During the NASCAR Cup Series practice at Texas Motor Speedway on May 2, Daniel Suarez experienced a flat tire while driving the Spire Motorsports No. 7 car. Due to NASCAR's policy that prohibits teams from changing tires on the track, Suarez had to drive backward to pit road, which drew significant criticism from fans online. Many questioned the logic of the rule, suggesting it undermines NASCAR's efforts to save costs for teams and risks damaging the car's underbody. Despite this setback, Suarez returned to the track, finishing just 0.345 seconds off the session leader's time. In qualifying, Suarez laid down a strong lap of 28.225 seconds, which held as provisional pole until the final moments when Carson Hocevar edged him out by a mere three thousandths of a second. This marked a milestone for Spire Motorsports, as they secured the front row for the first time in their history. Suarez has shown consistent performance at Texas, with no finish worse than 12th in his last seven races there.