Daniel Suarez explains his side regarding Chase Elliott incident at Chicago: “He pushed me a little bit”

Daniel Suarez and Chase Elliott were involved in an on-track fight against each other for position during Sunday’s Grant Park 165 at Chicago Street Course. Heading into the final lap, Elliott was running inside the top-15 while battling for the 13th spot against Suarez, but Suarez wrecked Elliott, sending the #9 car into the corner.

After the race, Daniel Suarez shared his side of the story about what happened between him and Elliott late in the Chicago Street Race. The #99 Chevy driver explained that Elliott had initially nudged him, and he intentionally pushed the HMS driver back.

Speaking to a Frontstretch's reporter about the late-race incident with Elliott, Suarez said:

“We got together right there in the last couple of corners. He pushed me a little bit, and then I pushed him with all my intention, and I ended up hitting him pretty good on the very last corner. My bad on that.”

On Lap 57 of the shortened Chicago race, the #9 HMS driver pushed his way past Suarez for the 13th spot in Turn 11. That contact sent the #99 car into Brad Keselowski’s #6 Ford, flinging Keselowski into the tire barrier.

Afterwards, in the next turn, Daniel Suarez deliberately hit the rear of Elliott’s #9 car to take revenge. Chase Elliott finished P21, while Suarez came home in 11th place.

After the race, the two exchanged words on the pit road, and it appears that whatever the disagreement between them was, it was settled.

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Daniel Suarez described his outing at Chicago Street Course

The 32-year-old Mexican driver had a topsy-turvy Chicago race. He initially had a strong car after starting from ninth on the grid but got involved in a collision with eventual winner Alex Bowman and Bubba Wallace, which left some damage in his #99 car.

Nevertheless, Daniel Suarez gained some track position and scored a respectable P11 finish. Speaking about his day at the Chicago Street Race, Suarez told Frontstretch:

“I thought we had a great car early in the race, and then we got caught in a wreck over there with a #48 and a #23, and our car was a little bit damaged, and I was able to do some track positions, but you know, it was hard, you know, with the time of the race to be able to recover 100%, but the team did a good job, and we were able to recover to P11.”

Daniel Suarez is 18th in the Cup Series points table with 410 points. He's in the 16-driver playoff field, courtesy of his Atlanta win in February.