Justin Marks Says Split with Suarez Was “Personally Very Difficult”

What’s Happening?

Trackhouse team owner, Justin Marks, went on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio this morning to discuss a plethora of topics but perhaps what caught the most attention were his comments about driver Daniel Suarez. In describing the mutual split between Suarez and Trackhouse, Justin Marks stated that the decision to let Suarez go was “personally very difficult”. He added that Suarez was considered Employee #2 for the team after Marks himself, also saying that the team couldn’t have gotten to where they were without him. But, at the end of the day, Trackhouse is a business and sometimes, for the growth of a business, it’s necessary to make tough decisions.

• There had been a lot of behind-the-scenes movement in the lead-up to Suarez’s exit. First were the signings of Zane Smith, SVG, and Connor Zilisch. At the time, Trackhouse only fielded two cars. Add Chastain and Suarez into the mix and that’s five drivers for only two seats. For 2025, they added a third car for SVG, but that got them to NASCAR’s new 3-charter limit. Further expansion was off the table.
• The team ended their relationship with Zane Smith late last year. Still, the Trackhouse stable was looking overly crowded with Zilisch, who was already an Xfinity Series winner, waiting in the wings. Then, Trackhouse re-signed Suarez to a one-year extension. This was an indicator that he was not in the team’s long-term plans. Shortly thereafter, team co-owner and ambassador Pitbull was out of the ownership fold.
• Finally, Zilisch is having a breakout rookie season with JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series. And, with other teams like Legacy Motor Club looking to expand and being interested in Zilisch, it made sense for the team to lock him down fast. This left Suarez being the odd man out. Zilisch is expected to replace Suarez in 2026.

Daniel Suarez also made some interesting comments following the split announcement. He stated over the weekend that he didn’t feel like he was a priority at the team anymore. In truth, he wasn’t. He went from being the flagship driver to being the third driver on the team just because he didn’t have a niche like SVG or even Connor Zilisch. In this same interview, Marks even stated that he believed SVG will go down in the history books as NASCAR’s greatest road racer ever.

Currently, it is unknown where Suarez will land in 2026. There are several potential Xfinity Series opportunities. But Suarez seems intent on staying in the Cup Series. We’ll know more about the opportunities there as silly season unravels further.

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