Daniel Suarez didn’t hide the sting of parting ways with Trackhouse Racing after five seasons and two victories in the No. 99 Chevrolet, but the chapter closing hasn’t drained an ounce of conviction from him. With Spire Motorsports announcing on October 22, 2025, that Suarez will take over the No. 7 Chevrolet for the 2026 season in place of Justin Haley, the 33-year-old heads into his next stop feeling more prepared, more seasoned, and more confident than at any previous point in his career.
Advertisement
Suarez framed the transition around timing and personal growth. With nine full years in the Cup Series behind him, he believes his skill set and physical conditioning have reached a rare intersection. “Right now, I feel like a much better and complete driver,” he said, noting that he never lost sleep over his future even after Trackhouse publicly announced the split.
To Suarez, the belief came from knowing the work he put in on and off the track and how his understanding of the sport had evolved. He has long maintained that most drivers will never grasp the complexity of his early trajectory.
Suarez entered elite equipment before he was ready, and although those first opportunities came with top-tier organizations, he said he lacked the infrastructure and support system required to succeed at that level. He described those years as digging himself “into a hole,” one he spent several seasons climbing out of, with Trackhouse helping him regain his footing.
In fact, Suarez admitted that two years earlier, if someone had asked him how long he planned to stay, he would have answered “10 years” without hesitation. But, as he put it, time and changing dynamics shift everything. “I wouldn’t say that anymore this year. That’s part of life.”
Even with that honesty, Suarez holds no doubt about what comes next. “The best part of my career, I promise, is in the next five to 10 years,” he said. He called himself “probably one of the fittest drivers in the garage,” and emphasized that bare pace means nothing without the ability to sustain it across the full 38-race grind.
Many can light up the charts for a weekend, he noted, but true contenders build performance across an entire season. By his estimation, perhaps only 30 to 40 percent of the field can do that consistently, and he believes he belongs firmly within that group.
With an amalgamation of mileage, maturity, and athletic prime, Suarez feels he enters Spire not as a driver clawing for relevance but as one equipped to lift an organization. He said he can bring perspective, speed, and leadership that younger drivers are still learning to cultivate.
In his view, this next chapter is about finally aligning his experience with the right opportunity and proving that his prime window is opening, not closing.
