"It hasn't been as good": Daniel Suarez acknowledges Trackhouse Racing's downfall this season

Daniel Suarez, in his fourth season with Trackhouse Racing, is set to take part in his second playoff campaign. His three-wide photo finish win earlier this year booked his spot in the playoffs while his teammate Ross Chastain missed out. And recently, Suarez remarked on his team's performances this year.

Ahead of this Sunday's playoff race at Atlanta, a racetrack he won at earlier this season, the #99 driver spoke about Trackhouse Racing not being their best this season.

So far this year, the two Trackhouse drivers have combined, one win, and five finishes inside the top 5. A couple of seasons ago, Suarez and Chastain had combined for 3 wins and 18 finishes inside the top 5. This wasn't something that was lost on Suarez who recently said (via "SiriusXM NASCAR Radio" on X):

"The reality is that Trackhouse this year, it hasn't been as good as we were in 2022. In 2022, I won one race, Ross won 2, I feel like I could have won 3 or 4 more races. I just feel like in 2022 we just a lot of raw speed, we were just fast. In 2023, we were kind of like a little bit slower. But in 2024, we've actually been a little bit inconsistent," he said.

Suarez claimed that the win at Atlanta has "obviously helped" the #99 team. Further talking about the team's struggles with consistency, Suarez said they were "slow" despite trying several different things earlier in the season. However, with their recent upturn in performances, the 32-year-old expressed hope in maintaining the momentum and credited his team's "hard work" in their bid for playoff success.

"I believe that is what you need for the playoffs. With that being said, I believe we still need a little bit more to be able to compete with some of the Fords, some of the Toyotas. The Toyotas are very quick right now so we just have to continue to work. The reality is we are not as fast as we want to be but we are good enough to compete and hopefully execute everything good," Suarez added.

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2024 has been an eventful year for Daniel Suarez

In 2023, Daniel Suarez went winless and did not make it to the playoffs. This came after a season in which he got his first Cup win and first playoff appearance. However, compared to last season, Suarez clinched a win earlier this season and clinched a berth for the playoffs.

While, Daniel Suarez has managed only one notable finish, a top 5 at Texas since then, his life on the personal front has had a couple of notable milestones.

The first was him becoming a US citizen after taking an oath in June. Suarez also married his longtime partner, Julia Piquet on 30th July. Reflecting on his eventful year, Daniel Suarez spoke about how important 2024 has been for him. He said (via "Sports Illustrated"):

“Probably is one of the best years of my life and I’m not talking racing. I’m talking everything. It’s been an amazing year. (on getting married) I think I overachieved. I definitely have done better than I thought I would,” he said.