Group1001 Chevrolet Driver Battles Handling Issues

Date: March 29^th, 2026

Event: Cook Out 400 (Round 7 of 36)

Series: NASCAR Cup Series

Location: Martinsville (Va.) Speedway (.526-mile oval)

Format: 400 laps, broken into three stages (80 laps/100 laps/220 laps)

Start/Finish: 22nd / 20th (running, completed 399 of 400 laps)

Point Standing: 16^th with 167 points

Notes:

• Daniel Suárez, driver of the No. 7 Group1001 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Spire Motorsports, finished 20th in Sunday’s 400-lap race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway after sustaining damage in the Final Stage, to secure his fifth top-20 finish of the season and seventh in 18 starts at the short track.
• Suárez started 22nd and worked his way into the top 20 before a caution with just one lap remaining in the stage brought the field to pit road. The No. 7 team used took the opportunity to make an air pressure adjustment aimed at improving overall grip in the Group1001 Chevy and Suárez began the second stage inside the top 20.
• The second caution of the day on Lap 106, just 11 laps into Stage 2, with the 34-year-old driver reporting his car started the run too free, then became tight in the center at times, and needed more rear grip for better overall handling. At that time, only 23 cars remained on the lead lap, with Suárez still among them and running in 20th position. As Stage 2 concluded, the Group1001 Women’s History Month machine finished 19th.
• The Monterrey, Mexico native restarted 21st for the Final Stage as the race went green with 207 laps remaining in the 400-lap event. Suárez went a lap down to the leader prior to green-flag pit stops and crew chief Ryan Sparks called his driver to pit road on Lap 281 for fuel, four fresh tires, and air pressure adjustments allowing Suárez to cycle out to the 17th position as the first car one lap down. A caution on Lap 312 placed the No. 7 back on the lead lap and following pit stops he restarted 20th with 78 laps remaining. An incident on Lap 325 delivered damage to the nose of Suárez’s car, but after pitting to check over his Camaro he restarted 20th with 69 Laps to go and maintained his position until the checkered flag waved.

Daniel Suárez, driver of the No. 7 Group1001 Chevrolet Camaro for Spire Motorsports:

“Tough day for our No. 7 Group1001 Chevrolet. It felt like the rear of the car was loose at times. There were moments when it was a little better, and other times when it was worse. I thought we might be able to finish somewhere inside the top 15, but once we got front-end damage we didn’t have much pace. It made things a bit of a struggle, but overall there are some things to learn from, and hopefully we’ll be better next time.”