It has been a busy and exciting year for Mexican born driver Daniel Suarez…he became an United States citizen, got married, and just a couple of weeks ago won a race in his homeland of Mexico as the Autodromo Hermano Rodriguez in Mexico City.
But after contract talks have fallen through, Suarez and Trackhouse Racing have decided to part ways at the end of the season to make an early start to the 2025 “Silly Season”.
Suarez has two Cup Series wins – his Mexico City win was in the Xfinity Series race – both with Trackhouse Racing in the 99 car.
Suarez was the first driver to sign on with Trackhouse Racing when former driver Justin Marks created the team in 2021 as a single car team.
The following year, Marks added a second team with “Melon Man” Ross Chastain behind the wheel.
Last year, Marks brought on a third driver with New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen.
Trackhouse owner Justin Marks issued a statement saying, the role Daniel has played in the Trackhouse origin story and its first five years will remain a valued part of the company’s history forever. His commitment, work ethic and dedication to the effort is one of the most impressive things I personally have seen in my career. We will forever be thankful and honored that Daniel chose to spend many incredible years with us. We are proud of his wins, his successes, the growth of his brand, and his emergence as a valuable athlete in America’s greatest motorsport. But, most of all, I’m proud of him as a friend. I’m truly excited to see what awaits him in the next chapter of his amazing career. We are grateful for the professionalism, effort and heart he’s brought to our organization.”
Suarez issued “a message to my amigos”, saying, “Trackhouse and I have mutually agreed to part ways at the end of the 2025 season. I’ve had some of the best years of my Cup Series career at Trackhouse. We had great successes as a team and I gained some incredible friends. We took a team nobody had even heard of in 2021 and in just a couple of years we were winning races and running up front on a weekly basis. Just like the seasons in a year, sometimes things change and we have mutually agreed to each go in our own direction. I wish Trackhouse nothing but the best, this 99 team will always be special to me. And like I always say, the best is ahead!”
Last year Suarez signed a one year contract extension with Trackhouse; he noted that the “free agent status” and contract discussions were, “definitely a distraction”. He added, “I won’t sit here and tell you that it doesn’t really matter. It’s definitely a distraction, but I’m trying to be as smart as possible and to put all this stuff on the side and to just do my thing on the track.”
Speaking on the team Suarez noted, “there is a lot of things in Trackhouse that are adjusting and changing. Performance-wise, we’re not exactly where we want to be — not just in the 99 but in Trackhouse as a company, and we have to make sure that we fix that before we want to go any longer. This goes really both ways.”
Trackhouse has signed JR Motorsports teen driver Connor Zilisch to a development deal and is a probable replacement for the 99 car. Zilisch has two wins in his rookie season with JRM.
Trackhouse is Suarez’ fourth team since coming to the Cup Series after winning the championship in the Xfinity Series in 2016 – Joe Gibbs Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing, and Gaunt Brothers Racing.