NASCAR: 5 Lessons Learned From The Camping World 500 At Phoenix

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Daniel Suarez and Erik Jones had their best finishes so far this season at Phoenix. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports /

Phoenix was The Best Race for Two Toyota Rookies

While everyone was surprised with the decision the of Ryan Newman to stay out during the final restart of the race, his win wasn’t the only pleasant surprise from the results at Phoenix.

Toyota rookies Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez finished the race in the top 10 and it was the best finishing result for both of these drivers so far this season.

Erik Jones qualified well and was able to keep his car in the top 10 for most of the day and finished in eighth. Suarez and the 19 team were equally if not more impressive, starting the race from 27th and finishing in seventh.

Jones and Suarez have a lot of attention on them right now and a lot of people in the NASCAR community are expecting big things from these rookies. While neither really impressed at Daytona or the 1.5 mile tracks of Las Vegas and Atlanta, their performance at Phoenix shows just how good these drivers are.

Phoenix is about maintaining tires, breaks and beating the heat while racing around for hours. It can be a major test for rookies and both Suarez and Jones passed with flying colors.

Will these drivers see the same success at other shorter tracks on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series circuit? We will have to see, but hopefully these Toyota rookies learned something from Phoenix that could help one of them get closer to Victory Lane this season.

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