Daniel Suarez was never worried about his job security with Trackhouse Racing because his contract extension had been done for “a while” before it was announced Aug. 9.
“I was never worried,” Suarez said Saturday at Richmond Raceway. “It was just a matter of working details. Honestly, my biggest worry in the last four months hasn’t been the contract, I promise you; it’s been the performance.”
Suarez was in a contract year with Trackhouse Racing before signing the extension. He will go into his fifth season with the organization founded by Justin Marks in 2025.
Although he’s locked into the postseason through a victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway, which was the second race of the season, Suarez is 17th in the overall NASCAR Cup Series standings. The triumph at Atlanta is one of four top-10 finishes his No. 99 team has earned, and his average finish is 18.2.
“For me, that’s the main thing,” Suarez said. “If you perform, everything takes care of itself. I’ve been here in the Cup Series for some time now, and I understand how it works, and you just have to perform, and at Trackhouse [the last three years have] been a little bit of a struggle; it’s not a secret. You guys know the numbers.
“We have work to do. We are not happy with where we’re at, but we’re happy with where we’re heading. We’re working very, very hard behind the scenes to get the train in the right direction. We have great people. We have a lot of support from a lot of sponsors and from Chevrolet, and we know we’re heading in the right direction.”
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Suarez described the relationship between himself and Trackhouse Racing as a “great journey so far.” The organization signed Suarez as its cornerstone driver when it debuted in 2021, and it has since expanded to field an entry for Ross Chastain, who’s still fighting for a postseason berth as he’s winless and just seven points above the cutline.
“This year has been full of challenges,” Suarez said. “Trackhouse, this year, has had a big task — I would say a bigger task than in previous years when it comes to performance, adjustments and things like that. But we are facing the challenge with a face-up and ready to fight.”
Despite the deal for next season being done and his focus being on the racetrack, Suarez might not be done answering questions about his future. The contract extension was for the 2025 season only, and he admitted there are a lot of things “in the air” going forward.
“The answer is, for sure, it’s one [year], but there are … options for both sides,” Suarez said. “I want to win races, and Trackhouse wants to win races as well, and we have work to do together. Trackhouse by itself won’t make it happen. Me by myself, I won’t be able to make it happen, so we have work to do.
“But the good thing is we have great people, sponsors, and we’re committed to doing it. If things go the way that we are expecting it to go, maybe in a couple of weeks, we may sign a couple more years because that’s in the contract. But we want to perform first.”