In dismissing the media who wanted to ask about his post-race conflict with Daniel Suarez, Ross Chastain said ‘not today, boys’ but conceded he should said, ‘see you on Tuesday’ in advance of a pre-scheduled media availability.
Chastain said, after walking away from Suarez, that he just didn’t understand everything that happened between them and didn’t want to say the wrong thing. Since then, he has reviewed all the video footage, and walked away with the same sentiment he has had for a while — that there is an accountability issue with his former teammate.
Advertisement
“Yeah, in the moment, I definitely was hot and angry and would do things different if I had time to think about it,” said Chastain at the NASCAR Productions facility. “I would not have swerved into him after the race and if I could go back, I wouldn’t have shoved, sure.
“I was just over the conversation that he was trying to have, wanted him to leave, asked him to leave and wanted him to back up. He was too close and just didn’t want to hear anything else he was saying because he wasn’t taking any accountability and I wanted him to.”
Advertisement
Chastain referenced it multiple times on Tuesday how he believes Suarez doesn’t frequently enough take personal accountability. But ultimately, Chastain was mad because he was frustrated with how his No. 1 team was running on Sunday at Phoenix.
“It was unfair in the grand scheme of things to react that way and it wasn’t right,” he added.
The on-track incident that preceded this was simply hard racing over the final three laps on Sunday. Suarez said his car started to fall off but he wanted to race it out as Chastain approached.
Advertisement
Chastain gave Suarez the middle finger down the backstretch and says he wanted to talk it out but was shoved once the conversation got heated.
“I was actually very proud of myself in the way I handled the situation because the Daniel from three years ago probably would have kicked his butt,” Suárez said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “But I have come to understand and I’ll give you a few reasons. Reason No. 1, to punch him and put him on the ground, it was going to cost me $50,000. Reason No. 2 is sponsors never like that. Sponsors like exposure, but they don’t like bad media, bad PR. And reason No. 3, I mean, if I want to fight Ross — and he knows this — it’s not gonna last five seconds.
“So, what am I gonna gain by that? I wasn’t going to get into anything. I wasn’t trying to fight him, I was just trying to understand his thought process.”
Advertisement
Chastain said the he wrote a long text to Suarez, ‘so I could verb it the way I wanted so he knew where I stood’ and that they have ‘played phone tag’ in the days since. Chastain says they simply don’t get along and that’s okay because not everyone does.
“That goes back longer than this weekend,” Chastain said. “We got through the end of our time together when we were teammates and I don’t think it’s bad that I don’t get along with everybody.
“Take it back to my childhood, and you’re taught to get along with everyone, but as you grow up and work in this big time sport of NASCAR, you’re not, and that’s okay. I don’t agree with the way he handles things and … what stood out to me on pit road, is there is never any accountability.
Advertisement
“There was zero percent on his side, and not just this past weekend, but it’s just a bigger thing and it all boiled up quickly for me. I could have handled that better, but I’m seeing red in that moment, because I just needed a little slice of accountability from him. There’s always a reason why it’s never his fault.”
Read Also:
Daniel Dye indefinitely suspended for mocking David Malukas with homophobic voice
Joe Gibbs Racing, Chris Gabehart granted expedited discovery in court
Daniel Suarez says he “lost a lot of respect” for Ross Chastain after Vegas comments
To read more Motorsport.com articles visit our website.
