There is probably no race team in NASCAR that would like a continuation of the 2022 NASCAR Cup season more than Trackhouse Racing. In just its first season as a multicar team, Trackhouse notched three victories, 21 top-five finishes and career-best, top-10 points finishes for drivers Daniel Suárez and Ross Chastain.

Trackhouse founder and owner Justin Marks as well as Chastain, Suárez, crew chiefs, crew members and shop employees are all quick to point out 2023 is a new season and this year Trackhouse won’t sneak up on anyone.

“We are going to have to work harder than ever before,” said Suárez who enters his seventh career and third full-time Cup season with Trackhouse Racing. “We know that and we are working hard in the shop every day. We have very high expectations, but we know nothing will be given to us. We will have to earn it.”

The new season begins Sunday night in the Busch Clash at Los Angeles Coliseum when Cup cars will race on a quarter-mile asphalt oval built around the Coliseum’s famous football field. It marks the second Cup Series event at the 99-year-old facility that has also hosted two Olympic Games.

“Racing at the Coliseum last year felt like racing at home,” said Suárez who became the first Mexican (Monterrey) to win a Cup race when he dominated at Sonoma (Calif.) Speedway in June. “There was so much excitement in the stands for us at the Clash and I think the fans had a blast watching us race on that short track.”

Last year at the Clash, Suárez qualified fifth and ran in the top-10 most of the race before finishing 14th. His Travis Mack-led No. 99 team looks for an even better performance this weekend when the team practices on Saturday, competes in qualifying races Sunday afternoon and races under the lights Sunday night.

Fox will broadcast the race at Sunday at 8 p.m. EST

Suárez’s No. 99 will carry the Jockey Made in America Collection paint scheme in Los Angeles.

The Jockey partnership with Trackhouse began last year and was the first such team sponsorship in the 147-year history of the apparel brand. At the core of the partnership was the launch of the brand’s Made in America Collection – an effort aimed at delivering premium quality product, support reshoring American manufacturing jobs, supporting families and farmers in local communities, and providing a more sustainable option for American consumers. 

Jockey will return to the No. 99 at the April 9 dirt race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, and the Martinsville (Va.) Speedway race on Oct. 29. 

Jockey will appear three more times in 2023 as the primary sponsor of Chastain’s No. 1 Chevrolet beginning at Richmond (Va.) Raceway on April 2, Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway on April 30 and at Michigan Speedway in Brooklyn on Aug. 6. 

Did you exceed expectations last year?

“I started this Trackhouse project with the goal of being a championship organization. So, I really believed we could do it. It happened very quickly. To get three wins and make it to the final four in our first year (as a multicar team) is a pretty condensed time frame. The challenge now is making that effort and those results repeatable year-in and year-out. I definitely thought we could win, but to put the body of work together with both teams, is surprising in a way. Everyone in this shop rallied around the concept and opportunity and were committed to it. I was just in awe and humbled by it.”

How do you repeat it in the future? 

"To make sure that we are consistent year-in and year-out, its about the people. We have to make sure we keep them motivated, valued, and want to come in every day and do their best work. If we do that, sure we will have good seasons and tough seasons, but if you extrapolate that over time we will be a consistently competitive organization. If we set expectations at the beginning of the year, and we consistently look in the mirror and audit ourselves, and determine what is the next right thing to do, then I think we can maintain where we are at."

What did Trackhouse Racing do in the offseason?

"This is probably the most unique off season this sport has ever experienced. The Daytona cars are basically ready to go just as they were when they came off the track last year. It's nice because it has opened up a lot of bandwidth and allowed us to really look at the operations of our company, invest in the culture, people and continue to build a really strong team."