2024 NASCAR season in review: Daniel Suarez
Yesterday at 07:00 AM
Daniel Suarez was back in the playoffs this past season after missing it in 2023.
He earned that spot with his victory at Atlanta in the second race of the season. Suarez nipped Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch at the finish line in the closest 1-2-3 finish in series history.
Suarez has made the playoffs in two of his three seasons at Trackhouse Racing.
CREW CHIEF: Matt Swiderski
TEAM: Trackhouse Racing
POINTS: 12th
WINS: 1 (Atlanta I)
LAPS LED: 209
TOP 5s: 4
TOP 10s: 9
STARTS FROM POLE: 0
WHAT WENT RIGHT: Returned to Victory Lane for the first time since 2022, snapping a 57-race winless streak. Finished second in the Atlanta playoff race. Advanced through the first round of the playoffs.
WHAT WENT WRONG: Lack of consistency. Suarez had only three top 10s in the 10 playoff races. Had only two top 10s in the first 16 points races of the season. Scored points in only three of the last 26 stages of the season. Started in the top 10 only twice in the last 16 races of the season.
DANIEL SUAREZ SAID: "I think if you look at the big picture, I believe that the 99 team got better from last year but Trackhouse got worse as an organization. So, it's a good thing that the 99 got better, but it's a bad thing that Trackhouse got worse. … We had a couple of months in the middle of the year, right after we won, actually, that we were trying some different stuff and we were very, very bad and eventually we had to rest and then try again. I believe that hurt the numbers and stats on the 99, but beside that, we were OK, top 15 most of the year but still we have a lot of work to do as an organization.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2025: Daniel Suarez should be a contender for a playoff spot again. The goal becomes scoring multiple wins in a season and advancing deeper in the playoffs.
