Trackhouse Racing’s partnership with Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge wasn’t a one-hit wonder.
After sponsoring the No. 99 Chevrolet for Daniel Suarez this season at Nashville Superspeedway, Music City’s beloved honky-tonk will back Suarez again in six NASCAR Cup Series races next season.
Those races include the season-opening Daytona 500 on Feb. 20, both races at Bristol Motor Speedway, both races at Talladega Superspeedway, and Nashville Superspeedway.
The Tootsie’s No. 99 will also feature the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corporation, as well as Opry Entertainment’s “Ole Red” brand, to promote the city’s hospitality and tourism industries.
Wednesday’s announcement further grows Trackhouse Racing’s ties with Middle Tennessee.
Justin Marks, the team’s co-owner alongside global music star Pitbull, said in June that he hopes to relocate the team to Nashville by 2023.
The team’s parent company, Trackhouse Entertainment Group, is already based in the Nashville suburb of Franklin, Tennessee.
“A Tootsie’s car on the streets of Nashville and in the Daytona 500. There’s nothing better than that,” Marks said in a release. “We are also grateful the Nashville Convention and Visitor’s Bureau and Opry Entertainment are joining with us in 2022. We are certainly going to be team Nashville.”
“We have enjoyed our relationship with Tootsie’s since they joined us this summer and both sides wanted to expand the program in 2022,” Marks continued. “They saw the power of NASCAR and we saw the fan reaction to Tootsie’s on our race car.”
Suarez took the Tootsie’s colors to a seventh-place finish this season at Nashville Superspeedway. It was one of four top-10 finishes he had in 2021.
Next season, Suarez will be joined by Ross Chastain as Trackhouse Racing expands to a two-car program following its purchase of Chip Ganassi Racing’s NASCAR operations.
“In June, we had so much fun with Tootsie’s in Nashville, so I am looking forward to having Tootsie’s around a lot more in 2022,” said Suárez in the same release. “Nashville is such a fun city and it will be an honor to spread the word across the country.”
Back for another ride in 2022! @Daniel_SuarezG | @tootsiesnet pic.twitter.com/lefBcp4PrB
— Trackhouse Racing (@TeamTrackhouse) December 1, 2021