Conor Daly has made light of being burnt when the buckeye on his IndyCar caught fire at Portland.
Flames appeared on the right-rear corner of the #20 Ed Carpenter Racing entry as Daly exited his box after a pit stop.
He would press on after the fire went out, as expected, but eventually had to relent due to the mechanical damage which it caused.
“If you’ve followed my career a long time, you know I’ve been on fire a few times,” he quipped, perhaps referring to a pit fire also at Indianapolis in 2013.
“This one for some reason was weird.
“It felt like it was in the cockpit, and it was kind of nerve-wracking for a while.
“I felt like my shoulder was burning but I could see the fire was going out so I was like, ‘Let’s just keep on going.’
“I was hoping that science and wind would take care of the rest of it.
“It’s just such a shame. The car was really fast and I had a great start.
“With everyone from [sponsor] BitNile here, we really want to get them a good result.
“It’s just such a shame. So many things have been taken away from us that they’re out of our control.
“That was not fun but hopefully we can just finish strong at the next one.”
Conor Daly’s day ended early after his car caught fire on pit road. #INDYCAR
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— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) September 4, 2022
According to Daly, the clutch was what took him out of the race.
“Yeah, the clutch burned up, and we honestly had no idea how much fuel was in the car, as well,” he said.
“We were going to stop more and be out of contention anyway, but yeah, the clutch was burnt up.
“Usually fire does damage, and apparently that’s what happened. It’s such a shame.”
Car #20 was officially classified last in the 25-car field, one of two not running at the finish.
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