After Trackhouse Split, Daniel Suárez Finds Fresh Start at Spire

Kristin Enzor/For IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Daniel Suárez will have another chance to prove he still belongs in NASCAR's top level. The 33-year-old driver will officially take over the No. 7 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports beginning with the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season. Suárez will step in for the departing Justin Haley as Spire Motorsports attempts to continue its steady rise through the Cup Series ranks.

"Yeah, I mean, I think his resume speaks for itself," Jeff Dickerson, Spire Motorsports co-owner, said of Suárez in the press conference. "He's been a mainstay in the garage for several years. And look, I think, when it came down to it, it's just a thing where I think we need each other. I was kind of drawn to the, I think all of us love a story of redemption, and giving people a platform to prove doubters wrong. In this case, we think that Daniel needs to show everybody that this year was an outlier, and we want to show everybody that the No. 7 car's performance this year was an outlier as well."

¡Bienvenido, Amigo!@Daniel_SuarezG will pilot the No. 7 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2026 with @Freeway_Ins serving as the anchor partner for the No. 7 team.

📰: https://t.co/cuAY1u8OVY pic.twitter.com/wnfCQIYq5Q

— Spire Motorsports (@SpireMotorsport) October 22, 2025

Freeway Insurance, which has been a partner of Suárez since the 2021 season, will follow the driver to his new team and will serve as the anchor partner for the driver and team in 2026. Freeway will kick off next season as the primary sponsor for the No. 7 team in the season-opening Daytona 500.

“Daniel has been an incredible ambassador for our brand,” said Cesar Soriano, CEO of Freeway Insurance, in a press release. “As someone who’s proudly served, I believe in teamwork, discipline, and perseverance — the same qualities Daniel brings to the track every week. His determination, authenticity, and connection to fans mirror what Freeway stands for — helping people move forward with confidence. We’re proud to continue supporting him as he joins Spire Motorsports and look forward to growing together both on and off the track.”

For Suárez, signing on with Spire Motorsports is the driver putting pen to paper on a new chapter, and perhaps the most pivotal of his career, which will reach its 10th season in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2026. The Monterrey, Mexico native, who has two Cup Series race wins (Sonoma Raceway in 2022 and Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2024), has suffered from a frustrating season in 2025 and announced in July that he would be mutually parting ways with Trackhouse Racing, which will fill the seat with 19-year-old phenom Connor Zilisch.

Now, with more than 300 Cup starts under his belt, Suárez finds himself in a familiar spot: having to fight his way back to the front to prove he belongs. But the driver has found comfort in what he has seen from the Spire Motorsports team over the last few seasons.

"To me, it was a no-brainer," Suárez said of signing to drive for Spire. "If you look at the last three years, how Spire Motorsports has grown in the last three years. I mentioned this to Jeff [Dickerson], I said, 'Jeff, three years ago, I probably wasn't looking at Spire Motorsports as an option. Right now, I believe this is the fastest-growing team in NASCAR, and I want to be part of that.' I know that they're not even close to being done, they're just getting started."

The opportunity is a lifeline for Suárez to continue competing at the NASCAR Cup Series level, and the signing also gives Spire Motorsports another proven race winner in its driver lineup. Suárez joins fellow two-time NASCAR Cup Series winner Michael McDowell and Carson Hocevar, who has been knocking on the door of his first career NASCAR Cup win, next season.

While Haley, who rejoined Spire Motorsports in a late-season driver trade with Rick Ware Racing near the end of the 2024 season, didn't enjoy the expected success behind the wheel of the No. 7 Chevrolet, the team sees Suárez as the guy who can elevate the entry to the next level.

"We're at a different place in our journey. We're not like a problem that needs to be solved anymore," Dickerson explained of his now three-car NASCAR Cup program. "We've got the speed; we need the execution. That's what's really held us back this year from those stats being even more impressive. And I think that's what Daniel sees with us. It's just that we need kind of like a veteran with a steady hand that can offer his wisdom that he's seen in this garage and this sport, and so many organizations. So, we're looking at tapping into that."

Suárez, the 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion, has shown incredible perseverance throughout his NASCAR Cup Series career. The driver was thrust into the NASCAR Cup Series ranks, perhaps before he was truly ready, due to the sudden and unexpected retirement of Carl Edwards following the 2016 season.

For two years, Suárez learned on the fly in the NASCAR Cup Series at Joe Gibbs Racing. At the conclusion of the 2018 season, Suárez found himself out of a ride at JGR, but he would not relent and landed a ride at Stewart-Haas Racing for the 2019 campaign.

While Suárez competed admirably at SHR, as he collected four top-five finishes and 11 top-10s on his path to a 17th-place finish in the championship standings, he was once again sent packing as Cole Custer was elevated to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2020.

In an effort to keep his career afloat, Suárez signed on with Gaunt Brothers Racing for the 2020 season, a team that promised, but failed, to elevate its part-time program into a full-time NASCAR Cup Series team that would allow the young driver to compete at the sport's highest level.

After a frustrating 2020 season with the Gaunt team, Suárez found what he felt would be his racing home for the remainder of his career, a new team founded by Justin Marks named Trackhouse Racing.

Together, Suárez and Trackhouse Racing blossomed into race-winning Playoff contenders, but when Shane van Gisbergen came to the United States in 2022 and won in his series debut driving the No. 91 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet in the inaugural Chicago Street Race, and when the team later signed Zilisch as a development driver, the writing was on the wall that somebody would likely eventually have to be the odd man out. Unfortunately, for Suárez, it was him.

But the driver, who has defined his career by being resilient, adaptable, and having an unwavering belief that his best days behind the wheel are still ahead, has a chance to once again turn everything around in 2026.