Suarez: 'Everything is An Option' in 'Distracting' 2026 Contract Talks

Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

As the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series campaign hits the halfway point of the season this weekend at EchoPark Speedway, the questions about the grid for next season have begun to arise, and one of the major ones involves Daniel Suarez and Trackhouse Racing.

The Monterrey, Mexico-native is currently in a contract year with Trackhouse Racing, after signing a one-year agreement in August 2024 to return to the seat of the No. 99 Chevrolet. While the results have been hit-or-miss for Suarez, who sits 27th in NASCAR Cup Series points, there is some pressure coming from outside of the team, right now.

Connor Zilisch, who currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for JR Motorsports, is a development driver for Trackhouse Racing. This season, the 18-year-old has been given some starts in the NASCAR Cup Series and is expected to take over that seat should Suarez not return.

However, the 33-year-old driver was adamant this week, in an appearance on the Dale Jr. Download, that nothing is certain when it comes to the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series campaign, especially as it comes to Trackhouse Racing.

“It’s going to be a few months,” Suarez said. “We’ll see what happens. There are still a lot of things [up] in the air, right now. There are just some things that I’m just uncomfortable in a few areas, and a few things, but I love Trackhouse [Racing] and I love this team.”

Now is the time when talks are happening, so where does that leave Daniel? 📄🖊️ @Daniel_SuarezG | @DaleJr pic.twitter.com/EwS4cWTmEJ

— Dirty Mo Media (@DirtyMoMedia) June 26, 2025

“This team, for me, has been my best home in the [NASCAR Cup Series]. I want to have more success with this team, and I want to see this team successful regardless of if I’m in it or not. Honestly, right now, everything is an option.”

Through the first 17 NASCAR Cup Series events of the season, Suarez has managed to record a single top five finish (a runner-up result at Las Vegas), and three total top 10s (a ninth at Talladega, and a tenth at Texas). One of the main struggles for the No. 99 Chevrolet has been the team’s speed when unloading to start the weekend – as has been well-documented by teammates Ross Chastain and Shane Van Gisbergen throughout the year.

However, after a come-from-behind victory for Chastain in the Coca-Cola 600 and a dominant victory for Shane Van Gisbergen at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez earlier this month, that leaves Suarez as the only Trackhouse Racing driver without a punched ticket to the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

“We just have to continue to work, and hopefully the results come, and just see what happens, see what the future holds,” Suarez said speaking to Kevin Harvick on the Kevin Harvick Happy Hour Podcast. “It’s a distraction to be thinking about this, I don’t like to be thinking about this every June, May, because it starts; 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

Suarez still has a nine-race stretch to lock himself into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, but it will have to be a victory. Luckily, that nine-race stretch includes two racetracks where Suarez has won before, beginning this weekend at EchoPark Speedway, and then a couple of weeks from now, in July, at Sonoma Raceway.