Honest Daniel Suarez Pleads Guilty in 6 Words After Jeopardizing Kyle Larson’s Iowa Hopes

Ryan Blaney made all the headlines winning the first Cup Series at Iowa Speedway on Sunday. While the Team Penske driver finally ended his 17-race winless drought, the race possessed some other interesting moments. One of them included the final stage incident between Daniel Suarez and Kyle Larson.

While three of four Hendrick Motorsports drivers finished in the top ten, Larson finished P34 on Sunday. It is surprising considering the #5 driver led 80 of the first 214 laps. Safe to say, things could have been different had Suarez acted differently.

Daniel Suarez takes responsibility for hampering the in-form Kyle Larson’s impressive run at Iowa

There is no doubt that Kyle Larson has been a star performer in the Cup Series this season. With three wins, seven top-five, and eight top-ten finishes to his name, the Hendrick Motorsports driver has been more than dominant in 16 starts. It is worth noting that Larson possesses the most stage wins (8) so far, showing unbelievable consistency.

Interestingly, one of them came in Stage 2 at Iowa Speedway. With Larson winning the pole for the inaugural Cup Series at Iowa Speedway, he was, undoubtedly, one of the favorites to win. Unsurprisingly, the HMS driver didn’t disappoint as he continued with his impressive form, leading 80 laps.

However, things took a wild turn for him in the 220th lap. Larson opted to go three-wide between Brad Keselowski and Daniel Suarez just before contact off Turn 4. This caused the #5 driver to skid into the outside wall and fall in the path of Denny Hamlin.

It is worth noting that the initial contact came from Daniel Suarez. Speaking after the race to Fox Sports journalist Bob Pockrass, the Trackhouse Racing driver explained his uncertain decision-making. He said, “Honestly, during the race, I was so confused. I didn’t know exactly what happened.”

Suarez detailed his thought process during the incident. He said, “I didn’t know if I went up or he (Larson) came down. I just saw the replay for the very first time, and I noticed the No. 6 (Keselowski) was the one on the outside [and] he had like a quarter of the car from the wall because he was trying to pinch down the No. 5 (Larson).”

The #99 driver added, “Then [the No. 5] had another quarter of a car to the No. 6 trying to pinch me down, and I was expecting those two guys to be closer to the wall like everyone else.” Daniel Suarez explained the scenario and admitted his guilt in wrecking Larson, saying, “I’m the one who made contact.“

While Daniel Suarez came clean with his act, even Kyle Larson did not make much fuss about the incident.

Kyle Larson expresses his regrets after an unfortunate wreck at Iowa Speedway

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It is difficult for any Cup Series driver to beat Kyle Larson especially given his current form. With the #5 driver hunting for his second championship win this season, there’s not much that can come in between. However, the unfortunate wreck involving Daniel Suarez at Iowa turned out to be a bummer.

While Ryan Blaney enjoyed a solid run on Sunday, it is difficult to predict what could have happened had Larson not lost significant ground because of the wreck. However, the Hendrick Motorsports driver remained calm about what happened. He said, “If I could see a replay, I would tell you what went wrong; if it was my fault or what.”

Larson added, “Obviously, if I don’t go three wide there, there’s probably no crash, but I’m probably running sixth in Turn 1. Either way, sixth is better than crashed, so I don’t know. I think I should have been more aware of who I was around. Suarez is really aggressive, and he was probably just pushing and got loose, I’m guessing, underneath me.”

While the HMS driver gave Daniel Suarez the benefit of the doubt, he admitted his disappointment in missing out on a solid finish on Sunday. Larson said, “It’s hard to say how the rest of the race is going to play out, but I think, no doubt, I run top four. I felt like by far we had the best car, so yeah, I feel like that one got away from us.”

Realistically, it would have been interesting to see what Larson could have done in the dying laps. Nevertheless, it was an unfortunate incident that helped Suarez register a P9 finish, his first top-ten finish since mid-Apirl.