There was a lot of talk about double standards or a lack of standards over the penalties that were or were not handed out by NASCAR earlier in the week.
There was a lot that happened after the checkered flag on Sunday following the conclusion of the Chicago Street Race. Wallace retaliated on winner Alex Bowman for something that transpired between them earlier in the race. Elliott kind of did the same to Suarez.
Wallace received a $50,000 fine and Elliott was not issued any sort of penalty. NASCAR officials have yet to comment publicly on the matter.
The difference is that Wallace squeezed Bowman into the wall, lifting his car off the ground with the impact while Elliott issued (maybe) a glancing blow to Suarez.
Whatever conclusion NASCAR reached in drawing a distinction between the two didnât totally make sense to Suarez.
First, what happened between Elliott and Suarez? They were racing each other on the final lap, hard, on a track that had only one dry lane and they both got stacked up behind Brad Keselowski.
âThere was only three quarters of a lane dry,â Suarez said. âSo everytime (Elliott) and I were racing each other, we had to have a tire or two in the wet area and thatâs what happened. I lost my reference and locked my tires and ended up getting into (Elliott) in corner 12. It wasnât intentional but it looked like it was because he hit me pretty hard in the corner before.â
Suarez said he understood why Elliott tried to door slam him, even justifying it, but doesnât understand why itâs not a penalty if Wallace was fined $50,000 for the intent of what he did to Bowman.
âHe was right to hit me under caution but he never made contact,â Suarez said. âItâs a delicate situation because what happens if I wasnât paying attention and I did get hit? Was he going to get fined. Iâm good because I was paying attention and didnât get hit so heâs not getting a fine. Thatâs a little bit tricky.
âI think itâs a very big penalty, $50,000 for hitting somebody. Iâm not saying Chase should have been fined. He shouldnât have but itâs a big fine. A lot of people have done similar things this year. (Martin Truex Jr.) did it at Richmond. If thatâs going to be a fine, it has to be consistent and NASCAR is trying its best to be consistent but weâre not there yet.â
Elliott said he and Suarez talked after the race and reached a common ground on the track conditions. There was agreement that âI barely touched his door, yeah,â said Elliott.
Elliott also said that wasnât enough to warrant a fine.
âI didnât think about it all week because we barely rubbed doors,â Elliott said. âAt the very best, thatâs all the contact we made. I havenât studied the situation in great detail but I personally view it from what I have seen, quite a bit differently in my opinion.â
With that said, Elliott doesnât think Wallace warranted a fine either.
âI donât think he should have been fined,â Elliott said. âI understand. I get it. But youâre getting in the weeds with some of that stuff. Nobody was hurt. It was unfortunate I guess just the circumstances but I didnât see it to be a huge deal.â
Denny Hamlin, who co-owns the car driven by Bubba Wallace, says NASCAR felt more compelled to act only because that incident was caught on live TV and became a social media talking point.
All in all, itâs a judgment call and thatâs the explanation that they gave the team,â Hamlin said. âItâs a judgment call. More than likely, weâve seen these things happen in other sports where the cameraâs on you live, not a cutaway where youâd say âoh, by the way, this happened after the checkered,â I think it being live and everyone seeing it, probably caused a little more of a social media uproar which then they responded to that. I think from the teamâs standpoint, I donât believe there will be any appeals. Itâs a learning moment you try not to repeat.â
But again, something similar happens every week, he argued.
âAgain, itâs based on circumstances of it being on live TV, making it different,â Hamlin said.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was fined $75,000 for punching Kyle Busch after the All Star Race.
Was that $25,000 more egregious than what Wallace did?
âI canât even begin to understand what their thinking is,â Stenhouse said with a laugh on Saturday.
For his part, Bowman echoed what he said after the race on Sunday, taking responsibility for what happened between them earlier in the raceand wishing NASCAR hadnât issued a fine.
âI donât think it was terrible from my end from where I sat and I certainly understood why he was mad at me,â Bowman said. âBut itâs NASCARâs decision to do whatever they feel they need to do. I feel like that sort of thing happens more often than TV cameras ever catch it but itâs one of those deals.â
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.
