At the end of 2025, Daniel Suárez and Ross Chastain parted ways as teammates. But their relationship seems to have taken its biggest hit in 2026. This comes after their confrontation in Las Vegas, where more than Chastain getting physical, it was the words that caused lasting damage to Suárez.

Daniel Suárez has lost respect for Ross Chastain after Vegas confrontation

After a series of on-track incidents during the Cup race at Las Vegas between the former teammates, Daniel Suárez went to clear the air with Ross Chastain. However, the conversation soon turned into a heated discussion before escalating into the #1 driver seemingly pushing Suárez away. Following this incident, Suárez shared his thoughts during an appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

“The part that, in my opinion, the line that he crossed is the stuff that he said afterwards. That’s low. That’s disrespectful. That’s not okay. Honestly, that’s the part I was the most disappointed. What happened on the racetrack on Monday, on Tuesday, it’s already moved on, and we’re going to the next one. But the stuff that people say, those words, they don’t go away,” he explained.

The Spire driver claimed that what happens on the racetrack happens on the racetrack. He said he and Chastain have both had situations with other drivers in the past, and they’ll continue to be competitive with others and each other. But the harsh words won’t be forgotten.

Suárez added that it is ‘a little bit sad’ to know that Chastain didn’t have a hold of himself in all that he said. But he emphasized that the words would last longer than the time between the two races for him simply because he has lost a lot of respect for Chastain as a person.

Having said that, he claimed things will be the same on the track between them since the Trackhouse driver is just another rival.

Speaking about his side of the story after the Las Vegas weekend, Ross Chastain admitted he was ‘hot and angry’ in the moment when Suárez confronted him. But he also said he’d do things differently if he’d had time to think about it.

Chastain is okay not being liked by everyone, including Suárez

“I would not have swerved into him after the race and if I could go back, I wouldn’t have shoved, sure,” Chastain claimed as per Motorsport. “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.”

Chastain also mentioned that he doesn’t agree with the way Suárez handles things. And during their conversation on pit road in Vegas, Suárez’s lack of accountability for the on-track incidents stood out to him.

But while their Las Vegas incident could be the defining highlight of their relationship so far, Chastain claimed it goes back longer than what happened on Sunday. He said that their time as teammates is over and he’s okay being someone who doesn’t get along with everybody in the garage.