Suarez says there 'wasn't love anymore,' but no hard feelings at Trackhouse

Daniel Suarez was not required to attend the NASCAR media bullpen in Chicago on Saturday, but not only did he show up, he spoke candidly about his future beyond Trackhouse Racing.

The two sides announced earlier this week that they’ve agreed to mutually part ways at the end of the season. Suarez has driven the No. 99 Chevrolet since 2021 and has two wins with the team. Justin Marks hired Suarez as his flagship driver when founding Trackhouse Racing.

“I have known for several months it was going to happen,” Suarez said. “It’s like everything in life – things change, people change, the company changes, and that’s OK. There is nothing wrong with that. There just wasn’t love anymore, but there are no hard feelings. I really want to stick to the amazing years that we had together early in the process of Trackhouse, and it was just time for a change.”

Suarez appeared on the June 25 episode of "The Dale Jr. Download" and mentioned that there were things he was uncomfortable with this season. He then used the same word in another interview after the news of his impending separation from Trackhouse Racing was announced. However, he never provided details about what those things were.

Saturday, Suarez admitted it was “a very difficult question” when asked for those details, and he didn’t want to offer anything specific.

However, he did say, “There have been several situations in the last eight months, 10 months, that I haven’t felt like I used to for different situations. Sometimes when you don’t have that feel, there is no chemistry anymore. It’s like being in a relationship and living together because you bought a house together. It just didn’t feel good anymore, and this is both ways. I’m pretty sure it was both ways.

“It was just a matter of time. Sometimes when you don’t have that, when you’re fighting with the best of the best, you need to have everything clicking in the right direction, and unfortunately, I have felt a few things are missing for the last several months.”

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Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen have both won in the regular season and are likely to clinch a spot in the playoffs. Suarez is winless and will need to win his way in as well. He is 29th in the standings.

Because he is a rookie, there is leeway with van Gisbergen’s performance. However, Chastain is eighth in the standings, and there is a clear gap between Chastain’s and Suarez’s teams in top-10 finishes and stage points.

Suarez praised the talent of his teammate, but then he paused for almost 10 seconds before expanding further on trying to pinpoint why there is a difference in the teams.

“Since my new crew chief came to Trackhouse, he told me a lot of things that he didn’t think were right within the organization and a lot of things that needed to be changed,” Suarez said of Matt Swiderski. “I’ve been very vocal with the team, ‘Hey, we need to adjust this; we need to adjust that.’ I’m not the only one seeing it. There are more people seeing it.’ And not a lot of things happen; everything happens so slow.

“I don’t think that’s the only reason. I think there are more things, but I just think that lately there have been things that have made me feel that I’m not as important. I believe we can run good. In Pocono, we were the fastest Trackhouse car in qualifying and the race. But we’re extremely inconsistent … and that’s something we have to work on, and I feel like there are a good amount of people that feel like there is still things to work on as an organization. I just feel like my voice was [not] really heard anymore, and when that happens, in my opinion, that could be the beginning of the end.”

Although things are coming to an end, Suarez has also spoken highly of Trackhouse Racing and his love for the organization and team. In fact, he said the No. 99 team is one of the best he’s ever had, and they are special to him and will be missed.

Trackhouse Racing was a place he hoped to finish his Cup Series career. Now he’s looking for somewhere else that will feel like home with its support while allowing Suarez to be himself.

He is confident that he’ll be in a Cup Series car next year. Contractually, Suarez was unable to start speaking to others until this week, and he promptly began exploring options. But, he acknowledged, it is still early in the silly season cycle.

“I’m confident things are going to work out,” Suarez said. “Good things happen to good people, and I’m 100 percent sure I’m going to be fine.”