Daniel Suarez Clarifies How a “Bad Situation” Led to Him Spinning Tyler Reddick Out of Contention at Richmond

Neha Dwivedi | 17/08/2025
NASCAR Cup Series driver Daniel Suarez (99) walks the track before practice for the Clash at Bowman Gray at Bowman Gray Stadium.

On one hand, Austin Dillon stunned the field with another surprise victory at Richmond Raceway, this time locking his place in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs beyond any doubt. On the other hand, it was a crushing blow for Denny Hamlin’s driver, Tyler Reddick. After starting from an impressive P2 and capturing Stage 1, Reddick saw his playoff hopes collapse following Daniel Suarez’s indirect involvement.

On Lap 181, Suarez nudged Ty Gibbs, who shot up the track into Reddick’s left rear, spinning the No. 45 in Turn 4 and bringing out the caution. Though Reddick returned after repairs, his car never recovered. He limped home P34, collecting just 13 points and sliding to 15th in the standings.

Suarez, meanwhile, salvaged a seventh-place finish. Addressing the incident afterward, he admitted, “I feel bad for the #45 to begin with. I mean, it wasn’t intentional. The last thing I want to do is just crash him for no reason.”

Explaining further, he said, “The #54 already had older tires, and at that point, it’s a two, three-second difference, you know? And when he went to the bottom, he slowed down way more than I anticipated. So, I bumped him a little bit to get some room. But just maybe a little bit too hard of a bump for the tires that he had.”

“He got a wiggle, and then he ended up spinning out the #45, which really wasn’t intentional. Feel bad for that, but yeah, just a bad situation there. Just trying to make as much time as possible,” Suarez continued.

With back-to-back top-10s, including P7 at Watkins Glen the week prior, the Trackhouse Racing driver, Suarez, is making the most of his remaining time in the No. 99 Chevrolet ZL1. Now 29th in the standings with 433 points, one top-five, and five top-10s across 25 starts, his playoff hopes now rest on a single path: winning the regular-season finale at Daytona next Sunday.

Post Edited By: Abhishek Ramesh
Cook Out 400 Daniel Suarez Richmond Raceway Ty Gibbs Tyler Reddick

About the author

Neha Dwivedi

Neha Dwivedi is an experienced NASCAR Journalist at The SportsRush, having penned over 5500 articles on the sport to date. She was a seasoned writer long before she got into the world of NASCAR. Although she loves to see Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch win the races, she equally supports the emerging talents in the CARS Late Model and ARCA Menards Series.. For her work in NASCAR she has earned accolades from journalists like Susan Wade of The Athletic, as well as NASCAR drivers including Thad Moffit and Corey Lajoie. Her favorite moment from NASCAR was witnessing Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. win the championship trophies. Outside the racetrack world, Neha immerses herself in the literary world, exploring both fiction and non-fiction.

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