Since last August, when Daniel Suarez inked a one-year contract extension to continue as the driver of the No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet in the NASCAR Cup Series, the talk about the Justin Marks-owned team has been surrounding 2026.
The three-car operation, which debuted in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2021, has a common problem: the team can only field three full-time entries, but has four drivers to choose from – Ross Chastain, Shane Van Gisbergen, Suarez, and 18-year-old development driver Connor Zilisch.
Zilisch is still just a rookie in the second-tier Xfinity Series, driving for JR Motorsports, but has already shown some impressive results, earning three wins between the 2024 and 2025 seasons. Plus, Trackhouse is set to give him a total of four opportunities in the NASCAR Cup Series this season.
Is it too soon to move Zilisch into the Cup Series full-time? There’s no clear answer, but should Trackhouse pull the trigger on the youngster, it would more than likely be at the expense of Daniel Suarez, who has become one of NASCAR’s most recognizable drivers.
To this point in the season, Suarez is the only driver not locked into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, after Ross Chastain won the Coca-Cola 600 and Shane Van Gisbergen won at Autodromo Hermanos Rodrigeuz. Suarez currently sits 27th in series points with one top-five and three top-10s.
“It’s going to be a few months,” Suarez told the Dale Jr. Download. “We’ll see what happens. There are still a lot of things [up] in the air, right now. There are just some things that I’m just uncomfortable in a few areas, and a few things, but I love Trackhouse [Racing] and I love this team.”
“This team, for me, has been my best home in the [NASCAR Cup Series]. I want to have more success with this team, and I want to see this team successful regardless of if I’m in it or not. Honestly, right now, everything is an option.”
Throughout the first four years of his NASCAR Cup Series career, Suarez jumped between three organizations (Joe Gibbs Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing, and Gaunt Brothers Racing) with limited success. Then, after moving to Trackhouse Racing, Suarez found a home, where he has been since 2021.
With two victories (Sonoma 2022 and Atlanta 2024), Suarez has found success at Trackhouse Racing and is looking for even more of that, but this season has been a struggle for the Monterrey, Mexico-native and crew chief Matt Swiderski, who, like all of Trackhouse, has struggled with unload speed.
“We just have to continue to work, and hopefully the results come and just see what happens, see what the future holds,” Suarez said, speaking to Kevin Harvick on the Kevin Harvick Happy Hour Podcast. “It’s a distraction to be thinking about this, I don’t like to be thinking about this every June, May, because it starts; people start asking questions, and the sponsors are asking ‘what are we going to do?’, and it’s never a good thing.”
In the next nine races, Suarez will need to overcome that distraction and park his No. 99 in Victory Lane if he is to make his third NASCAR Cup Series postseason appearance. Luckily, Sonoma and Atlanta, the two tracks he’s won on previously, are on the run down to the Playoffs.
As far as what happens in 2026? Only time will tell whether Suarez remains in the No. 99, or is finding his fifth different home in a 10-year NASCAR Cup Series career.
