Jeff Gordon reflects on how to grow NASCAR’s popularity
Jeff Gordon discusses the popularity of NASCAR and how the sport can continue to grow.
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- Trackhouse Racing and Daniel Suarez announced the driver will not return to the team after the 2025 NASCAR season.
- Suarez won two Cup Series races with Trackhouse, including the first win by a Mexican-born driver.
Daniel Suarez is approaching his finish line with Trackhouse Racing.
The team announced Tuesday afternoon it will part ways with the 33-year-old driver when his contract expires at the end of the 2025 season.
Suarez, who pilots the No. 99 Chevrolet, has been with Trackhouse since its Cup Series debut in 2021. Both of his big-league wins — at Sonoma in 2022 and at Atlanta last year — occurred with the organization.
With the first of those victories, he became the first Mexican driver to win a Cup Series race. In 2016, he was the first foreign-born driver to claim a championship when he captured the Xfinity Series title.
He is a native of Monterrey.
“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,” Trackhouse owner Justin Marks said. “His commitment, work ethic and dedication to the effort is one of the most impressive things I personally have seen in my career …
“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 ranks 29th in the playoff standings. He has one top-five finish this season.
His departure clears the way for prospect Connor Zilisch to join the Cup Series full-time. The 18-year-old has run three races in the No. 87 Trackhouse car this year. He is driving a full schedule for Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series.
Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen remain under contract with Trackhouse.
“I’ve had some of the best years of my Cup Series career at Trackhouse,” Suarez said. “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 No. 99 team will always be special to me. And like I always say, the best is ahead!”
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