“It Just Became a Nightmare”: Daniel Suarez’ Nightmarish Gaunt Brothers Stint After SHR Stint

The 2020 Cup Series season was a truly odd one in Daniel Suarez’s career. Following a decent 2019 season with Stewart-Haas Racing, he was let go by the management after he failed to secure sponsorship. Cole Custer replaced him in the No. 41, and he moved on to drive the No. 96 Toyota for Gaunt Brothers Racing. During a recent interview, he detailed the journey that came after.

Suarez had a great relationship with Toyota at the time, having already driven the manufacturer’s cars for two seasons with Joe Gibbs Racing. They’d anticipated that the first six months at Gaunt Brothers Racing would be a struggle for him, following which they planned to pick up the pace and get things in order. But unfortunately, the COVID pandemic hit the world and derailed their plans.

He narrated, “The money that was going to come in didn’t come. The cars, the partnerships, the things, and everything changed. I knew it was going to be a difficult year, and then it just became a nightmare. You know, it became a nightmare. I started to realize that I’m not built to go and make an appearance at a racetrack. I’m built to go out there and just ride around.”

“That’s not my thing. I just can’t do that. If that’s what I’m going to do for a living, I’m going to do something else because I’m just too competitive to accept that I can’t win.”

Despite the disappointment that came with reality not meeting the expectations, Suarez had promised himself that he wouldn’t work any less hard through the season. And so, he took ownership.

He organized competition meetings, he put out pre-race reports and post-race reports, and did every other task as any other big team would do. He reasoned this by pointing out that he had a high standard for himself and wanted those around him to live up to it as well. 

“Either they were going to get much better or I was going to leave,” he said. “Yeah. Shortly after, you know, I had a few offers from other groups. One of them was Trackhouse Racing, which was on a piece of paper. That’s how we got started with Trackhouse Racing.”

Suarez joined Trackhouse Racing in 2021 and thrived with the team for five seasons. He played an instrumental role in making the team the powerhouse it is today. Following the completion of the 2025 Cup Series season, Suarez is now eagerly awaiting his next stint with Spire Motorsports.