Since 2022, the young Trackhouse Racing team has been on the path to glory. Ross Chastain came in alongside Daniel Suarez and the team bagged their first wins. Rather, Chastain took Trackhouse to the final 4 in just their second season on the Cup Series, narrowly missing out on the championship (ended up in P2). The year that followed, he was back in the playoffs (P9 finish), and the same expectations were carried to the 2024 season.

But this one was not good for Chastain. And keeping the Trackhouse Racing’s boat afloat was Daniel Suarez. However, after getting some early season success, things went downhill for him as well. Ahead of the 2025 season, Suarez opened up on the mistakes he made that have him on the hot seat for 2025!

Daniel Suarez reiterates the importance of consistency

Suarez’s 2024 season did not start on a high note. A DNF in the Daytona 500 must have been disappointing. But things took an unexpected turn in the very next race. It was the Atlanta Motor Speedway. And since it now raced as a Superspeedway it was anyone’s race. Suarez started from P23, slowly climbing up. As the race was white-flagged, Ryan Blaney was leading with Kyle Busch on his tail.

But at the final turn, it became three-wide. Blaney on the inside, Busch in the middle lane, and guess what? Daniel Suarez was right on the outside. The race was a photo finish. While everyone thought it was Blaney who won, it was actually Suarez. And he just took it over Blaney by just 0.003 seconds. Busch was 0.007 seconds behind Suarez. Also, it’s the 4th closest finish in NASCAR history. And Daniel Suarez‘s second win in the Cup.

This gave Suarez and Trackhouse the start they wanted. Suarez was on a high! However, this was about the end of it. Post Atlanta, in the entire regular season, Suarez only got a single top-5 finish (Texas) and five top-10s. Not maintaining consistency was Suarez’s biggest mistake for 2024. In a recent interview with Frontstretch, he said, “Yeah it’s definitely a big deal to be able to win early in the season. It’s a big deal because you are gonna try things probably if you didn’t have the win, you probably wouldn’t do. With that being said. You also have to get points and to get stage points and things like that. So I feel like that was one of the mistakes we made in the middle of last year…”

And the journey in the playoffs was nothing different. Rather, it was like Déjà vu for Suarez. The first race was in Atlanta. And he almost won it, had Ryan Blaney not pushed Joey Logano past the finish line. Eventually, Suarez ended in P2. Still, in the first round, he had enough points to progress. But after this, he could again only get a single top 5 (Las Vegas). Suarez was eliminated after the round of 12. Ending his season in a P12. And his mediocre performance has him in the hot seat.

In August of 2024, when Trackhouse Racing renewed his contract, it was only for a year. So if things remain the same in 2025, we might see a replacement. And we know the team has no shortage of (talented) drivers on their roster. Maybe Trackhouse development driver Connor Zlisch could replace him in 2026.

Suarez, reflecting on what he could have done better, said, “A lot of things we wanted to try and see but in those two months we lost a lot of momentum. Some of those things work, some of those things didn’t work. It was a little bit tricky… I like to be competitive and win as many races as possible. So to answer your question. It’s amazing to win early. But you have to put in the balance. The regular season points, the stage points are extremely important, especially when you are close to the playoffs.”

Hopefully, he puts 2024 behind him and thinks of all the pinatas he wants to smash in 2025! He recently revealed that he always keeps some handy.

Daniel Suarez and his ‘pinata smashing’ celebration

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What is it with Trackhouse Racing drivers and their smashing food celebrations? Ross Chastain squashes watermelons after his wins. Suarez has pinatas full of candy, which he punches with his bare fists in victory lane. Or when he took a bath with wine after his Sonoma win in 2022. It has us wondering… now that Shane van Gisbergen is piloting the third car, what’s he smashing? Well, since he already has his tradition of kicking a rugby ball into the crowd, he might leave the smashing of food to the other two.

But jokes apart in the same Frontstretch conversation, Suarez was asked if the #99 team always keeps the pinatas handy. To which he said, “We do carry a few piñatas to every track. We’re hoping we can use them as much as possible.” So, pinatas are basically containers filled with candy. But the containers are often made of papier-mché, pottery, or cloth. And it’s a Mexican tradition to smash them as a celebration of good things in life.

However, the second big question is what candy to fill it with. Well, the simple answer is whichever is your favorite. But Suarez has a suggestion. “It’s a very easy question, man. Mexican candy. Tamarindos… the spicy candy. That’s the kind of candy that I love,” he added. Surely Justin Marks would want him to smash as many pinatas as possible in 2025.

What do you think? Is a third Cup win coming for Suarez or a replacement? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.