Watch as Denny Hamlin ignites fuel that then catches Daniel Suarez on fire at Daytona International Speedway
Tonight, Daytona International Speedway is hosting the NASCAR Cup Series.
At the end of stage one, the entire field hit the pit lane for fuel, tires and adjustments. A fire erupted.
Daniel Suarez was done with his stop. However, he was blocked in his stall due to the angle of the No. 21 in his pit box ahead.
As Suarez pulled out of his stall, he had to stop. Behind him, Hamlin had the same issue. But, when Hamlin stopped, the exhaust backfired.
The exhaust pipes are on the side of the cars. Hamlin stopped directly over where Suarez left a puddle of overflow fuel from his stop.
The fuel on the ground ignited from the backfire of the No. 11 car. The fire quickly jumped across the ground to the source, the No. 99 car.
Suarez drove off the pit lane with a trail of flames. The fire continued to build. For an entire lap, Suarez was on fire.
He returned his stall on the next lap. Suarez climbed from the car in a hurry as the safety team jumped over the wall and quickly extinguished the fire.
Plastic pieces on the rear diffuser were completely melted away. NASCAR has stated that the team will be allowed to rejoin the race, if they elect to do so.
The race is ongoing.
Daniel Suarez comments on the fire
“That’s the first time for me as well,” Daniel Suarez stated.
“It was a very weird feeling because I don’t run a rear view mirror anymore. I only run a rear view camera. The camera is mounted in the rear bumper.”
“I could feel the heat in my back but I could not see it. I was trying to go fast to try to calm down the fire. But, by the time I got [to the pits] I could feel a lot of heat.”
“Very unfortunate. After seeing the replay, I don’t know what we could have done better. Every single time that we pit, we drop a little bit of fuel.”
“We might have just had a bad situation. Between the No. 11 and the No. 21, I couldn’t move. The fire just come in the back of the car, where the fuel cell is.”
“Was just a bad deal.”
