Trackhouse Racing: 2024 Net Worth, Stats, Owners and More
When it comes to NASCAR teams, there are very few that have ventured outside. While people like Gene Haas like to dabble between stock car racing and F1, his team is strictly bound within the realms of NASCAR. However, Trackhouse Racing is one that likes to go against the grain. With its presence in both NASCAR and MotoGP, the team has proved how to be a multitasking giant.
Trackhouse Racing was founded in 2020. It is owned by motorsports racing driver Justin Marks and Grammy Award-winning rapper Pitbull. Justin Marks, an entrepreneur and racing driver himself has an elaborate history with different tourneys. At 18, he started racing in the SCCA Regional Racing Series and then the Speed World Challenge Series. Later, he moved to the Rolex Sports Car Series GT Class in 2004. Two years later, in 2006, the entrepreneur moved to NASCAR and started competing in the ARCA Series. However, Marks was left shy of a win in the division. Slowly, he transitioned into the top three divisions of NASCAR and accumulated one win, two poles 7 Top7s and 4 Top-4s across the Xfinity and the Truck Series.
On the other hand, co-owner Pitbull also has a storied relationship with chart topping success. Having been active as a musical artist since the 2000s, he has sold over 25 million studio albums and 100 million singles worldwide. The singer-songwriter won his first Latin Grammy in 2013 for Best Urban Performance for his song "Echa Pa'lla (Manos Pa'rriba). He also won another Grammy in 2016 in the Best Latin Rock, Urban Or Alternative Album category for Dale. Pitbull's track 'We Are One (Ola Ola)' featuring Jennifer Lopez and Claudia Leitte, served as the official FIFA World Cup 2014 song.
To many, Pitbull's association with a racing team might seem surprising. However, the singer has reportedly been a NASCAR fan for a long time. Announcing himself as a co-owner back in 2021, Pitbull had revealed the driving force behind the move and tweeted, "I’ve been a fan of the @NASCAR story since the movie ‘Days of Thunder’, now I’m an official co-owner of the@TeamTrackhouse racing team. Thank you Justin Marks, Ty Norris & Daniel Suarez for the great opportunity. This is a great way to celebrate my 40th bday, so Get Ready! Dale!"
The Trackhouse Racing team is owned by the Trackhouse Entertainment Group (TEG), which is a sports and entertainment enterprise founded by Justin Marks. According to the firm's official website, "Trackhouse Entertainment Group is uniquely positioned to invest in and operate businesses harnessing the power of live sports and entertainment". Apart from owning a NASCAR team, TEG is also instrumental in several other ventures including Project 91 and Trackhouse Racing MotoGP, among others.
While no official figures are available to estimate what the team is worth, going by owner Justin Marks' reported personal net worth of $7 million, Trackhouse Racing team's financial status can easily be deemed to reach multimillion figures. If we look at the team's expansion plans, it would be safe to say that it has some heavy cash stacked in its bank accounts.
Ever since the team's inception, it has showcased immense promise. Roping in talented drivers like Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez has given TIG the extra push it was looking for. Daniel Suarez joined the newly formed team ahead of the 2021 season to race full-time with the #99 Chevy in the Cup Series. And the team's performance as a rookie wasn't as bad as one would think. With one Top-5 and two Top-10 finishes, the driver finished 25th on the drivers' standings.
The team saw another inclusion the following year with 'The Watermelon Man' Ross Chastain joining the team as the #1 driver. Chastain, who was at the time driving for Chip Ganassi Racing transitioned to Trackhouse Racing team when it Ganassi operation in June 2021. The deal also included Chip Ganassi Racing's two Cup Series charters. “Ross is a young, aggressive driver that we believe has the talent to win races at the Cup Series level. We think his personality and work ethic will fit perfectly with Daniel as we build our organization for the 2022 season and beyond,” team owner Justin Marks had said at the time.
In another exciting addition, the team also announced a multiyear agreement with the 2022 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Champion Zane Smith. As part of the deal, Smith will be driving full-time in the Cup Series in 2024 for Spire Motorsports in alliance with Trackhouse, and then will be transitioning to the latter in 2025 as part of the team's three full-time NASCAR entries.
In a short amount of time, TIG has gathered an arsenal of high-profile partners. With Chevrolet serving as its OEM, the team also enjoys backing from Anheuser-Busch, garments retailer Jockey, US Insurance Agency Freeway Insurance, Japan based agricultural machinery company Kubota, international fast-food insurance chain Wendy's, Coca-Cola, motor oils company Quaker State, Choice Privileges, Moose Fraternity, Tootsies Orchid Lounge, GoPro and multinational technology conglomerate Siemens among others.
Trackhouse Racing embarked on a very ambitious project in its very second year. Known as the Project 91, the program was aimed at bringing in international racing drivers to drive for the team's No. 91 Chevrolet. Soon after its announcement, the 2007 Formula One World Champion Kimi Raikkonen made his Cup Series debut in the 2022 Watkins Glen International race. However, his run came to an early end after an unfortunate crash leaving the driver with a dismal P37 finish. The champion driver also participated in the Circuit of The Americas during the 2023 season and finished P29.
TIG also roped in New Zealand driver and three-time Supercars Champion Shane Van Gisbergen who showed extremely promising results in his first-ever Cup Series run at the Chicago Street Course race in July, 2023 and ended up winning, even beating seasoned NASCAR veterans. The driver also participated in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway race the following month and ended up P10. However, it seems this was only a curtain raiser as the Kiwi has now transitioned into NASCAR on a full-time basis. Apart from the Project 91, the team has invested into several other exciting ventures as well.
In December, 2023, Trackhouse Racing announced its entry into the motorcycle racing circuit by fielding its team into the MotoGP. After taking over RNF Racing's spot, the team is set to represent two drivers come 2o24, namely Portuguese racer Miguel Oliveira and Spanish racer Raúl Fernández. Named Trackhouse Racing MotoGP, it will compete as an Aprilia independent team.
The team is also a co-owner of stock car auto racing series, the CARS Tour, alongside Dale Earnhardt Jr-owned DEJ Management, Jeff Burton Inc and Kevin Harvick Inc. Recently, TIG signed a multi-year development deal with 17-year-old driver Connor Zilisch that will see him competing in the series. And owner Justin Marks seems to have full faith in the young driver. Marks shared,
"This kid is an amazing talent who we wanted to be a part of the Trackhouse family. We are going to go slow with Connor and make sure he's fully prepared as he advances in what we believe will be a long racing career."Additionally, Trackhouse is also part owner of the Music City Grand Prix scheduled to be held at the Nashville Superspeedway between September 13-15 this year.
In 2023, Shane van Gisbergen's career took a turn when he debuted in NASCAR's inaugural Chicago Street Race and emerged victorious. His performance was so impressive that it earned him seats in both the Cup and the Xfinity Series. SVG also took part in the Indianapolis road course race that year, finishing P10. His Truck Series debut was underwhelming by his standards, as he only managed a P19 finish at Indy Oval.
2024 showed more promise as the Kiwi is set to race as a full-time driver in the Xfinity Series with Kaulig Racing this year and a select few races in the Cup Series for Trackhouse Racing. He will join the latter on a full-time basis in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season. “This announcement means so many things to me. I’m proud of what I have achieved here in Australia, but I’m excited by this new chapter in my career and the opportunities that it brings,” said van Gisbergen.
When it comes to motorsports, a team is just as important as a driver. After all, without the right equipment and crew members, it is basically impossible to navigate the field all by oneself. A team can, in the truest sense, make or break a driver's race. And, when it comes to Trackhouse Racing, it can be said that it has successfully pushed both of its drivers to newer heights. Both Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez have come out as top performers during their time with Trackhouse.
While Ross Chastain finished 20th in his first full-time Cup Series season with Chip Ganassi Racing back in 2021, his performance graph went up drastically after moving to his new team the following year. He reached a Cup career-high second in drivers' standings, just six points shy of the champion that year, Joey Logano. Even in 2023, Chastain was a formidable racer and finished ninth in the final standings. But, perhaps, what fans will remember him for is his triumph in the final race of the 2023 at the Phoenix Raceway. Despite not being a championship contender, the driver perfectly showcased his craft and dominance and finished at the top.
Daniel Suarez, on the other hand, also secured his first-ever playoff berth and even his first race win in the Cup Series with the team. The driver won at the Sonoma Raceway in 2022 and became the first-ever Mexican to achieve a win in NASCAR's top division. Not just that, both of the team's driver qualified for the playoffs in the same year in 2022.
But that was just some of the many firsts to come. In 2023, too, the Justin Marks owned team reiterated their dominance when they won the inaugural Chicago street race. What made this win even more iconic is the fact that a Cup series driver didn't win it. Instead, a New Zealand born driver who had never before laid hands on stock car, expertly navigated his way through the course and trumped the best of the best NASCAR had to offer.
Looking at Trackhouse Racing's journey, what's clear is that the team is trying to make its mark in unchartered territory. And, Project 91 is a perfect example of that vision. Talking about what the team's goals are and how they plan to capitalise on newer ideas, team owner Justin Marks, in an interview with Performance Racing Industry said, "Everything that we do at Trackhouse is to be good stewards of the sport and trying to help get the sport in front of new people. There's certainly an element of altruism behind that. For us, it's just seizing opportunity that nobody else is seizing."
What the owners at TIG are trying to do is separate themselves from other NASCAR teams. To Marks, a team should not be bound within a garage alone and that fans should also be included in the narrative.
“I mean, I made no secret from day one that what we were trying to accomplish here has to be a team that’s unique in its branding, that’s unique in its mission and the narrative around our activities, to try to communicate with fans and try to create content, try to create visual elements around this team that are unique and captivating and compelling for lots of fans," he shared.
https://www.facebook.com/teamtrackhouse/ | |
https://www.instagram.com/teamtrackhouse/ | |
https://twitter.com/TeamTrackhouse/ | |
Website | www.trackhouseracing.com |
Name | Trackhouse Racing |
Owners | Justin Marks, Pitbull |
Base | Concord, North Carolina |
Series | NASCAR Cup Series, CARS Tour, MotoGP |
Race Drivers | Daniel Suarez, Ross Chastain, Zane Smith, Miguel Oliveira, Raúl Fernández |
Sponsors | Anheuser-Busch, Jockey, Freeway Insurance, Kubota, Wendy's, Coca-Cola, Quaker State, Choice Privileges, Moose Fraternity, Tootsies Orchid Lounge, GoPro, Siemens, among others. |
Manufacturer | Chevrolet |
Founded | 2020 |
Latest Race | 2024 Daytona 500 |
Championship | None |
Race Victories | NASCAR Cup Series: 6; NASCAR Mexico Series: 1 |
Net Worth | NA |