0:00 / 0:00
What’s Going on With Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez?

What’s Going on With Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez?

The Dale Jr. Download Mar 17, 2026 83 min
0:00
0:00

About this episode

The podcast dives into the recent tension between NASCAR drivers Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez, exploring their on-track confrontations, past teammate dynamics, and Suarez's public apology contrasted with Chastain's silence. The hosts also discuss Denny Hamlin's impressive season start and championship prospects, the evolving competitiveness of teams like Penske and RFK, and the impact of tire fall-off on racing strategies at Darlington. Additional topics include throwback paint schemes, driver behavior, and fan questions about racing incidents and traditions, all wrapped up with sponsor shoutouts and upcoming guest teasers.

Filter:
|
Technical Too Afraid to Ask
Concept

NASCAR

"NASCAR is full of crazy stories. Make your race day story even more epic with FanDuel."

NASCAR is a type of car racing where drivers race specially built cars on oval tracks. It's very popular in the US and has many exciting races.

Concept

Cup Series

"Jenny Hamlin winning his 61st win in the Cup Series, overcoming a speeding penalty, which he seems to do every other race."

The Cup Series is the highest level of NASCAR racing where the best drivers race fast cars on oval tracks and road courses. It's like the major league of stock car racing.

Term

speeding penalty

"Jenny Hamlin winning his 61st win in the Cup Series, overcoming a speeding penalty, which he seems to do every other race."

In NASCAR, drivers have to slow down in certain parts of the race track like the pit area. If they go too fast, they get a penalty that makes them lose time.

Term

pit road

"Let's talk about a little confrontation that happened on the pit road. Suarez and Chastain got into it."

Pit road is where race cars stop during a race to get new tires, fuel, or fixes. Drivers have to be careful and slow down here to keep everyone safe.

Company

Lionel Racing

"in collectible form, nobody does it better than Lionel Racing, the official diecast of NASCAR. Their race-win diecasts are some of my favorite cars in my own collection."

Lionel Racing makes small model cars that look just like real NASCAR cars, including all the scratches and tire marks from the races. People collect these models to remember special racing moments.

Concept

JGR

"JGR goes first, fourth, fifth, and eighth."

JGR is a big racing team in NASCAR that has many good drivers and wins a lot of races.

Concept

Hendrick Motorsports

"Hendrick was right up there as well. They both have led all of the laps in the last two races at Vegas, for the most part."

Hendrick Motorsports is a famous NASCAR team that races Chevrolet cars and has won many championships.

Brand

Chevrolet

"Hendrick Chevrolet with the new body. That's got to be promising to see it a mile and a half."

Chevrolet is a car company from America that makes cars for racing and regular driving. In NASCAR, their cars have special shapes to go faster on the track.

Concept

new body

"Hendrick Chevrolet with the new body. That's got to be promising to see it a mile and a half."

The 'new body' means the car has a new shape that helps it go faster and handle better when racing.

Concept

mile and a half track

"That's got to be promising to see it a mile and a half."

A mile and a half track is a race track that is one and a half miles long. Cars race fast on these tracks and need special setups to do well.

Concept

laps ran out

"The laps ran out. The track goes through a swing late in the afternoon there with the shade one and two."

When the 'laps ran out', it means the race finished because they completed all the laps they were supposed to race.

Term

tire fall-off

"I feel like the tires fell off and then they kind of plateaued a little bit lap time wise would be cool if they would keep falling some, but yeah, well, I think that's been the you know, they have been able to build a tire that does fall off more, but it does seem like you know, when it does reach that limit it does plateau and stop."

Tire fall-off means the tires get less sticky and slower as they wear out during a race. Drivers have to be careful because worn tires make the car harder to control.

Term

seat of the pants

""just by the seat of the pants the feel of the car and the steering wheel in his hands I mean he just really really understands how to get that car around the racetrack better than a lot of people""

When someone says 'seat of the pants' driving, they mean the driver is using their feelings and senses to control the car instead of just looking at gauges or computers. It's like knowing how the car moves just by how it feels.

Brand

Gibbs

""a lot of that I do believe is being with Gibbs as long as he has because that keeps that door open cause Kyle Busch if he was still at Gibbs could he still be winning""

Gibbs is a famous racing team in NASCAR. Drivers who race for Gibbs usually have good cars and a better chance to win.

Brand

Penske

"Penske 23 and Roush Keselowski got a top 10 but I I mean the Ford's I was expecting a bit more"

Penske is a big name in car racing and also sells and fixes cars. They have teams that race in famous car races.

Brand

Roush

"Penske 23 and Roush Keselowski got a top 10 but I I mean the Ford's I was expecting a bit more"

Roush is a company that makes fast cars and races them in big car races like NASCAR.

Term

top 10

"Keselowski got a top 10 but I I mean the Ford's I was expecting a bit more"

Top 10 means finishing a race among the first ten cars, which is a good result.

Brand

Ford

"disadvantage as a organization is Ford the automobile at a disadvantage at a Vegas I don't know you really didn't see any of the Ford's no but I mean it's"

Ford is a big car company that makes many types of cars and trucks. In racing, teams use Ford cars to compete against other brands.

Term

stage points

"you got to start getting good stage points... on the screen is stage points this is where you're seeing people separating themselves... yeah so stage points are telling us they're very critical this year..."

Stage points are extra points drivers get during parts of a race, not just at the end. They help drivers earn more points to win the season.

Term

back straightaway

""...so going down the back straight away Sheldon goes low...""

The back straightaway is a long straight part of a race track where cars can go really fast and try to pass other cars.

Term

going low

""...Sheldon goes low Taylor Gray goes low as well...""

When a driver goes low, they drive near the inside edge of the track to try to pass other cars or keep their speed.

Term

paint scheme

"it stands out yeah and so I've ran that scheme and so we ran it"

A paint scheme is the special design and colors painted on a race car to show who sponsors it and to make it look cool and recognizable.

Brand

Tesla

"is there a Tesla wave? there's not a Tesla club like the Jeep most people that have Teslas don't even look at each other"

Tesla makes electric cars that are different from regular gas cars. People who drive Teslas usually don't wave at each other like some other car groups do.

Term

flashing lights to warn of police

"do you ever flash your lights to let people know there's cops back there I do that give a little tap there yeah I flash lights to trucks if they want in or cars that are trying to blend over I look around though to make sure there's not a cop around because you're not supposed to do that yeah you're not supposed to do that"

Some drivers flash their headlights to tell others that police are nearby, but in many places, this is against the law.

Brand

Kubota

"Kubota Orange Days is here which means so are the best deals of the year on compact tractors so race on over to your local Kubota dealer"

Kubota makes small tractors and machines that help farmers and gardeners do their work easier. They are popular because they last a long time and work well.

Term

horsepower

"I was excited about tire fall off, excited about horsepower, excited about less downforce, anxious about tire allotment."

Horsepower tells you how strong a car's engine is. More horsepower means the car can go faster and accelerate quicker.

Term

downforce

"I was excited about tire fall off, excited about horsepower, excited about less downforce, anxious about tire allotment."

Downforce is like a force that pushes the car down onto the road so it sticks better when going fast. Less downforce means the car might slide more but can go faster in straight lines.

Concept

back to back yellows

"The tire allotment can bite you. Yeah. Like pretty bad, especially if there's like back to back yellows."

Back to back yellows mean the race has several pauses one after another because of accidents or problems on the track. This can make it hard for drivers to plan their stops and use their tires well.

Concept

practice and qualifying sessions

"...if you have a, say a guy cuts tire and practice, doesn't get to qualify, he is down that set of scuffs that he would have qualified on."

Before the race, drivers practice and then do qualifying to see who starts where. Using tires in these sessions means fewer new tires are left for the actual race.

Concept

buying tires from other teams

"...can you buy tires? Rick Ware, line one, you can't, you can't get any more than they allotted. They used to be him. I mean, back in the day, you know, I was used to seeing somebody was out, you bought their tires..."

Sometimes teams could buy extra tires from other teams if they needed more, but now they usually can't do that anymore.

Request an Explanation

Heard something you'd like explained? We'll add it to this episode.

Sign in to request explanations for terms you heard.

Want to learn more?

Browse our glossary for plain-English explanations of automotive terms, jargon, and concepts.

Explore Terms

Help improve this episode

See something that's not quite right? Our annotations are AI-generated and can sometimes miss the mark. Click the flag icon on any annotation to suggest a correction.

Report incorrect info
Suggest better explanations
Flag missing cars