No. 99 CommScope Chevrolet driver Daniel Suárez‘s bid to advance to the next round in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs and ultimately win a championship will come down to 109 laps on the Charlotte Roval on Sunday.
The Roval marks the third and final race in the Round of 12 races in the 2022 playoffs. Four drivers will be eliminated at the end of Sunday’s race.
The 30-year-old native of Monterrey, Mexico is seventh of the 12 drivers in the standings, but just 12 points ahead of the final transfer position heading into the road course race in Charlotte.
If he leaves Charlotte in the top-eight, he’ll join the three-race Round of 8 races that begin Oct. 16 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. At the end of three races in that round, the top four drivers will race at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Ariz. for the 2022 championship.
Suárez arrives at the Roval after an eighth-place finish at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway on Sunday. He earned seven bonus points in the second stage.
Trackhouse Racing has both Suárez and teammate Ross Chastain alive and above the cutoff line in the playoffs. Chastain is third in points and 28 points ahead of the cutoff.
Both drivers have won on road courses in the 2022 season and feel confident about this weekend’s chances. Suárez has completed every lap and scored three top-five finishes in the five road courses on the 2022 schedule. Only five drivers have scored more points on road courses this year.
NBC will televise Sunday’s race at 2 p.m. EDT.
Trackhouse Racing Marks 100th and 101st Entry at Charlotte Roval
Trackhouse Racing marks its 100th and 101st entries in NASCAR Cup Series races Sunday when Daniel Suárez and Ross Chastain fire their engines on the Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Trackhouse began as a single car team in 2021 with Suárez behind the wheel. After Justin Marks, team owner and founder, purchased the NASCAR assets of Chip Ganassi Racing, Trackhouse began competing as a two-car team in 2022 adding Ross Chastain as a driver.
Kimi Raikkonen drove one race under the team’s PROJECT91 banner at Watkins Glen in August.
Chastain and Suárez have so far combined for three wins, 17 top-five and 29-top-10 finishes in 2022.
Trackhouse joins Penske Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing and Stewart-Haas Racing as the only teams remaining in the playoffs.
Trackhouse is by far the newest among the teams fielding cars for the playoff drivers.
Suárez To Visit Charlotte High Schools
As Part of CommScope Ignition Program Promoting STEM
Daniel Suárez will visit two Charlotte high schools this week as part of of CommScope’s Ignition Program.
The program leverages the excitement of motorsports racing to advance STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) learning across the United States while offering solutions to increase access to reliable networks, including public Wi-Fi.
Suárez and his Trackhouse Racing team will spend Thursday and Friday morning delivering the message that an education in STEM can help them become tomorrow’s motorsports engineers, car designers, and crew chiefs.
The program shows the students how technology plays a huge role in motorsports racing, and the future of our sport depends on inspiring the next generation to see what STEM can do for them.
Suárez and the CommScope Ignition Program has traveled to schools in Phoenix and Austin this year spreading the STEM message. For more information on the program, please visit the CommScope Ignition Program page.
For more information on how CommScope is addressing the digital divide, visit the CommScope Digital Society page.
Daniel Suárez, Driver of the No. 99 CommScope Chevrolet
How do you feel about your chances to advance at the ROVAL?
“I feel very good about it. My goal today was to at least break even. I haven’t seen the points to know, but I think we did that. Heading to the ROVAL, I feel very confident that we can contend for it.
“We have a very good road course program at Trackhouse Racing. Both Ross and I have won races and been strong in each race. It’s a great feeling as a driver to know you have a strong chance to win every time you race.”
Are you happy with your points position?
“Talladega was such a wild card that I said I just wanted to break even and I think we did more than that. We got very lucky. I’m not sure we would be 12 points ahead of the cutoff if that race were a few laps longer. The engine blew up with 15 laps to go and I was barely hanging in there. On that restart, I couldn’t go and the 24 (William Byron) helped me a lot to get going, but the engine was killed. So I guess we had a little bit of luck because it was definitely killed and we were about to not finish that race.
“We are just going to do our thing this weekend in Charlotte. I feel very confident.”
Follow Daniel Suárez in USA’s “Race for the Championship”
Ever wondered what Daniel Suárez’s life is like behind the wheel of a race car, at his home, in his race shop, in his car?
USA Network will air “Race For The Championship,” a new unscripted series about the drivers and teams of the NASCAR Cup Series, on Thursday at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
The series will give a behind-the-scenes look at the elite drivers and teams competing in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Documenting the lives of the sport’s best on and off the track, viewers will get a rare glimpse of what it takes to balance personal relationships with the pressure to perform. Packed with action, heart and drama, this exhilarating series will offer up a taste of what it’s really like to partake in the world’s top level of stock car racing. Watch as the drivers are pushed mentally and physically to their limits, navigating a NASCAR season unlike any other – with a new car, new tracks and new challenges – for their chance to make history.
Over 10 episodes, “Race for the Championship” will tell the story of the 2022 NASCAR Cup season and playoffs.
Suárez and other drivers attended the world premiere of the series on Sept. 1 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
No. 99 Trackhouse Team Roster
Founder: Justin Marks, Rocklin, California
President: Ty Norris, Sumter, South Carolina
Driver: Daniel Suárez, Monterrey Mexico
Crew Chief: Travis Mack, Louisville, Kentucky
Car Chief: Eddie D’Hondt Jr., East Islip, New York
Spotter: Frank Kimmel II, Jeffersonville, Indiana
Engine Builder: ECR Engines, Welcome, North Carolina
Engine Tuner: Jason Watkins, Ridgeway, Virginia
Fueler: Milan Rudanovic, Wantage, New Jersey
Front Tire Changer: Josh Bush, Lexington, North Carolina
Rear Tire Changer: Jerick Newsome, Memphis, Tennessee
Jackman: Josh Appleby, Athens, Alabama
Tire Carrier: Jeremy Kimbrough, Decatur, Georgia
Engineer: Jose R. Blasco-Figueroa, CDMX, Mexico (Mexico City, Mexico)
Engineer: Dustin Zacharyasz, Berea, Ohio
Mechanic: Griffin Rider, Lawson, Missouri
Mechanic: Alex Lacognata, Scarborough, Maine
Mechanic: Tony Barkman, Rio Vista, California
Truck Driver: Glenn Shano, Toronto, Canada
Truck Driver: Ben Prince, Denver, North Carolina
Notes of Interest
Suárez became the first driver from Mexico (Monterrey) to win in the NASCAR Cup Series on June 12, 2022 at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway.
He became the fifth different driver all-time not from the United States to win a NASCAR Cup Series race; joining Marcos Ambrose (Australia), Juan Pablo Montoya (Colombia) Earl Ross (Canada) and Mario Andretti (Italy).
In 2016, Suárez became the first Mexican driver to win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, claiming three victories at Michigan, Dover and the championship finale at Homestead-Miami.
Suárez owns 84 Xfinity Series starts posting three wins, 33 top-five and 55 top-10 finishes.
Suárez owns 28 Camping World Truck Series starts posting a win (Phoenix, Nov. 11, 2016) 10 top-five and 16 top-10 finishes.
In the Cup Series, Suárez owns two poles (Pocono, July 16, 2018), (Kentucky, July 12, 2019.)
Trackhouse founder Justin Marks competed in six Cup Series races with a best finish of 12th-place in the 2018 Daytona 500. He made 35 starts in the Xfinity Series posting a win, three top-five and seven top-10s. He won the Xfinity Series race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Aug. 13, 2016 driving for Chip Ganassi Racing.
Marks competed in 39 races in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series posting four top-10s and capturing two pole awards. He started eighth and finished 31st at Mid-Ohio on July 9, 2022.
He joined four co-drivers in winning the 2009 Rolex 24 in the GT division.
Before turning a wheel in 2021, Trackhouse Racing became one of the more popular teams in NASCAR when it announced GRAMMY® Award-winning global superstar Pitbull had become a partner. Not only is he an active partner on the Trackhouse executive team, but Pitbull also serves as a brand and philanthropic ambassador.
The Trackhouse team won the 2021 NASCAR Diversity Team Award.
Marks won the 2022 “Byrnsie Award” from Fox.
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
