Chevrolet has had a fantastic time so far this season. As things stand, the top four in the NASCAR Cup Series standings are all cars manufactured by the Michigan-based company. One of their top performers has been Trackhouse Racing’s, Ross Chastain. With three stage wins, two top-five, and three top-ten finishes so far this campaign, Chastain sits second in the championship table. While he has been very impressive, the same cannot be said of one of his teammates after his recent incident with one of Hendrick Motorsports’ star drivers.
Racing in the Cup Series can turn out to be a heated affair. Recently, Chastain’s teammate Daniel Suarez was guilty of getting unnecessarily involved with one of the drivers for Hendricks Motorsports. It was a silly act and one of NASCAR’s well-known spotters had some strong words for him.
Daniel Suarez gets slammed for his vindictive act against Hendrick Motorsports superstar
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The race at the Circuit of The Americas last Sunday saw a lot of dramatic incidents. However, the one that caught everyone’s eye was Daniel Suarez contacting Alex Bowman multiple times on his back bumper after the cooldown lap. This vindictive act did result in NASCAR slapping a $50,000 fine on Suarez.
Clearly, Suarez had lost his cool and control over himself. This act could have drastically backfired had one of the pit crew members gotten hurt. Luckily, that wasn’t the case but it has brought a lot of criticism toward him. One of NASCAR’s well-known spotters, Brett Griffin, recently had his say on this matter.
Suarez has tried his hand with multiple teams in the Cup Series but to date, his best finish (10th) has come with Trackhouse Racing, which was last year. In the latest episode of the Door Bumper Clear podcast, Brett Griffin discussed the 31-year-old’s career so far. He said, “Daniel Suarez for the first time in his Cup Series career is on a path to be successful.”
Griffin explained how joining Trackhouse Racing in 2021 has turned out to be a blessing for him despite his struggles in the past. He said, “When you look at what he did at Joe Gibbs Racing; and look man, that Arris sponsorship was massive money, big money, and you are in some of the best cars in the garage, you struggle.
“And then you go to Stewart-Haas where every car the year before was winning races and you struggle. And then you obviously get in a situation where you are not competitive.
“He rebounds, he is in an awesome situation right now from a marketing perspective, from a competition perspective, obviously he’s an international driver perspective, a lot of good things are going your way man.”
Griffin did have some advice and even a warning in some sense for Suarez in the end. He said, “Just don’t lose sight of that [the good things] because I mean dude Trackhouse cars are fast. I mean it’s crazy, don’t screw it up.”
The experienced spotter wanted NASCAR to impose a heavy penalty on Suarez, just like it did last season with Ty Gibbs, but he escaped with just a monetary fine. However, NASCAR fans aren’t quite happy with the governing body’s decision.
Fans show their displeasure with NASCAR’s latest decision on the Daniel Suarez fiasco
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The 2023 season has been a lot about penalties already. With Suarez’s recent altercation with Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman at the COTA, NASCAR was left with a call to decide upon the severity of the punishment. Eventually, they imposed a fine of $50,000 citing a violation of Section 4.4
NEWS: Daniel Suárez has been issued a fine of $50,000 for violating Section 4.4 of the NASCAR Rule Book concerning member conduct after making contact with another vehicle on pit road after a race. pic.twitter.com/65dg7QmqCM
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 29, 2023
However, this did not bode well with the fans. They believe NASCAR should have been stricter and highlighted the inconsistency with their penalties.
Should have been at least suspended a race. I have no issue with no points penalty. A message needs to be sent that this is completely unacceptable and you will watch your car race without you if you even think of doing something like this.
— chaos ball is back! (@brandonsblog) March 30, 2023
Why no point penalties like with Hamlin??
— NASCAR (@NASCARTyGibbs) March 29, 2023
Several fans were also upset with the inconsistency shown by NASCAR while handing out fines.
No point penalty like Ty Gibbs last year? More inconsistency.
— Nick Rolando (@nrolando2STL) March 29, 2023
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WOW! HE INTENTIONALLY HIT A VEHICLE ON PIT ROAD BUT YOU SUSPEND AND FINE FOR A LOOSE WHEEL!! NASCAR, STAIGHTEN UP!!!! IF I WAS A CAR OWNER I WOULD QUESTION EVERY WORD OF EVERY SENTENCE THAT CAME FROM YOU!!!!!!!!
— Kim Smith (@killerizes) March 29, 2023
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Some of the arguments from the fans do make sense. This raises the question, what would have been the ideal penalty to teach Suarez a lesson? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
WATCH THIS STORY | After Breakthrough Season in 2022, Ross Chastain Finds “Sustaining This Level of Competitiveness at This Level” in NASCAR a Big Challenge: “I Have to Work Harder Now”