What Caused The Massive Fire Between Daniel Suarez and Denny Hamlin at Daytona?

A car catching on fire during a race is one of the scariest visuals anyone can see. However, that is precisely what happened with not one but two cars at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday. Daniel Suarez and Denny Hamlin saw their cars go up in flames during the 2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400.

Thankfully, neither of the drivers nor the pit crew were hurt during the spectacular ordeal.

The first glimpse of the fire came when the #99 and #11 drivers pitted during the 400-mile-long event. As Hamlin was seen trying to leave his pit box behind Suarez and not hit the Trackhouse Racing driver’s car in the process, a backfire from his Toyota’s exhaust ignited spilled fuel on the ground due to the #99 refueling ahead of him.

A closer look at what happened between Denny Hamlin and Daniel Suarez that led to the fire. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/hNyTFqBGlE

— NASCAR on USA (@NASCARonUSA) August 25, 2024

Hamlin’s #11 was briefly covered in flames before the JGR driver made it out of the pits. The fire was also extinguished as he went about his race. Subsequently, the rear of the #99 Chevy caught fire after Suarez had also left the pit road, necessitating another trip back to safety.

One of the announcers speculated that it could have been due to a fuel leak, some of which might have found its way to the trunk area of the Trackhouse Racing car, along with spilling over on the ground as seen before.

“The No. 11 (Denny Hamlin) was right behind me and the No. 21 (Harrison Burton) was right in front of me, so unfortunately I got boxed in. We know that every single time we do a pit stop, we drop a little bit of fuel and that’s completely normal. Unfortunately, the No. 11 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,” Suarez explained.

https://twitter.com/Daniel_SuarezG/status/1827559567040881145

As a result of the big fireball that engulfed Suarez’s car as he returned to the pits, the #99 Trackhouse Racing driver and crew’s day was cut short. The Mexican driver was seen safely jumping out of the engulfed car before explaining what happened. Incidents like these can often lead to chain reactions that can jeopardize not only the driver’s safety but also his crew members during an event.

It’s no wonder that a lot of people were on edge when it happened. One can only imagine how Suarez must have been feeling inside the car at the time. It just goes to show the immense risk drivers take every single weekend to do what they and their fans love.