Getty Daniel Suarez before practice at Homestead.
Daniel Suarez struggled in 2023 compared to his career-best season the year before when he won his first NASCAR Cup Series race at Sonoma. How bad was it? His performance dropped off in every statistical category, including top 5s, top 10s, average start, average finish, and laps led. Unfortunately, the only increase came in DNFs, bumping up from four to six.
The poor performance was further magnified with Trackhouse Racing teammate Ross Chastain winning twice like he did in 2022, including a trip to Victory Lane in the season finale race at Phoenix.
Team president Ty Norris appeared as a guest on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio and addressed the performance of Suarez and the No. 99 team as a whole and didn’t sugarcoat what he thought about the 2023 campaign and what his expectations are in 2024.
@TeamTrackhouse President Ty Norris talks about the “unacceptable” 2023 by @Daniel_SuarezG and the No. 99 team and what the expectations are in 2024.
“We’re addressing a handful of things around that team, and the raw speed was there,” Norris said. “The execution this past year was way off. And that execution could have happened in adjustments, it could have happened on a pit stop, it could have happened on a choice on a restart. A lot of things. The execution this year on the 99 was unacceptable, quite honestly.
“So we have to address each one of those areas to improve. Because we feel like if you see that the things that rust are capable of winning races, then it has to come down to the execution and the human element. And we have to make sure we’re addressing each one of those areas to improve, and we’re doing so as a team, collaborating on all of those decisions.
“Ultimately, what we do believe is that we can get back to the 2022-level performance with that team where we’re winning races, making the playoffs, and really one mechanical failure away from making the final eight, and that’s a good year for the 99, and that’s something we need to get back to.”
Daniel Suarez Given Second Chance With Trackhouse
After three combined seasons at Joe Gibbs Racing and Stewart-Haas Racing from 2017-19 to start his Cup Series career, Daniel Suarez found himself driving for Gaunt Brothers Racing in 2020. It didn’t go well.
He failed to qualify for the Daytona 500 and then managed just three top-20 results all year. Fortunately, in 2021, he received a second chance with a quality team when he signed with the newly formed Trackhouse Racing.
Daniel Suarez: “My goal is to take Gaunt Brothers Racing…to a winning team.”
That season, the No. 99 driver improved on the previous year with Gaunt, but still fell short of his stints with JGR and SHR, where he finished no worse than 21st in the final point standings. His first year with Trackhouse, he recorded a single top 5, four top 10s, and finished 25th in the points.
Can Suarez Live Up to Expectations in 2024?
Looking back on Suarez and his seven years as a full-time Cup Series driver, the 2022 season appears to be an anomaly. That year, the No. 99 team recorded six top 5s and 13 top 10s, and led an impressive 280 laps, including the final one at Sonoma Raceway in June.
That was also the first year working with Ross Chastain as a teammate. The watermelon farmer joined the organization and instantly elevated its program, scoring four top-5 results in the season’s first six races, including a win at Circuit of the Americas. He followed it up four races later with a second win at Talladega.
DANIEL SUAREZ CLAIMS VICTORY AT SONOMA RACEWAY🏁🇲🇽
Suarez becomes first Mexican-born driver to win a NASCAR Cup Series race.
Chastain went on to record 15 top 5s, 21 top 10s, and finished second in the final points standings. Oh yeah, and he pulled off one of the all-time greatest moves in NASCAR history at Martinsville.
In 2023, Chastain had a slight drop-off in performance, earning 10 top 5s and 14 top 10s, but, most importantly, still earned a pair of trophies and made the playoffs.
It’s understandable how Norris expects Suarez and the No. 99 team to return to its performance levels in 2022. However, simply based on historical numbers, that might not be a realistic expectation. And ironically, the results of the No. 1 team, which based on the past two seasons will likely include at least another win and a playoff appearance, would only highlight the No. 99 team’s efforts if they don’t achieve those marks.