The second half of the planned double-duty run at Daytona International Speedway on Monday has been cut short for Daniel Suarez, after a four-car incident broke out on the 24th lap of the United Rentals 300.
Suarez, who competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series for Trackhouse Racing, was running just outside the top-15 when the single-file line checked up in front, forcing him to get out of the gas. The driver behind him didn’t, though, sending the No. 14 Chevrolet Camaro into the outside wall.
After slapping the outside wall, the SS-GreenLight Racing driver then spun down the racetrack and clipped the right rear of Sam Mayer, sending into the outside wall with brutal force.
The first caution of the night. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/s50sjSSxTN
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 20, 2024
Hailie Deegan, making her first start in the second-tier series in AM Racing, was collected in the aftermath of the incident as Suarez slid back up the track, collecting both the No. 15 Ford Mustang and Kyle Weatherman, driving the No. 91 for DGM Racing.
Mayer, Weatherman, Deegan, and Suarez were all forced to retire from the United Rentals 300 due to the damage to their vehicles. They will be credited with 35th, 36th, 37th, and 38th-place finishes.
“I saw two guys in front of me start wrecking. I started checking up. I was playing it cautious at the beginning of the race and tried to hang back but I got hit on the entry to the corner,” said Deegan. “As soon as I was checking up I thought the guys behind me would check up because they were further back but then I got hit on entry of turn one and as soon as that happened it started my momentum back up. I tried to get it slowed down but couldn’t in time. It is what it is.”
Deegan expressed her frustrations with her unlucky history at Daytona International Speedway, which has extended to both the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, with Monday’s incident.
.@HailieDeegan: “I’ve had a bad relationship with @Daytona ever since my first Truck race here. It’s been hard for me. I’ve never been able to conquer or at least figure out what the right way is. Do you hang back, should you go, where is the danger zone?” pic.twitter.com/rojlX0mmxt
— Toby Christie (@Toby_Christie) February 20, 2024
“It is so frustrating because I feel like at Daytona I have tried so many different strategies and none of them work out. It is very frustrating. I don’t know. Maybe one time we will get lucky here.”
Sam Mayer, who took the biggest impact from the four-car accident early in the race at Daytona, was checked and released from the infield care center with no injuries, but did say it was a major impact.
Sam Mayer says that he’s glad his crash looked hard because he said it was a really hard crash from behind the wheel. He is okay after taking that massive shot. pic.twitter.com/4BOXYlCMCe
— Toby Christie (@Toby_Christie) February 20, 2024
“I’m glad it looked like a hard hit because it felt like one,” Mayer said. “JRM Fabrication and everyone at the shop did their job in building a safe racecar. So, props to them and everyone at Hendrick Motorsports, as well.
“Tough deal firing off, I didn’t get to see the green-checkered, but that’s part of racing at this place, and part of trying to make things happen on your own. Everyone decided to run the wall, and I mean I get it, but we’re all in a spot where we can get stage points and nobody wanted to do it. It’s frustrating to try and deal with that type of racing, which is exactly what we’re going to see next weekend.”
Kyle Weatherman, whose evening also ended after the opening stage wreck said that he thought he had the accident missed until Mayer came back across the track and damaged the No. 91 Chevrolet. The Missouri native said he was just trying to bide his time at the rear of the pack, but won’t be doing that next time, after Monday’s incident.
.@KyleWeatherman says he thought he had the crash missed, until Sam Mayer’s car came back across the track. He said he was just trying to bide his time in the back. Says next time he’s just going for it. pic.twitter.com/2I5FZA11WR
— Toby Christie (@Toby_Christie) February 20, 2024
“Thought I had it cleared and went down the racetrack after everyone kind of went down and thought I was clear. I went to go back up after everything was over and Sam was still coming back down, I think he had the splitter under the front tires.”
