Daniel Suárez got a fleeting taste of being NASCAR’s hero in Mexico City. He won the Xfinity Series on Saturday and did a good enough job in the Cup Series on Sunday to impress his home crowd. But normalcy resumed once he got back to the United States, and he’s once again a driver in a contract year with Trackhouse Racing.
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The NASCAR Cup Series season hits its halfway mark in Atlanta this weekend. It is that time of the year when questions about the grid for next season begin to surface. And the biggest question is whether Suárez will still be on the grid. The Monterrey native signed a one-year extension with his team in August 2024.
His results have been largely average throughout this year and he sits 27th on the points table. Negotiations are underway and might go in his favor, but the whole process isn’t something he enjoys. Worryingly, it’s something that distracts him from his performances on the track.
He told Kevin Harvick during a recent appearance on Harvick Happy Hour, “It’s a distraction to be thinking about this, I don’t like to be thinking about this every single June, May. Because people start asking questions, and the sponsors are asking ‘What are we going to do?’ and it’s never a good thing.”
It’s a contract year for @Daniel_SuarezG. He talks with @KevinHarvick about his current situation and the distractions that come with it. pic.twitter.com/TtfGYXOIjy
— HarvickHappyHour (@HarvickHappyPod) June 26, 2025
Suárez’s teammates, Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen have both locked themselves into the playoffs with wins. He has a nine-race stretch to join them. Fortunately, this stretch includes tracks where he has won in the past. It is up to him now to focus on reaching Victory Lane without letting the outside noise drown him.
The rising threat from within facing Suárez
18-year-old Connor Zilisch is a full-time driver for JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series. With two wins and five top-five finishes this year, he is one of the favorites to win the championship. Interestingly, Zilisch is also a development driver for Trackhouse Racing. That means he could soon be Cup Series-bound.
His progression could likely come at the cost of Suárez. So, it is high time that the current No. 99 driver begins to make a stronger case to Justin Marks about why he is still worthy of a seat on the big stage. If not, Zilisch would be more than happy to take the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 out of his hands.
