NASCAR Driver Argues the Impact of Ross Chastain’s 2022 Success on Trackhouse Teammate Daniel Suarez

The Trackhouse Racing team is having a season, arguably the best of all the NASCAR Cup Series teams. Ross Chastain has already won two races and earned his share of buzz for better and for worse. And recently, the spotlight turned on Chastain’s teammate, Daniel Suarez.

Suarez made history when he won the first Cup Series race of his career at Sonoma and became the first driver from Mexico to do so. It was a well-deserved win, a well-earned win, that was coming and it came in California.

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But if part-time NASCAR Truck Series driver Parker Kligerman is to be believed, Suarez might’ve had a push from his teammate in his maiden win.

In a recent appearance on the NASCAR on NBC Podcast, Kligerman said, “In times where I’ve been in a position where a teammate is maybe faster or you’re going to that checklist like, ‘Hey, how are they doing this?’ You’ve got all that same stuff…like, ‘What are they doing?'”

“It can really drive you down either a dark hole or it can be something you realize like, ‘This is how I grow this on me better,’” Kligerman continued. “This is why we have teammates. This is where I learn from them, and really leaning into like, ‘What are they doing differently than us? How can I do something that they’re doing well? What do I do well?'”

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“I think that really for drivers, is a key way to attack, sort of, using a teammate and also having a teammate that is doing better than you.”

What did Daniel Suarez say after his first Cup win?

Winning your first NASCAR Cup Series race and qualifying for the playoffs in doing so is a big deal. And it’s an even bigger deal considering the journey Daniel Suarez has had to this point in his career.

Naturally, Suarez was overwhelmed with the emotions. “It’s crazy,” he said.

“I have so many thoughts in my head right now. It’s been a rough journey in the Cup Series, and these guys believed in me. I have a lot of people to thank in Mexico. My family, they never gave up on me,”  Suarez added.

“A lot of people did, but they didn’t.”