later on Lap 82, Berry crossed the nose of Shane van Gisbergen’s #88 Jockey Infinite Cool Underwear Chevrolet as both battled off Turn 2. Berry spun to the apron, but somehow avoided both other cars and the inside wall. He left the scene with only minor damage to the left-front corner as he clipped a passing Van Gisbergen during the spin. This dropped Berry to last, but only for two laps. Busch took the spot on Lap 85, one of several drivers who pitted with Berry. Berry briefly retook the spot on Lap 86 before Ware took it back, then on Lap 87 it fell to Ty Dillon in the #10 Sea Best / BJ’s Wholesale Club Chevrolet.
On the Lap 88 restart, Ware retook the spot from Dillon as he was once again well back of the pack, 5.817 seconds behind the leader and over three seconds behind the now 35th-place Berry. This time, he didn’t make up the gap so quickly, remaining more than two seconds back of Berry on Lap 89. But with tires two laps fresher than others ahead of him, Ware was running his fastest laps of the race, and indeed by Lap 90 he was just over a second back of Busch, still struggling back in 35th. By Lap 102, Ware developed a loose condition off the corner. The team consulted SMT data and suggested he’d open his entries to Turns 1 and 3 and wait longer to shift.
On Lap 110, all 36 drivers were still running on the lead lap, including Ty Gibbs, whose #54 Monster Energy Toyota was in a tight battle with Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin’s #11 Progressive Toyota. As the pair entered the corner, Hamlin got into Gibbs’ left-rear, sending Gibbs spinning driver’s side first into the outside wall, nearly collecting still another Gibbs car of Christopher Bell. On Lap 112, Gibbs had taken last place as he’d lost the master switch, preventing him from restarting. A tow truck came to give him a push, but when he didn’t refire, the truck pulled in front of him, and crews prepared to give him a tow. A frustrated Gibbs said he didn’t have any damage and only needed a push, but he was towed through a patch of grass on his way back to pit road, then into the “Damaged Vehicle Policy” zone on Lap 116. By then, he was already five laps down. The crew raised the hood and examined the left-front suspension before sending him back onto pit road on Lap 121, nine laps down. By the time he returned, the race was under caution once more.
On the Lap 118 restart, Shane van Gisbergen was again in a tight battle for position. This time, the combatant was Brad Keselowski, who pulled his #6 BuildSubmarines.com Ford to Van Gisbergen’s inside through Turns 1 and 2. But Keselowski misjudged the gap, bouncing him off the inside wall and into Van Gisbergen. Both spun up the track, creating a roadblock for a fast-closing Kyle Busch, who collided with Van Gisbergen. Immediately behind Busch was Suarez, who ramped over the side of Justin Haley’s #7 Nations Guard Chevrolet and rear-ended Busch. Suarez was first of those involved to pull behind the wall, citing heavy right-front damage. The team shut off the on-board camera on Lap 122 and NASCAR declared him out on Lap 126, just two laps before Suarez took last from Gibbs.
When the race restarted, Keselowski and Busch managed to rejoin the race, but Haley and Van Gisbergen’s cars were still in the garage area, holding 34th an 35th. Around Lap 147, Gibbs skidded sideways off Turn 2 and struck the outside wall, forcing him to pit road in the 33rd spot. By Lap 153, Gibbs backed up and drove behind the wall, where he climbed out, done for the day. NASCAR declared Gibbs out on Lap 157, five laps before new 32nd-place runner John Hunter Nemechek was also declared out. On Lap 148, Nemechek snapped loose while battling Riley Herbst into Turn 3, resulting in a big hit to the outside wall. Nemechek was soon checked and released from the infield care center.
Meanwhile, Van Gisbergen returned to the race on Lap 170, when he was in 34th place, 50 laps down. He’d already moved ahead of the now 35th-place Haley, whose crew set to work cutting off the hood and front fenders, then bolted on a new foam bumper. Haley rejoined the race on Lap 209, now a full 93 laps down, and cleared minimum speed on Lap 216. By Lap 240, first Van Gisbergen and then Haley had both passed the eliminated Nemechek and Gibbs, dropping the pair to 34th and 35th. The other two climbed no further with Haley finishing 33rd, 43 laps behind Van Gisbergen.
Berry performs incredible rally after three straight last-place finishes
During this entire battle for last place, Josh Berry went on an incredible rally. After dropping to last on Lap 83, he reached 35th on Lap 89, 33rd on Lap 90, and 27th on Lap 98. When Stage 2 ended on Lap 187, he earned a stage point in 10th spot to go with his 4th-place run in Stage 1. Berry then took the lead twice for 10 laps, leading as late as 39 laps to go. But even after Ryan Blaney made the winning pass, he charged back to Blaney’s rear bumper before he slid the tires in Turns 3 and 4, forcing him to settle for 2nd. It was a tremendous run, and easily bested the top finish for any Cup driver who started with three consecutive last-place finishes in the previous weeks. The previous mark was set by G.C. Spencer, who finished 22nd in the 1960 Southern 500 at Darlington.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #99 in a Cup Series race at New Hampshire.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
36) #99-Daniel Suarez / 117 laps / crash
35) #54-Ty Gibbs / 134 laps / crash
34) #42-John Hunter Nemechek / 146 laps / crash
33) #7-Justin Haley / 207 laps / running
32) #88-Shane van Gisbergen / 250 laps / running
2025 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Trackhouse Racing (4)
2nd) 23XI Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, Kaulig Racing, Wood Brothers Racing (3)
3rd) Garage 66, Legacy Motor Club, Penske Racing (2)
4th) Front Row Motorsports, Hyak Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, NY Racing Team, RFK Racing, Richard Childress Racing, Rick Ware Racing, Spire Motorsports (1)
2025 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (14)
2nd) Ford (9)
3rd) Toyota (6)
2025 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
