"He was trying to hit me" - Daniel Suarez discusses NASCAR's non-penalty for Chase Elliott

Following the wild ending to the Chicago Street Race, Daniel Suarez discussed what happened in the cool-down lap with Chase Elliott. Suarez opined that Elliott was trying to make contact, but ultimately there was no contact, and so, no penalty was warranted.

In the final lap of the Grant Park 165, Suarez and Elliott made contact multiple times. It was Elliott in the #9 Chevy who initiated the sequence after shoving Suarez's #99 Chevy. The two tangled once more on the final corner, resulting in Elliott spinning out.

In the cool-down lap, Chase Elliott was seen chasing down Daniel Suarez and going side by side with the #99 Chevy, expressing his frustration. NASCAR did not penalize this incident, whereas Bubba Wallace received a $50,000 fine for making contact with race winner Alex Bowman.

Suarez elaborated on how his incident was different, noting that Elliott was hunting him down, but no actual contact was made. The Mexican driver further added that he was wary about Elliott approaching his car. He acknowledged that it was a tricky situation for NASCAR, but admitted that the #9 Chevy didn't deserve a penalty.

"He was trying to hit me under caution, a few times but he never made contact with me. It’s a delicate situation because what happens if I wasn’t paying attention and I was getting hit. He was going to get fined?" he told Bob Pockrass.

"Just because I was paying attention and didn’t get hit, he’s not getting a fine? That’s a little bit tricky. I think that’s a very big penalty to pay $50,000 for hitting somebody. I’m not saying that Chase should have got fined, I don’t think he should have, but it’s a big fine," he added.

Daniel Suarez also called for consistency from NASCAR, citing Martin Truex Jr's rage at Richmond and other instances where drivers were not penalized.

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Chase Elliott opens up about his Chicago incident with Daniel Suarez

The 2020 NASCAR Cup champion, Chase Elliott, addressed the Chicago incident with Daniel Suarez and took the blame for the entire episode. He admitted that he wasn't really concerned about a penalty.

Elliott explained that he "barely" rubbed doors with the #99 Trackhouse Racing driver and emphasized that there wasn't significant contact. Speaking to Bob Pockrass at Pocono Raceway, he said:

"I honestly didn’t really think about it, because we barely rubbed doors. At the very best that was all the contact that we made."

Chase Elliott also shared his opinion on the Bubba Wallace-Alex Bowman incident, stating that the 23XI Racing driver should not have been fined. He acknowledged that handling such incidents was quite tricky.

"I haven’t studied Bubba’s situation in great detail, but I personally view it from what I have seen quite a bit differently, in my opinion. I don’t really think he should have been fined. I understand. I get it, but man you’re getting in the weeds with some of that stuff," he stated.

Elliott lines up 11th on the grid for the NASCAR Cup race at Pocono Raceway, scheduled for July 14 at 2:30 PM ET.