Team Trackhouse Left It All on Daniel Suarez’s Shoulders After Massive Pit Blunder

Pit stops are crucial to any form of motor racing, be it stock cars, single-seaters, or motorbikes. A quick and efficient pit stop can ensure that a driver stays ahead of their rivals despite stopping and losing a bit of time. Conversely, a poor pit stop might cause a driver to lose multiple places in the race which might prove impossible to make up. Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez was a victim of a poor pit stop at Indianapolis, which very well snatched what should have been a comfortable victory from his grasp.

Daniel Suarez started from pole position at Indianapolis and looked set to take the victory. With 33 laps to go, the top three, Michael McDowell, Chase Elliott, and Suarez, pitted for new tires to go till the end. Elliott and McDowell’s pit crews had no problem at all, but Suarez’s pit crew made a massive blunder as the air hose was stuck under the left-front tire. This meant that they could change the tires on the right until that was freed. The Mexican lost a lot of time due to the error and crew chief Travis Mack left him with a mountain to climb.

You’re going to get it done, says Trackhouse crew chief after pit stop blunder

It was utter chaos on the Trackhouse Racing team’s radio as Mack kept on repeating the issue that the team faced. After Suarez left the pits, the crew members were visibly frustrated with themselves as they threw away a race win at Indianapolis.

With Suarez in the pits, Mack said on the radio, “Jack up the left. Jack up the left. Jack up the left…Hose. Hose. Hose,”

This was when the air hose was stuck under the #99. As the crew scrambled to get the hose out and turn their focus to the right-side tires, Chase Elliott and Michael McDowell were already on their way out of the pits and onto the racetrack.

With just 33 laps to go, Mack might have realized that they had thrown the win away, but he implored Suarez to get his head down and get the job done, despite it being a near-impossible task.

“Alright now. So I need you to get your head down. I need you to go get these spots. C’mon, we’re going to put in on your back today. You’re going to get it done,” he said to Suarez.

The Mexican did his level best and cut the distance between him and second-place Chase Elliott as much as he could, but he was unable to get past the Hendrick Motorsports car and finished in third place.

After the race, Suarez was understandably dejected, but he did not directly put the blame on anyone. Rather, he said that incidents like that happen in motorsports and that the team had brought him a fast car for the weekend.

Read More: HMS Insider Picks Out Daniel Suarez’s Moment of Debacle as He Beats Chase Elliott in Points

Daniel Suarez was left heartbroken after the Indianapolis race

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After the race, the Mexican was asked about the race and the incident that eventually cost him the win at Indianapolis.

“We win and we lose as a team and that’s all I can say, you know. The guys brought a very fast race car. I felt that maybe we were one adjustment behind in the first run with the back of the car and then we made it a little bit better,” Suarez said.

“I felt like I was always one step behind the #9 and the #34 and then at the end when I felt like my car came alive again we had that issue. So, just a bit heartbreaking but that’s part of the sport,” the Mexican added.

While third place is a good result, there will be an inquiry at Trackhouse Racing about the situation. Having a poor pit stop at the highest level of NASCAR is not acceptable for any team, and they will do their best to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

Watch This Story: Chase Elliott Calls Out Hendrick Motorsports Revealing What Lost Him the Race