After Daniel Suarez’s spectacular victory at Atlanta, his fortunes are facing a slump. Finishing 20th place or worse, the Mexican driver has not been able to maneuver his way to the front row. The Richmond race unfolded similarly for him. At the end of stage 1, Atlanta’s favorite champ faced an unexpected hurdle from his SHR rival: Josh Berry.

Tony Stewart’s newbie driver switched into a mode of road rage. Yet even as the video portrayed that he triggered the aggression, the rookie driver pointed fingers at Suarez.

Suarez blamed by Josh Berry

If you thought that the Toyota Owners 400 race was interesting only towards the end, you could not be more wrong. Granted, Denny Hamlin stole the trophy and the limelight with his antics. Yet the tediously long 400-lap race was spicy throughout. 

On the final green flag lap of the first stage, Trackhouse Racing’s No 99 driver got entangled in a wreck. Daniel Suarez had climbed to 9th position from a 20th starting spot. Yet he saw his hard-earned position slipping from his fingers as Stewart-Haas Racing’s No. 4 driver caught up to him.

Josh Berry’s rookie season under Tony Stewart’s aegis is not going well. Finishing outside the top 20 except for Bristol, the former Xfinity driver was determined to leave a mark in the Cup. Hence, he did not hesitate to bump into Suarez’s car. The latter tried to block and spun in the process, leaving a trail of smoke.

Despite his actions, Berry fumed over the radio. “Why did he block like that? That’s just so stupid.” Then the No. 4 crew chief Rodney Childers responded, “I don’t know. He just kept on coming down the track”. Daniel Suarez had his own take to share over the radio. “I know I blocked him, but he pushed me. We were not even in the corner yet.” 

Post-race, both drivers locked horns in a word battle. Then both drivers shared their perspectives with the media.

Suarez swore bitter consequences upon repetition of the event

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Before the Richmond race was flagged off, Daniel Suarez had apprehensions about the short track. He felt jittery about the new aero package and the different speeds of the 0.75-mile track. However, in the race, the Mexican driver ran into more problems than just aerodynamic ones. After Suarez fell from 9th to a measly 22nd place finish due to Josh Berry’s nudge, he had a word to share about his SHR rival.

Speaking to Frontstretch, he said, “He spins me out in stage 1, we’re not even in the bottom of the racetrack. Just having a conversation. I want to just race him the same way. We’re good, but if tomorrow that happens the other way around there won’t be any conversation because he’s going to be expecting it.”

Daniel Suarez is agitated with his plummeting race results. Hopefully, the Mexican driver will get more comfortable with short tracks soon.

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