Brad Moran
NASCAR Cup Series Managing Director Brad Moran believes it is ‘not the worst thing in the world’ to see drivers showing their emotions in the wake of Daniel Suarez and Ross Chastain’s feud.
Heading into this weekend’s action at Darlington Raceway, the racing headlines have been dominated by the fallout of Suarez and Chastain’s confrontation at Las Vegas, which saw the latter put his hands on his former Trackhouse Racing teammate following the Pennzoil 400.
The pair were swiftly separated after exchanging words, with Suarez claiming he had lost respect for Chastain. Meanwhile, Chastain admitted he shouldn’t have put his hands on Suarez, adding that he wishes his ex-teammate, whom he texted afterwards, would take some accountability for the altercation.
Footage from Chastain’s onboard camera caught the heated incident.
While the altercation was ended quickly after Chastain shoved Suarez, NASCAR’s Cup Series managing director Brad Moran has admitted that while they don’t want to see drivers fighting on pit road, the channelling of emotion is not something the organization is looking to prevent.
Sign up to our NASCAR newsletter here for more exclusive interviews and breaking news.
Speaking to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Moran explained that while NASCAR will protect its drivers from physical altercations, he does not believe it to be a bad thing that fans get to see drivers caring about what happens during a weekend of racing.
“If they have a confrontation … that’s one thing but we do got to watch if it gets into a true fight on pit road, I mean we’ve got concrete all around … some of the drivers are quite different in sizes,” explained Moran.
He continued: “You have to be cautious [of fighting], these are professional athletes and we protect our drivers. Every situation is different, you know, the raw emotion, we really don’t want to hold all of that back.
“The drivers have the right to share their thoughts and feelings with each other and truthfully, if everybody gets to witness that, I don’t think it’s the worst thing that could happen.”
Speaking earlier this week about the incident, Chastain said, “In the moment, I definitely was hot and angry and would do things different if I had time to think about it.
“Yeah, definitely would not have swerved into him after the race. I didn’t mean to. I would do that different if I could go back, and then I wouldn’t shove him, for sure.
“I just was over the conversation that he was trying to have, wanted him to leave, asked him to leave, and he didn’t leave and wanted him to back up. 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.”
]]>