Daniel Suarez penalty: NASCAR issues $50k fine to Trackhouse Racing driver

On Wednesday (March 29), NASCAR fined Daniel Suarez $50,000 for an incident that occurred during the cool-down lap of the Cup Series race on March 26. He, however, didn't see any points deduction.

During the race at the Circuit of the Americas, Suarez rear-ended Ross Chastain and Alex Bowman on the pit road, which led to NASCAR issuing him a hefty fine. Suarez was disappointed with the collision that occurred during a late-race restart when his Trackhouse Racing teammate Chastain collided with Hendrick Motorsports's Bowman, who then collided with Suarez.

During the cool-down lap, Suarez drove past numerous cars to get to Chastain and Bowman on the pit road and bumped into them. He later exited the car and exchanged words with both drivers.

Drivers have historically received fines from NASCAR for similar conduct. Ty Gibbs was penalized $15,000 last year for colliding with another vehicle on the pit road after an Xfinity Series race. When he purposefully reacted against Ty Dillon at a Cup race in Texas, he was subsequently fined $75,000 and his team lost 25 owner points; the severity of the penalty was partly because it was his second offense of the year.

Due to the Cup's substantially higher purse money, fines are sometimes higher than those for Xfinity.

The Suarez incident was the first potential instance to determine if NASCAR will add points to the punishment for a post-race altercation since the rule change, which now appears to have been aimed at prohibiting what Gibbs did to Dillon on pit road rather than a driver bumping another vehicle on the pit road after the race.

Daniel Suarez has the opportunity to appeal the penalty, although he is unlikely to do so.

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Pitlane incident involving Daniel Suarez and Alex Bowman

Daniel Suarez was spotted rushing down pit lane, shoving his teammate Ross Chastain out of the way so he could pass Alex Bowman. Suarez tapped Bowman on the bumper to indicate his dissatisfaction.

Suarez seemed to give in to his frustrations on Sunday after finishing 27th in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at the Circuit of Americas in Texas.

The whole thing started with an incident in overtime at the finish of the race when Bowman collided with Suarez as the pack approached the first bend of the course.

Chase Briscoe started a chain of collisions when he ran into Chastain, who then slammed Bowman, leading him to collide with Suarez. This sent Suarez to the back of the pack and spoiled what was a potential top-five finish.