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December 13, 2024

Daniel Suárez 2024 season in review


Editor’s note: This continues the series in which we review each 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs driver in reverse order of championship finish.

Season in review: Daniel Suárez, No. 99, Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Crew chief: Matt Swiderski
Final 2024 ranking: 12th
Key stats: One win, four top fives, nine top 10s, 209 laps led

How 2024 ended: Suárez qualified for the playoffs for the second time in the last three seasons and started his championship run strongly with a runner-up showing in the first race at Atlanta and answering it with a 13th-place effort at the Watkins Glen road course – an effort good enough to advance him to the second round. However, unable to score a top-10 in the next three-race round – which included a frustrating 30th-place finish at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval – Suárez was eliminated from title contention in the Round of 12.

RELATED: Daniel Suárez through the years | Suárez advances at Bristol

Best race: A victory at the season’s second race in Atlanta — he led the last lap — marked Suárez’s second career NASCAR Cup Series victory and was a strong statement for the team’s new chief pairing of Suarez and Swiderski. But arguably Suárez’s best overall race came much later in the season at Richmond when he led 93 of the 408 laps. Although he finished a solid 10th place, that marked the most laps he’s led in a single race in eight seasons at the NASCAR Cup Series level.

Other season highlights: Securing his second career Cup win in only the second race of the season allowed Suárez and his Trackhouse Racing No. 99 Chevrolet the chance to immediately begin thinking big picture. Suárez and his new crew chief Swiderski tried some new things with the car — some successful and some not, Suárez said. But ultimately his highlights this season came on the bigger ovals. All four of his top-five finishes came at 1.5-mile tracks (Atlanta, Texas and Las Vegas). In addition to his early-season win, Suárez reeled off three consecutive top-10 finishes in the summer –at Indianapolis, Richmond and Michigan — his most productive stretch of the season.

Stat to know: Suárez’s 93 laps led at Richmond in August was a career-high single-race mark and he led more than 200 laps combined on the year for the second time in his career. Suárez nearly swept the two Atlanta races — winning in the spring and finishing runner-up in the fall playoff race. He was running at the checkered flag for a career-best 34 of the 36 races.

Quotable: “I think if you look at the big picture, our 99 team got better from last year. …We had a couple months in the middle of the year where we were trying new stuff and were very, very bad and eventually we had to reset and try again, and I feel that hurt the numbers of the 99 team. We were okay, a top-15 team most of the year, but we have a lot of work to do as an organization.” – Daniel Suárez on his 2024 season

MORE: Daniel Suárez wins thriller in photo finish at Atlanta | Suárez on winning Atlanta classic

Looking ahead: Earning his second career victory in only his second race with a new crew chief this season was certainly encouraging for Suarez, but the former NASCAR Xfinity Series champion was not wholly satisfied. Both Trackhouse Racing teams — Suárez and teammate Ross Chastain — won races this year, but only Suarez qualified for the playoffs and next year, the organization is adding a third car for New Zealand standout Shane van Gisbergen. Suarez’s laps led (209) was four times that of 2023 and his four top-fives efforts were second only to his output in 2022. But the 99 team will need to improve on its playoff stretch of tracks after earning only three top-10 finishes in the 10-race championship run this season. A historical first points-paying visit to Suarez’s home country, Mexico, represents a huge opportunity for this fan-favorite driver, who is optimistic that a second year with his crew chief and a highly motivated team would produce back-to-back playoff opportunities for the first time in his career.

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