It was a bittersweet afternoon for Trackhouse Racing at Sonoma Raceway on Sunday. Even though Shane van Gisbergen turned the race into a masterclass, leading 97 of 110 laps en route to his third win of the season, the day took a melodramatic turn for his teammates Ross Chastain and Daniel Suárez.
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Tempers flared after a late-race clash involving the two drivers. Chastain, who rolled off from fourth and claimed the Stage 1 win, found himself in hot water midway through Stage 2.
On Lap 46, with Suárez running 14th, Chastain dove too deep into the hairpin, locked up, and clipped the rear of the No. 99, sending Suárez spinning and tumbling down the order to 29th.
Frustrated and fuming, Suárez didn’t mince words on the radio: “You better hope I don’t get to him today,” he shouted.
Chastain relayed an apology through his spotter, claiming he had no intention of diving in that deep. However, Suárez wasn’t ready to let bygones be bygones.
“I hope so,” said Suárez when asked if the two would talk it out. “And if it doesn’t happen, he’s gonna get it back.”
Despite the heated exchange, former Cup driver Kyle Petty poured cold water on the media storm that followed. Petty, while speaking on NASCAR’s coverage of the race, downplayed the altercation, calling the incident a racing deal blown out of proportion.
“I thought the Trackhouse drama was a little manufactured,” said Petty. “If we watch Ross right here, as he gets there, he’s sideways right there. You see the roof flap or the hood flap come up as he brakes right about here.”
Petty pointed out that the corner entry was crowded, with Joey Logano holding the low line and Suárez trying to defend his own position. “He’s sideways… We used to see you get into the corner too quick. You used to see things happen. But he’s already stepped out, and he’s turning back to the left when he gets into Daniel Suárez,” he said.
“To me, there were things that happened during this race, and there was a lot made out of it on TV, and a lot made out of it probably on Twitter, but honestly, it’s just racing. Things happen,” added Petty.
Logano was blocking the corner, while Chastain was trying to get in and block Suárez. So, two or three drivers were going for the same position simultaneously. That’s why Petty did not feel that Chastain had committed any foul.
Crew chief-turned-analyst Todd Gordon backed Petty’s assessment. Gordon explained that Chastain locked the rears, the car stepped out, and his brake bias was off.
According to Gordon, Suárez wasn’t blocking. He was probably trying to make a move on the No. 22 Penske ahead of him. It just bunched everyone up. Chastain was on the edge and ran out of room.
While the incident looked like a flashpoint between teammates, it seems the root of Suárez’s frustration runs deeper. With news breaking last week that he won’t return to Trackhouse after this season, perhaps emotions boiled over.
Though Suárez has publicly praised Chastain’s racecraft in the past, the latest misstep may have struck a raw nerve.
