"There's no drama around it": Justin Marks sets the record straight on Pitbull’s Trackhouse exit as a successful business move

Trackhouse Racing owner Justin Marks cleared the air around Armando Perez A.K.A Pitbull's exit from the team prio to the start of the 2025 NASCAR season. He explained that it was a mutual decision and was grateful for the contribution made by Perez while he was part of the team.

Marks founded Trackhouse Racing back in 2021 and Grammy-winning Pitbull had been his partner in the team since the start. He partially owned the team and witnessed it mark its journey in NASCAR. Ahead of the 2025 season, however, Pitbull announced that he was ending his association with the team after having spent multiple seasons with Trackhouse and introducing the sport to a "whole new audience." He later performed at the season-opening Daytona 500.

"Ending partnership with Trackhouse Racing. Over the past five years, we’ve made history by introducing NASCAR to a whole new audience and falling in love with NASCAR fans at the same time. We have made the decision to terminate the partnership with Trackhouse Racing, effective immediately," he wrote on X.

Looking back at the relationship he shared with the artist as a co-owner, Justin Marks mentioned that the team had "accomplished" what it initially set out to do and was not regretting Pitbull's decision to end his terms with the team. He said (via SiriusXM NASCAR Radio):

"We sort of just looked at everything that we've done together and kind of got to a point where it's like, we've sort of accomplished what we set out to do. And I think Armando is really, really happy and proud of the fact that he could contribute to a fledgling operation in a big sport to gain some immediate brand equity and to get our name out into the world and to help do his part in sending us on this great path of success," Justin Marks said.

He further mentioned that his decision did not come around any "drama" and it was decided on mutual agreement.

"I think it's a successful business story and there's no drama around it. It's just kind of one of those deals where, you know, we had investors come in and there's an opportunity there to, to look at the company and set it up for the future," he added.

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Justin Marks reflected on Trackhouse Racing's "tough week"

Helio Castroneves, a four-time Indy500 winner, made his NASCAR debut with the team, piloting the #91 Chevrolet on the Daytona 500 field. While his appearance at the race was much anticipated, it ended early after a crash on lap 71 that only gave him a 39th-place finish. Ross Chastain, in the #1 Trackhouse Chevy, was also involved in the crash, finishing in 40th place.

The team's third car, piloted by Shane van Gisbergen, finished the race in 33rd place. This marked a difficult day for the team. However, Justin Marks, in a post on social media, extracted a few positives out from the season-opening Great American Race.

"Someone told me last night 'man that was a tough week for Trackhouse'. I disagree. I think it was the finest hour in the history of our company," Justin Marks wrote.

"I saw people come together as a TEAM with enthusiasm, positivity, grind, and execution. We had a lot of cars to fix and it wasn’t one team or another doing the work, it was all of Trackhouse working together...With so many story lines and sponsor messages, the social/digital and creative teams knocked it out of the park," he added.

Daniel Suarez's #99 was the only Trackhouse Racing car to finish the Daytona 500. He crossed the line in 13th place after the last-lap wreck.