DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Daniel Suarez was unable to continue in Saturday night's race at Daytona International Speedway after a massive fire destroyed the rear of his No. 99 Chevrolet Camaro.
The incident occurred after Suarez made his first pit stop of the night. He stopped for fuel and tires before pulling off pit road. However, the rear of the No. 99 Chevrolet ignited and sent Suarez back to his pit stall.
The team attempted to extinguish the blaze, and they ultimately did. However, Suarez could not continue in the race as he climbed from the vehicle and headed to safety.
.@NASCARonNBC takes a closer look at what happened to the No. 99. pic.twitter.com/Ppoy5zHo27
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 25, 2024
"We know that every single time we do a pit stop, we drop a little bit of fuel and that's completely normal," Suarez told media members after exiting the race.
"Unfortunately, (Denny Hamlin) was leaving his pit stall right behind me, and because he was waiting for me to leave, his exhaust fired up the little fuel I dropped. Because I was still parked there, that went up the back of my car where the fuel cell is and it just grabbed it."
A look at Daniel Suarez's car after the fire. Scary. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/gOBUMxpYrB
— John Newby (@JohnNewby_) August 25, 2024
Suarez confirmed to media members that he and everyone on his team were all fine. He did not have to go to the infield care center as this was a mechanical issue that ended the race.
In fact, Suarez said that he didn't even initially know how large the fire was before climbing from the car.
"The crazy thing is I was able to feel the heat," Suarez said. "Because I don't run a rearview mirror -- I run a rearview camera -- I couldn't see it. The rearview camera, as you guys know, is connected in the rear bumper.
"I can not see the smoke, I can not see the fire. So, I could feel the heat, but I couldn't see how big (the fire) was."
Suarez, who won February's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, only has two DNFs this season. He was involved in a crash in the Daytona 500. The fire then ended his race in late August.
Suarez was not the only driver to end the race after an unexpected issue. Shane van Gisbergen pulled to the bottom of the track late in stage 2 with smoke billowing from under the No. 16 Chevrolet due to an engine failure. He stopped on pit road as a fire ignited under his car. Like Suarez, SVG was unable to continue in the race.