Why Didn't Daniel Suarez Fight Ross Chastain on Pit Road?

Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez, former NASCAR Cup Series teammates at Trackhouse Racing, had a bit of a disagreement following Sunday's Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Chastain (still with Trackhouse) and Suarez (who left Trackhouse at the end of last season to join Spire Motorsports) were battling for a position inside the top-20 in the closing laps of the race when things got heated, leading to the driver of the No. 1 Kubota Chevrolet Camaro doorslamming Suarez down the backstretch on the cooldown lap.

The two drivers had a discussion about the incident on pit road after the race, and while it included some shouting, plus a shove or two, the parties separated. Even though there was one point where it looked like things would get physical, there were no punches thrown, and no altercation broke out.

Suarez wasn't exactly pleased with what went on, and when speaking to members of the media in the garage after the convesation on pit road, the Monterrey, Mexico-native said that the two drivers have always had a weird relationship, referring to Chastain as "two-faced".

On Tuesday, when speaking to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90, Suarez said that he was actually quite proud of himself that he didn't choose to escalte the situation even further.

"I was actually very proud of myself and the way that I handled the situation, because probably the Daniel from three years ago would have kicked his butt," Suarez told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90 on Tuesday. "But, I feel like I have matured and I have come to understand, there's really three reasons."

The first reason? Money. "To punch him and put him on the ground, it was going to cost me $50,000," said Suarez. In the past, when drivers have gotten into fights on pit road, NASCAR has fined the drivers involved in order to discourage that kind of behaviour.

During the NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro in 2024, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. was fined $75,000 for landing a punch on Kyle Busch after an incident in the early laps of the event. A fact that he made sure that Suarez was aware of, correcting the amount.

The second reason? His sponsors. "The sponsors never like that," Suarez added. "The sponsors like exposure, but they don't like bad media and bad PR."

But, the final reason, and perhaps the best of all? "If I want to fight Ross, and he knows this, he's not going to last five seconds. So, what am I going to gain from that."

Is that completely true? It's hard to tell without setting up a Daniel Suarez versus Ross Chastain cage match on the frontstretch at Darlington Raceway this weekend, but it sure sends the entertainment factor of the rivalry through the roof.