Daniel Suarez Opens Up About Strained Relationship With Ross Chastain

Darlington, S.C. -- Following a late-race dust-up with his former teammate, Ross Chastain, Daniel Suarez found himself in an altercation on pit road following last weekend's Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. After the two exchanged some words, Chastain shoved Suarez, before the two were broken up.

It was a heated exchange and seemed to be the continuation of a difficult end to Suarez's tenure with Trackhouse Racing at the end of the 2025 season. While Suarez wouldn't reveal everything that transpired as he exited his former team, he explained in a media bullpen on Saturday at Darlington Raceway that last season was likely the most difficult season of his career.

"The thing is that last year was very very difficult. You guys only know about 20% of the stuff that actually happened," Suarez explained. "And maybe one day, I'll write a book, and you guys will find out everything that exactly how things happened. But last year was very, very difficult. Definitely one of the most difficult years of my career, the way things played out."

While Suarez's departure from Trackhouse Racing is now being portrayed to be not as amicable as both parties expressed last season, in Suarez's exit announcement, the now-driver of the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet said he spent some time with Chastain at Phoenix Raceway, the final race of the 2025 season, and he felt they had found common ground.

"In Phoenix, I was doing the ride-along in the back of the trailer. The entire time, I spent talking to [Chastain]," Suarez explained. "And I thought we were perfectly fine."

Suarez continued, "But, clearly, he had some feelings that he needed to get out."

According to Suarez, when Chastain first joined Trackhouse Racing as his teammate in 2022, he says the two didn't get along. However, he says they made strides, and began to get along. But Suarez admits that the relationship was like riding a roller coaster, as it was always up and down.

"Listen, we were on waves, right? It wasn't bad the entire time. But there [were] waves, and sometimes I felt like he wasn't straightforward for some reason," Suarez noted. "Especially last year."

The 34-year-old Suarez compared Chastain's actions at Las Vegas to an angry girlfriend lashing out.

"It's kind of like when you make your girlfriend mad, you know? Eventually, she starts getting mad, mad, mad, and then eventually she blew up. I feel like she, Ross, blew up in Las Vegas," Suarez quipped.

Outside of Denny Hamlin collecting his 61st career win, the Chastain/Suarez beef was the big story following Las Vegas. Suarez says he hasn't spoken to his former teammate since they found each other on pit road, and doesn't intend to.

"It's already in the past. We already moved on, and are already thinking about Darlington only," Suarez said.

For anyone who thinks Suarez is racing with an axe to grind this season, anytime he gets near a Trackhouse Racing driver, Suarez says that isn't the case. But he does say on-track contact is going to happen between him and his former teammates, as they compete on the same track every week for 38 weekends a season.

"We're going to get into each other. We're racing, we're competitors. It's going to continue to happen over and over and over," Suarez said. "I'm pretty sure I have gotten into that situation with every single driver in the field. And that's okay."

Suarez continued, "But, to me, the part that is low and disrespectful and a little bit not very manly is the things that happened afterwards. And that's the stuff that, in my opinion, is crossing the line."

While Suarez vows to have moved on from last week's encounter with Chastain, the brewing rivalry between the former teammates will be an interesting subplot to keep an eye on throughout Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway.

Suarez is set to start the race from the 11th position, while Chastain will be mired deep in the field after securig the 25th starting spot in Saturday's qualifying session.

Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing teammates, will lead the field to green in Sunday's race around the 1.366-mile speedway in South Carolina. The Goodyear 400 is scheduled for Sunday, March 22, and will be televised on FS1 with coverage set to begin at 3:00 PM ET.