Daniel Suarez apologizes to fans for recent struggles

“It’s very hard to put into words, you know, what has been happening lately,” Suarez said in the video. “In the 99 team, frustration is an understatement. It’s been difficult, you know. It’s been difficult. I will say for the good part of maybe a month, month and a half ago, we were trying some different stuff but right now we are just struggling. We are just struggling a lot. We don’t have a lot of speed. It doesn’t really matter how the balance of the car is, we’re just slow.

“So, we have some work to do. The good thing is that, you know, we have great people in Trackhouse [Racing]. We have great people in the 99 team, and I know we’re going to figure it out. I know that for sure. … In the meantime, I want to apologize to all the fans, to all the Daniel’s Amigos out there that come to support me, all those Mexican flags. You know, I hate to run like this. I hate to let you guys down, you know. … I don’t compete and I don’t work so hard every single day of the week to run 25th to 30th.”

Daniel Suarez, Trackhouse Racing struggling to find speed

Suarez, in his eighth Cup Series season and fourth with Trackhouse, had a dream start to the 2024 season, winning at Atlanta in a three-way photo finish at the checkered line. Since then, Suarez has tallied just one top-10 finish, a P5 result at Texas. Beyond his average finish being 19.4, Suarez has failed to qualify better than 17th in the last nine races. Dating back to COTA in March, Suarez has finished P22 or worse in 6-of-8 races.

Suarez is notably in an option year at Trackhouse, and though his win at Atlanta to clinch a playoff berth should help, it’s no guarantee he’s back behind the wheel of the No. 99 Chevrolet in 2025. Speaking with the media at Darlington, Suarez provided an update on recent contract negotiations with Trackhouse.

“We’re working on it; everything is looking good,” Suarez said, via Kelly Crandall of RACER. “I don’t think there is much I can mention right now but it’s moving in the right direction.”