Daniel Suárez battled through a challenging afternoon during Sunday's YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, ultimately finishing 18th in his Spire Motorsports Chevrolet. Suárez started 13th and entered the race hoping to improve his position in the NASCAR Cup Series championship Chase.

The No. 7 Chevrolet remained in competition throughout the opening portion of the race, but Suárez experienced problems when the first major accident unfolded on Lap 132. He was among the competitors collected in the 12-car incident, which started when Ryan Blaney lost momentum in the outside lane.

The damage and subsequent loss of track position complicated Suárez's race. His afternoon became even more difficult when he was listed among the drivers involved in the massive accident on Lap 183.

Despite encountering trouble in both major incidents, Suárez managed to continue and finished 18th, completing 188 of the 189 laps. The result earned Suárez 19 points but did little to improve his championship situation.

He slipped one position to 14th in the NASCAR Cup Series Chase standings with 2,201 points, trailing leader Kyle Larson by 240 markers. Suárez has been mathematically eliminated from championship contention and will focus on finishing the season as strongly as possible at Martinsville and Homestead-Miami.