Daniel Suarez and Trackhouse Racing have announced a contract extension that will keep him at the organization for the 2023 season. Suarez, 30, has one win, six top-5 finishes, and 10 top-10 finishes this season.
In June, the 30-year-old driver won his first career NASCAR Cup Series race at Sonoma Raceway. It came after six consecutive trying seasons and marked the third victory for Trackhouse Racing.
This will mark the first time Suarez has spent more than two years with the same organization at NASCAR’s top level. It’s the most job security he has seen in many years of racing.
Daniel Suarez’s NASCAR career to this point
Daniel Suarez started his NASCAR career in 2010 when he was full-time in the NASCAR Peak Mexico Series until the conclusion of the 2014 season. Suarez began racing in the series full-time when he turned 18 years old.
Over those 76 races, Suarez won a total of 10 times while accruing 26 top-5 finishes and 39 top-10 finishes. The Mexican driver finished as high as second place in the standings but never won a championship in the series.
After the 2014 season, Suarez moved to the NASCAR Xfinity Series with Joe Gibbs Racing. It was a solid 2015 season after Suarez came home with eight top-5 finishes and 18 top-10 finishes with a fifth-place finish in points.
The 2016 season was one the 30-year-old driver would never forget, with three wins, 19 top-5 finishes, and 27 top-10 finishes. Most importantly, Suarez came out on top and clinched the Xfinity Series championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
It was not the plan, but Suarez jumped to the NASCAR Cup Series the next year after Carl Edwards abruptly retired and left a vacant seat in the No. 19 car. He was the obvious candidate to replace Edwards with the available options.
It was a rough first two seasons for Suarez as he only totaled four top-5 finishes and 21 top-10 finishes. Soon after, Suarez was replaced by Martin Truex Jr. after Furniture Row Racing shut down its operations.
Suarez jumped to the No. 41 car for Stewart-Haas Racing and had four top-5 finishes and 11 top-10 finishes in his best season to date. Still, the driver was out of a ride after the championship race and joined Gaunt Brothers Racing for the 2020 season.
The 2020 season was Suarez’s lowest season to date as he had a best finish of 18th place at Bristol Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway with a 26.6 average finish. That year of running in below-average equipment still changed his career.
Justin Marks formed Trackhouse Racing and tabbed Suarez as its original driver. As expected, the first year was not strong with only one top-5 finish and four top-10 finishes before the NextGen car came in 2022.
However, this season has proved to be a breakout year for the 30-year-old driver as he will make the playoffs for the first time and is poised to pass his previous career highs across every statistical category.
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Trackhouse Racing’s lineup is set for the foreseeable future
Daniel Suarez’s new extension will now pair him with Ross Chastain for the foreseeable future. Each driver has job security after both have seen a very shaky NASCAR career.
The only uncertainty about Trackhouse Racing is the No. 91 car, as team owner Justin Marks has stated his desire for it to race more often in six to eight events per year. Many drivers have reached out after Kimi Raikkonen’s NASCAR Cup Series debut.
There is always the possibility of Trackhouse Racing expanding to a third full-time team if they acquire a charter; however, it doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen, at least for the 2023 season.
No matter what happens, Suarez has locked down his place in the Cup Series for the foreseeable future, which is something he is not used to in his career at NASCAR’s top level.
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