The hype was real, the energy was there, but luck was not on the side of Trackhouse and driver Daniel Suarez, after getting caught up in a Lap 14 wreck that sent the No. 99 iFly Camaro ZL1 1LE to the hauler.
Suarez was on his way to breaking into the Top-10 on the high side heading down the backstretch when Christopher Bell got into Aric Almirola at the front of the field.
Here's what happened: https://t.co/HdDx1jMVpT pic.twitter.com/hJ64E372x0
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 14, 2021
The No. 99 came down to avoid Alex Bowman and Almirola, but Suarez ended up making contact with both Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch. He came to a sliding stop into the wet grass, and an oncoming David Ragan went head-on into Suarez, killing the hopes of continuing Trackhouse’s debut.
It took a few hours but a dejected Suarez tweeted his thoughts following the accident.
Well, I needed a few hours to calm down and process what happened. Sadly, we got caught in someone else’s mistake early on, and even though I made it through the wreck, my car got killed on the grass. So frustrating, such a shame… (1/4) pic.twitter.com/7gVpfwh5tl
— Daniel Suárez (@Daniel_SuarezG) February 15, 2021
“Sadly, we got caught in someone else’s mistake early on, and even though I made it through the wreck, my car got killed on the grass. So frustrating, such a shame…” Suarez tweeted.
The debut of Trackhouse on-track was energized by co-owner Pitbull attending the race weekend festivities. After arriving to Daytona, the Trackhoue group had a private dinner, where Pitbull was gifted a special helmet designed by Off Axis Paint, and a commemorative checkered flag to celebrate the team’s inaugural season. In a media availability early on Sunday, the Grammy-winning artist says he plans to attend as many races as possible. His home race of Miami is in just a few weeks.
We’ve got ourselves one heck of a team 👊 pic.twitter.com/LUm9pJTlfo
— Trackhouse Racing (@TeamTrackhouse) February 13, 2021
Pitbull served as the grand marshal, and gave the command for the Daytona 500, adding his own signature flair to the occasion.
Now THAT'S a command…Let's go @pitbull 👊 pic.twitter.com/u3FpHDS7IP
— Trackhouse Racing (@TeamTrackhouse) February 14, 2021
The organization will regroup, and return to the track next weekend for their first go-around with the Daytona road course on Sunday, February 21st at 3:00PM on FOX.
[…] Bubba and Derrike Cope rubbed some fenders, giving Bubba a tire problem, and rear fender damage. Trackhouse saw a very early exit after the massive turn 3 crash. Superspeedways cannot really dictate the performance of one team for an entire season, with those […]