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By Saajan Jogia
Sports Contributing Writer
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Trackhouse Racing's Daniel Suarez did not overtake Joey Logano at Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval last weekend, despite being in a position to do so. This proved detrimental for Suarez's teammate Ross Chastain, since he did not advance in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. The controversy has come under scrutiny from Denny Hamlin, who explained what could have led Suarez not to pass Logano. Did Suarez sabotage his teammate?
It is worth noting that Trackhouse parted ways with Suarez on mutual terms, marking the current season as his last with the team. At the end of Stage 2 of the Round of 12 finale, the Mexican driver did not pass Logano, who was at par with Chastain on the last lap in terms of points. With Logano beating Chastain, he advanced into the Round of 8.
Suarez is not battling in the playoffs, but questions were raised as to why he didn't pass Logano when he could, since it could have helped Chastain advance further. Was this a deliberate inaction by Suarez? Speaking on the controversy, Hamlin said on his Actions Detrimental podcast:
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“Now, for the record, we come out, if we flip stages on a road course, do not be surprised if our lap times are significantly slower than what they were when we just pitted because we know we’re gonna stay out and the team will harp on us, ‘Do not push these tires the first two laps. Take it easy because we’re about to stay out.
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“Now, did he not pass Logano by choice because he’s chapped at the organization for letting him go, or was he just being smart saying, ‘I’m not gonna burn my sh*t up here.’ In one lap, Joey’s about to pit, that spot is irrelevant so why would I burn my tires up for the next stage? That’s the counter. It’s not like people just pass at will.”
Hamlin added that Suarez was likely giving it his best shot, although Trackhouse would have liked him to make the pass on Logano. However, he remains unsure of whether Suarez held himself back from passing Logano on purpose. He added:
“I’m sure his Trackhouse team would have loved for him to go get that spot and take it from Joey, but it appears — I don’t know if it was related or not.… I don’t know that it was deliberate. If anything was deliberate, Daniel was just trying to do the best he could to give himself the best finish of the day which is 'this spot is completely irrelevant to me, I care nothing about the points, I wasn’t part of the playoffs to begin with, why do I care? I’ve got three, four more races for this team. Why do I care?'
“That’s probably wrong of me to say that’s what he’s thinking in his head, but he’s just trying to get the best finish he can. It is part of the long list of good fortune things the 22 [Logano] had happen.”
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