Trackhouse Racing will make its 249th and 250th start with the Nos. 1 and 99 on Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Sunday’s race is the first of four races remaining in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season.
For Trackhouse Racing drivers Daniel Suárez and Ross Chastain the goal in the four races is to add to the two trophies they have taken home this year and build momentum for the 2025 season.
The 1.5-mile ovals in Las Vegas and Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway as well as races at the Martinsville and Phoenix tracks are all that remain on the 2024 schedule.
WWEX Group: For the final time this season, Ross Chastain will pilot the blue-and-black WWEX Group Chevrolet. He most recently piloted the WWEX Group livery last month at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway to a 10th-place finish. Texas-based WWEX Group first joined Trackhouse Racing in 2022 and has appeared on Chastain and teammate Daniel Suárez's Chevrolets for multiple races each season.
Las Vegas Stats: Chastain will make his 13th Cup Series start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday. Since driving the No. 1 Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing, Chastain has not finished outside the top-12 and has four top-five finishes in five starts. He's also led 153 laps at the mile-and-a-half speedway behind the wheel of the No. 1 car.
Las Vegas Success: In addition to his Cup Series stats, Chastain has managed success in another NASCAR national series with a win in September 2018 while driving the No. 42 in the Xfinity Series. He led 180 of 200 laps to capture his first career Xfinity Series win. He has eight Xfinity starts and seven Truck Series starts at the Nevada track.
Most Wins for No. 1 Car in Cup Series: The No. 1 car has been to victory lane five times with Chastain since 2022. That marks the most wins by a driver in the No. 1 car. Jamie McMurray previously held the record with four wins in the No. 1 car.
Season Stats: With four races remaining this season and a victory under his belt, Chastain currently has the seventh best average finish of 14.7 among fulltime Cup Series competitors, and is eighth in most laps led this season with 311.
Last Weekend at Charlotte Roval: Last weekend at the Charlotte Roval, Chastain started 16th and the day was full of ups and downs after being spun twice and plowed into by a competitor in the final stage causing damage to the No. 1 Chevrolet that sent Chastain down pit road multiple times for repairs. The damage made the handling on his Chevrolet challenging and Chastain salvaged a 28th-place finish.
NASCAR: Full Speed: Catch Chastain in the five-episode docuseries NASCAR: Full Speed on Netflix. The series documented portions of Chastain's 2023 season on and off the track. All five episodes are currently available on Netflix.
2023 Season Recap: Chastain won at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway in June and at the Phoenix Raceway season finale in November. He posted 10 top-five and 14 top-10 finishes in his third full time Cup season. The Alva, Florida native finished ninth in points.Ross Chastain Career Statistics
Chastain Quotes:
You started a trend at Phoenix last year and followed it up a couple of weeks ago as a non-playoff driver winning in a playoff round. How unusual is that?
“I can only speak for us and to see the 17 car (Chris Buescher) win at Watkins Glen and those are two cars, us and the 17, that I think you can easily make the case of us being capable of being in the playoffs. We just didn’t execute over 26 races and win. I don’t think its a trend other than the 1 car is fast enough to win any week, whether its the first race of the year, the middle part or the end.”
Do you like racing at Las Vegas?
”I’ve been lucky to have some fast Trackhouse Chevrolets at Las Vegas over the last couple years. I got my first Xfinity Series win at Las Vegas so its a track that has a lot of meaning to me. I like racing there and I’m looking forward to getting on the track.”
About WWEX Group:
WWEX Group, the parent brand of Worldwide Express, GlobalTranz and Unishippers, is a top-ranked, full-service logistics provider offering supercharged parcel, less-than-truckload (LTL), truckload and managed transportation shipping services for customers nationwide. Customers benefit from enhanced visibility and value-driven solutions, thanks to the company’s logistics experts, proprietary technology, unique data assets and business intelligence capabilities. The WWEX Racing initiative was born of a desire to address the complex but underserved shipping needs of the performance motorsports industry, using the unique combination of capabilities offered by the three brands’ combined 80+ years of expertise.
Suárez Notes
Playoffs: Suárez was eliminated from the playoffs in the Round of 12 last weekend on the Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He was part of the playoffs two of the last three seasons.
Las Vegas: Suárez finished 11th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March.
Back in 2025: Trackhouse Racing announced in August that Suárez and Freeway Insurance will return to the No. 99 Chevrolet racing team for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, marking their fifth season together. Freeway will be the primary sponsor for one-third of the 2025 season, including the Daytona 500 and the NASCAR All-Star race.
Married Man/Racer: Suárez married his fiancé Julia Piquet at a ceremony on July 30 in Brazil. Four days later he raced in the NASCAR Brazil race at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, better known as Interlagos. He won one of the three races and battled for victory in the other two races.
Making History: Suárez now has the unique accomplishment of winning in NASCAR Mexico and Brazil in addition to all three American series.
Suárez is Now a Dual Citizen of Mexico and the United States: Suárez took the Oath of Allegiance at a naturalization ceremony on June 18 in front of media, friends, the NASCAR industry and NASCAR President Steve Phelps who gave the keynote address to the 48 new citizens from 28 countries who joined Suárez at the ceremony. The 32-year-old, Monterrey, Mexico native came to America about 13 years ago without speaking English. He passed the United States Citizenship test on April 29 in Charlotte before taking the final step on June 18. He is now a dual citizen of Mexico and the United States.
Atlanta Victory: At Atlanta, he and runner-up Ryan Blaney were separated by 0.003 seconds at the finish line. It was the fourth-closest finish in series history, and with third-place Kyle Busch just 0.007 seconds behind the winner, it also stands as the closest finish among three cars in the history of auto racing.
First Mexican to Win in Cup: Suárez became the first driver from Mexico (Monterrey) to win in the NASCAR Cup Series on June 12, 2022, at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway.
International Driver: He is one of six drivers not from the United States to win a NASCAR Cup Series race: Shane van Gisbergen (New Zealand), Marcos Ambrose (Australia), Juan Pablo Montoya (Colombia), Earl Ross (Canada) and Mario Andretti (Italy). Ambrose, Montoya, and Suárez own two victories each.
Cup Career Highlights: Suárez owns two victories (Sonoma 2022 and Atlanta 2024) and three Busch Light Pole Awards - Pocono (Pa.) Raceway July 2018, Kentucky Speedway July 2019, and on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in August 2023.Daniel Suárez Career Statistics
Suárez Quotes:
How do we approach the final four races?
“We want to win these races. No matter the playoff situation, we are all racers and do this because we want to win. A victory in one of these final races will make the off-season even better. We will work just as hard now to get better.”
Thoughts on the season?
”We aren’t happy but you are never happy unless you are the champion. We made it to the Round of 12 and that’s something to be proud of considering the competition in this series. We know we can do better and we will keep working until we get to the level of battling for the championship.”
Meet Daniel Suárez
5 p.m. Saturday
Hard Rock Café in Las Vegas
About Tootsie’s:
Tootsie’s has operated across the alley from Opry Entertainment’s Ryman Auditorium, the celebrated Nashville performance venue and most famous former home of the Grand Ole Opry, almost continuously since 1960. Its proprietor from 1960 to 1978, Hattie Louise “Tootsie” Bess, bought the lounge called “Mom’s” and named it for herself. With its proximity to the Ryman, Tootsie’s quickly became a favorite spot for the Opry’s rising stars to gather during the years when the Opry called the Ryman home.
Marks Nominated for West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame
BAKERSFIELD, California – Trackhouse founder and owner Justin Marks is one of six first-time nominees among 20 candidates for 2025 induction into the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame.
Voting by the organization’s Board of Directors began this week.
Ten finalists will be decided in the first round of balloting, to be followed by a final vote selecting five inductees. Date and site of the 2025 Induction gala, presented by World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, will be announced later this month.
The West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame was conceived in 2001 as a means of recognizing significant contributors and contributions to the sport of stock car/motorsports competition. The mission of the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame is founded to preserve history and heritage of the important role west coast stock car and motorsports figures have played in the sport’s development and continuation and to recognize, through annual enshrinement, of outstanding individuals and groups within the sport such as, but not limited to, designers, engineers, mechanics, drivers, race track owners, promoters, publicists and members of the motorsports media.
The Hall is a 501(c)3 charitable organization, dedicated to supporting a variety of organizations and groups from coast to coast. The Hall has raised more than $1 million during the past 6-1/2 years for youth, health and safety, hospitals, animal rescue, military and other charitable causes.
For more information on the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame visit: www.WestCoastStockCarHallofFame.com
Watch Chastain on NASCAR: Inside the Playoffs
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Trackhouse Racing Assists with Hurricane Helene Cleanup
Forty Trackhouse Racing employees packed over 15 trucks filled with essential supplies and tools this month, and headed to Asheville, N.C., to team up with Aerial Recovery in assisting the rescue and recovery efforts in areas devastated from the impacts of Hurricane Helene. Members of the team spent the day delivering supplies to houses, and clearing driveways, roadways, and houses of fallen trees and debris. Additionally, members of the team conducted welfare checks in areas where flooding washed out roadways, stranding families in remote areas of the region. Employees have since made additional trips to the hardest hit areas of Western North Carolina, and are continuing to receive donations at the shop and deliver these essential supplies to impacted areas.
Watch Justin Marks on Kevin Harvick’s Podcast
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Watch Daniel Suárez in Season 2 of NASCAR Full Speed on Netflix
NASCAR Studios has officially announced the second season of ‘Full Speed,’ set to premiere on Netflix in 2025. The show will feature behind-the-scenes coverage of Trackhouse Racing driver Daniel Suárez’s 2024 playoff run.
This announcement comes after the success of the first season, which follows a similar format to Formula 1 series ‘Drive to Survive’, Golf series ‘Full Swing’, and Rugby series ‘Six Nations: Full Contact.’
The first season, released earlier this year, consisted of five episodes and started just before the Cup Series Playoffs. Although details on Season 2 have not been released yet, it is anticipated that it will follow a similar format.
A release date is yet to be announced, however, the first season was released on Netflix in January. More details to follow in the coming months.
Trackhouse Racing in 2025
Trackhouse Racing announced in August that it has acquired a third charter for the three-time Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen who will join Ross Chastain and Daniel Suárez in the team’s 2025 Cup Series lineup.
Van Gisbergen’s Chevrolet will carry the number 88 in 2025. That car number has been driven to victory lane 76 times in NASCAR history by legends including Dale Earnhardt Jr., Darrell Waltrip, Dale Jarrett, Donnie Allison, Ricky Rudd, Rusty Wallace, Buddy Baker and others.
Stephen Doran, 38, will serve as the No. 88 crew chief in 2025. Doran is in his first year as a NASCAR Cup Series crew chief working with driver Zane Smith on the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet. The Butler, Pennsylvania native began his NASCAR career in 2006 at Petty Enterprises and worked as Kevin Harvick’s lead engineer at Stewart-Haas Racing from 2014 to 2023.
The future looks bright for Trackhouse.
Connor Zilisch, one of the hottest young race car drivers in America and part of Trackhouse’s driver development program, will showcase his talents full-time in the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series driving the No. 88 Chevrolet for the perennial championship-contending JR Motorsports (JRM) organization.
Zilisch became one of seven drivers to win in his Xfinity debut when he dominated at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International in September.
He’s won America’s two most prestigious sports car races (Rolex 24 in Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring) as well as ARCA and CARS Tour races in 2024.
JRM launched the careers of NASCAR stars like William Byron, Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski, Tyler Reddick and others.
WeatherTech will serve as a primary sponsor for half the season for both Van Gisbergen and Zilisch.
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NASCAR to Race in Mexico City in 2025
Daniel Suárez took a trip back home a few days in August to help NASCAR make a little bit of history.
For the first time, the NASCAR Cup Series will see cars hit the track for a points race in Mexico. On Sunday, June 15, 2025, the world-class Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez road course in vibrant Mexico City will host the milestone event as part of the 2025 schedule.
The monumental weekend will also include the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Mexico Series competing on the road course.
The new international NASCAR event was announced on Aug. 27 as part of a press conference at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City featuring Suárez along with NASCAR and local officials.
“It’s been unbelievable,” Suárez said. “There are a lot of people excited here in Mexico today. It’s a day that we will remember forever, a very long time. We were talking last night at dinner, that today we are making history. Today we are bringing the biggest series in stock car in the world to Mexico City to a points race for the very first time in the Modern Era. So, it’s unbelievable.
“I feel very, very humbled and blessed to be part of this announcement today and I cannot tell you how many people there are downstairs recording and taking pictures,” Suárez said of the massive media turnout for the announcement. “The energy was unbelievable and we are still a lot of months away from the race.”
The historic road course is 2.674 miles long, boasts 17 turns and sits at an elevation of 7,342 feet. Built in 1959, the track was named in honor of racing brothers Ricardo Rodríguez and Pedro Rodríguez. The circuit was remodeled back in 2015 and has hosted eight Formula 1 Grand Prix´s since then, becoming one of the most popular international racing circuits and a spectacular destination for NASCAR fans to experience.
Suárez on Mexico City Announcement and Race:
Obviously, you knew Mexico was coming, but was there anything about the announcement or the reaction that has stuck with you?
“Honestly, I knew the announcement was going to be good and energetic. To be very honest with you, I was not expecting to have that many people and media in Mexico. It was impressive. I asked Ben (Kennedy) the same question, if he was expecting that turnout. He said he was expecting something good, but not this good. I’m excited. I’m very, very happy. This, to me, is a dream come true. Obviously, coming from Mexico and being born and raised there, is something very special. The last time I raced in Mexico City was 10 years ago, so to come back next year is going to be very special.”
The pressure, you’re going to have to win that race..
“I better win (laughs). If we do win that race, it’s going to be, for me, just as big as winning the championship. It would be huge. I’m super excited about it. When we get to that week, it’s just another weekend, right? But in reality, it’s going to be tough to handle all the people pulling me in different directions. It’s going to be a lot of fun. I feel very, very grateful and thankful to be in this position and to be living the NASCAR dream in this era. I was talking to some friends – like if I was 33 years old, 25 years ago in NASCAR, this probably wouldn’t be an option; going to Mexico. So I’m just very, very grateful.”
Growing up in Mexico, how have you seen the interest and fandom of NASCAR change and grow over the years?
“Yeah, definitely the culture in Mexico, they love motorsports. They’ve been loving motorsports for a very long time, and I feel like slowly, that has also changed into NASCAR. NASCAR is a very, very important sport for Mexico, and it continues to grow with the NASCAR Mexico Series and now the Cup Series going there. So it’s going to be a big deal. There are a lot of people that are super excited. The turnout of the media and the people for the announcement; it was way above what I was expecting. I’m super excited and very grateful.”
Trackhouse Racing PR
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