When Trackhouse Racing and Daniel Suarez announced a mutual parting of ways, questions immediately circulated about why this relationship ended. Both sides have now weighed in.
Team owner Justin Marks provided insight on Sunday evening after Shane van Gisbergen won on the streets of Chicago. He talked about Suarez's impact on the organization over 4.5 years but added that NASCAR is not a sport where "you do the same thing forever." He said that it was time to wrap up the relationship.
"When we sat down and looked at our -- kind of mapped out our three-year and our five-year plan and the sponsorships and everything that we're trying to accomplish over the next five years of the company, we just got to a point where we felt like that relationship had borne a lot of fruit for us, but it was time to move on," Marks said.
"As we grow and as the team grows, obviously we have to identify different opportunities. Look, Daniel has been a huge part of this company and a great friend of mine. We met last night, me and him in the hotel for an hour down in the lobby and we just talked about our time together, everything that we've accomplished together, and him and I are in a really good place."
This relationship has certainly changed over the years. Suarez joined the team ahead of the 2021 season and made NASCAR history in 2022 by winning at Sonoma Raceway. He was the first Mexico-born driver to win a Cup Series race.
This partnership between Suarez and Trackhouse Racing also featured a win at EchoPark Speedway last season in a three-wide photo finish, which sent the Monterrey native back to the playoffs. It also contributed to a one-year contract extension.
However, things have changed, as Suarez indicated on Saturday in Chicago. He told media members that the love was gone and that he felt that his voice was not being heard regarding things inside the organization.
"Since my new crew chief (Matt Swiderski) came to Trackhouse, he told me a lot of things that he didn't think were right within the organization and a lot of things that needed to be changed," Suarez said.
"I've been being very vocal with the team, 'Hey, we need to adjust this, we need to adjust that.' I'm not the only one seeing it. There is more people seeing it. And not a lot of things happened. Everything happened so slow."
While Suarez expressed the opinion that his voice was not being heard, he also reiterated that he didn't have any hard feelings toward Marks, Trackhouse Racing, or anyone else inside the organization. He was just excited about future opportunities in the sport.