Daniel Suarez makes main event, nearly steals show

Daniel Suarez won his way into the Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race on Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Then he almost won the thing. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver won the second 20-lap stage of the preceding Monster Energy Open, clinching his spot in the main event. From there, he proved he belonged, standing toe-to-toe -- and fender-to-fender -- with the likes of eventual race winner Kevin Harvick and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin. RELATED: Full All-Star Race results Suarez, who finished second to Harvick, restarted on the inside lane of NASCAR Overtime in the final 10-lap stage and appeared to sneak past Harvick with a push from Hamlin. Suarez, though, never got clear and could not jump up in front of Harvick, who eventually powered around Suarez on the outside with a healthy push from Joey Logano. “I felt like we had a car actually capable of winning the race," Suarez said. "We were very strong, competitive. ... I needed a little bit more (at the end). The 11 (of Hamlin) got disconnected with myself a little bit. I tried to side draft the 4 (of Kevin Harvick), but it was just tough. ... It hurts to be close and to not get it.” MORE: Every All-Star runner-up This was the second consecutive year the sophomore Suarez raced his way into the big show. The Coca-Cola 600 looms next week at Charlotte, followed by a summer stretch that includes two races at 2-mile Michigan, where Suarez earned his first NASCAR national series win in 2016 in the Xfinity Series. "It's such a steep learning curve to get into the Cup side and compete with these guys," crew chief Scott Graves said. "I think you've seen it -- the run at Dover, finishing as well as we did there and a few top 10s in a row before that. So the progression's there for sure. I know each time we go back to a track, we've got a lot better set of notes that we can go off of, and he's got a lot better feel for what's going to happen. So definitely we see that progression and continue to see that." A repeat for Suarez in Michigan, but at the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series level, would clinch a spot in the playoffs and also a spot in next year's All-Star Race. "We’ve been racing really well in the All-Star twice already, two times, so that’s not bad," Suarez said. "It hurts to be close and to not get it.”