Daniel Suárez is locked in on performance, not job security. As he enters the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season under a one-year contract extension with Trackhouse Racing, the Mexican driver has made it clear—he’s not here for just one win a season.
At 31 years old and with a steady but inconsistent tenure at Trackhouse, Suárez knows that his long-term future with the team depends on results. But rather than letting uncertainty weigh him down, he’s choosing to focus on bringing Trackhouse back to the top after back-to-back seasons of declining performance.
“Winning One Race a Year Isn’t Enough”
Speaking ahead of the Daytona 500, Suárez didn’t hold back about the expectations he’s setting for himself and Trackhouse Racing.
“My main thing is to perform and continue to get better,” Suárez said. “I have said this in the past, and I’m going to say it again: my goal is not to win one race a year. If this is what the goal is going to be, we’re on two different agendas.”
Suárez is hungry for more—and he’s challenging Trackhouse to rise to the level of NASCAR’s biggest teams.
“How can we bring Trackhouse to the next level? How can we bring Trackhouse to give a real fight to Penske, Hendrick, and Joe Gibbs Racing? The big teams that are up front every single year.”
Suárez noted that Trackhouse was right there in 2022, when he won his first Cup Series race at Sonoma, and Ross Chastain won twice en route to a runner-up championship finish. But the team slid backward in 2023 and 2024, and he believes they’ve made critical adjustments over the offseason to turn things around in 2025.
A Changing Trackhouse Roster Adds Pressure
Suárez is one of three full-time drivers at Trackhouse Racing, alongside Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen. But lurking in the wings is 18-year-old phenom Connor Zilisch, who has a multiyear development deal and is already gaining attention as the team’s next big thing.
With Cup teams limited to three entries, Suárez understands that owner Justin Marks will have to make difficult roster decisions in the future—just like he did last year, when Zane Smith was pushed out to make room for van Gisbergen.
However, Suárez isn’t letting Trackhouse’s deep pipeline shake his confidence.
“There are a lot of things that we have to do to be able to perform—not only me,” Suárez said. “Yes, I’m a very important factor in it, but we have to continue to get better as a group.”
Suárez emphasized that his focus is on winning races, not worrying about the team’s long-term plans.
“At the end of the day, I worry about myself and I worry about how I can bring myself the best opportunity possible to win multiple races a year. That’s my main goal.”
A Pivotal Year for Suárez and Trackhouse
While Suárez praised Trackhouse for its innovative approach with Project 91 and driver development, he also admitted that 2024 was a cloudy season filled with uncertainty.
Now, after a busy offseason of restructuring and improvement, he’s hopeful that 2025 will be the year Trackhouse Racing gets back on track.
“A year ago right now, it was a little cloudy, and we didn’t really know where we were going,” he said. “In the offseason, we really made a lot of progress in what I think is heading in the direction that we believe is the best.”
Suárez knows that the pressure is on—for both himself and his team. And if he wants to secure his long-term place in NASCAR, 2025 has to be a breakthrough year.
Will he rise to the challenge and become a multi-race winner? The clock is ticking, and Suárez is ready to prove he belongs at the top.
