Getty Daniel Suarez has provided an update about his contract.
The driver of the No. 99 has just provided an update about his NASCAR future. Daniel Suarez addressed looming free agency and provided an update about ongoing contract talks with Trackhouse Racing. He doesn’t know when he will land a new contract, but he is not leaving the two-car team.
“When it comes to the contract and stuff — actually, I signed with Trackhouse with a couple-year contract,” Suarez said after his win, video courtesy of NASCAR Media. “And a month ago, we started talking about contract again. Just to get a new contract for — I don’t know — the next year or two or whatever that may be.
“Honestly, the first thing that came out of my mouth a month ago when we started those conversations was, ‘I don’t want to even talk about this right now. I don’t care.’ My focus was somewhere else.'”
While Suarez said that he didn’t want to talk about his contract at the time, he did make one thing clear. He reiterated that Trackhouse Racing is his home and that he is “not going anywhere” after the 2022 season.
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Trackhouse Racing Has Shied Away From Short-Term Deals
GettyDaniel Suarez (left) & Ross Chastain (right) both agreed to multi-year deals.
When Suarez signs his new deal with Trackhouse Racing, there will be an expectation that it will cover more than just the 2023 Cup Series season. The Justin Marks-owned team has shied away from short-term deals in its brief existence.
As Suarez noted, he signed a two-year deal when he agreed to join Trackhouse Racing as the team’s first driver. He took over the No. 99 Chevrolet Camaro for both 2021 and 2022, so there is no reason to expect a new deal with a shorter length after he delivered a win.
Similarly, teammate Ross Chastain secured some stability when he agreed to drive the No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro. He also signed a multi-year contract with Trackhouse Racing after the team purchased Chip Ganassi Racing’s NASCAR operations and charters.
Signing multi-year deals ensured that both Chastain and Suarez would not have to focus on their contract situations early in their tenures with Trackhouse Racing. Instead, they were able to just focus on pursuing wins and consistent finishes.
Suarez Remains on Pace To Match Career-Best Numbers
The driver of the No. 99 Chevrolet has already ensured that 2022 will be the best season of his career. He captured that elusive win and celebrated in Victory Lane after frustrating near-misses with both Joe Gibbs Racing and Stewart-Haas Racing.
Suarez can still match some other important statistics. He has five top-10 finishes and three top-fives through the first 16 races of the year. If he remains on pace, he will end the season with 11 top-10s. This would match the 2019 season, and it would be one top-10 shy of the 2017 season. Suarez has already matched his three top-fives from the 2018 season, and he just needs one more to match his career-best of four from the 2019 season.
Suarez has an opportunity to continue turning in strong performances and match or surpass his career-best marks for both top-10s and top-fives. Though he will have to avoid crashes or other issues that disrupted him at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, Circuit of the Americas, and Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
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