Two NASCAR drivers exchanged blows after a hectic qualifying session that led to shoving on track.
Daniel Suarez threw Michael McDowell to the ground and both drivers had to be forcibly restrained after being knocked out while vying for position in the first round of qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series race at ISM Raceway.
Almost all drivers waited until the last two minutes of the 10-minute qualifying session before leaving pit road, creating chaos on the mile-long track.
Suarez and McDowell continued to hinder each other and ultimately ruined their respective qualifying attempts.
After getting out of their car, Suarez jumped a concrete wall and exchanged words with McDowell before knocking him to the ground – McDowell didn’t even remove his helmet.
It took several crew members to finally take them down.
“(It’s) like a respect (thing),” Suarez said.
“Track position is very important in this race these days and you have to qualify well to have a good stall on pit road…you have to try to get out of the way if someone comes in with a hot lap. He just didn’t do it.”
Naturally, McDowell saw things play out differently.
“Just a miscommunication at the track,” said McDowell, an Arizona native who considers Phoenix his home track.
“We all waited until the end and we just had a lot of traffic. He was upset that we delayed him from his good lap and then he tried to crash us and I didn’t like it.”
The brawl in the garage didn’t quite rise to the same level as Jeff Gordon’s memorable brawl with Clint Bowyer at Phoenix in 2012. But it still marked an otherwise quiet qualifying session.
McDowell then joked that he and Suarez were at a hockey game Thursday night and that fans shouldn’t read too much into the fight.
P.A.
