Daniel Suarez’s No. 99 Chevrolet Camaro caught fire during his initial pit stop early in Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway.
A backfire from Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 positioned behind Suarez on pit road ignited a spark, which started a fire in Suarez’s trunk.
Suarez returned to pit road after his stop with his car ablaze.
Suarez had to be told to get out of his car. He said he could feel the heat behind him but could not see it because he no longer has a rearview mirror. He uses a rear camera, which didn’t show the fire.
The incident took Suarez out of the race. Several cars had topped off their fuel, which left the excess on the ground in pit road.
Suarez was coming off an eighth place finish last week at Michigan.
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