With 50 laps to go in the event, Suarez attempted to pass Bowman for eighth-place down the frontstretch. Bowman blocked the Trackhouse Racing driver down low, so Suarez then tried to get to the outside of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
Bowman blocked again and the two collided, igniting a multi-car crash. Harrison Burton was also involved, and none of the three drivers were able to re-join the race.
“I had a run on him,” Suarez told NBC after being released from the infield care center. “I went to the inside and after that, he blocked me pretty low. I had to lift a little bit to not wreck him and put him into the inside wall because we both are Chevy partners. I didn’t want to do that to him. But then I go high and he blocks me again. You can block once. You cannot block twice like that.
“He has to use his brain a little more. We have been racing here for 3.5 hours, and to wreck with 50 laps to go is a little bit dumb. He just has to be smarter. It’s a shame. My team did a very good job. I feel like today we had a top-ten car and all we have to show for it is a wrecked race car.”
Suarez finished 34th, and Bowman 33rd.
Bowman was told of Suarez’s comments, and was quick to throw his words back at him.
“Obviously, it didn’t work,” said Bowman. “He chose not to lift and crashed us. But every time I race the #99 [Suarez], he does something dumb. Whether it’s his crew chief [Travis Mack] flipping me off on the way to the airport or just anytime I’m around him, he blocks me really aggressively. That’s just part of it sometimes and obviously, the block didn’t work out. Looking back, I shouldn’t have done it.
“We were just really tight on the short run, and I knew I needed to hang on to whatever track position I could. Kind of just got a bad run off of (Turn) 4 and got tight. Saw that he had a run and knew if I could hold him off for a couple laps, then we’d be really good. But yeah, if he wants to call me dumb, every time I’m around him there’s a big block. That’s just part of racing sometimes.”
Suarez’s crew chief later refuted Bowman’s claims on social media, and says he never flipped him off. Both drivers also took to social media afterwards.