Daniel Suarez announced Tuesday on social media that he will not return to Trackhouse Racing after this season.
Suarez stated on social media that “Trackhouse and I have mutually agreed to part ways at the end of the 2025 season. ... I wish Trackhouse nothing but the best, this 99 team will always be special to me. And I like I always say, The best is ahead!”
Trackhouse Racing did not name a replacement, but the team has 18-year-old Connor Zilisch as a development driver. He is driving in the Xfinity Series this year for JR Motorsports. Zilisch has run three Cup races for Trackhouse Racing this season, including this past weekend’s race at Atlanta.
The 33-year-old Suarez is in his fifth season with Trackhouse Racing. He was the team’s first driver in 2021. Suarez has won two Cup races with the team. He signed a one-year contract extension with Trackhouse Racing last year.
Suarez enters this weekend’s Chicago Street Race 29th in the points. He has made the playoffs in two of his previous four seasons with Trackhouse Racing.
“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,” team owner Justin Marks said in a statement. “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.”
Said Suarez in a statement from the team: “I want to thank all the men and women at Trackhouse Racing for your love and support.
“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 No. 99 team will always be special to me. And like I always say, the best is ahead!”
This season is Suarez’s ninth full-time season in Cup. He has made 305 starts, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing, Gaunt Brothers Racing and Trackhouse Racing. The 2016 Xfinity Series champion was promoted to Cup in 2017 at Joe Gibbs Racing after Carl Edwards’ surprising retirement during the offseason.
Suarez scored his first Cup win in 2022 at Sonoma. He won at Atlanta last season in the closest 1-2-3 finish in NASCAR history.
He has four Xfinity Series wins, including the Mexico race in June for JR Motorsports in his only series appearance this season.
