Trackhouse Racing should be concerned after a pit call in the Daytona regular season finale shut out its lone Chase contender while one of its former drivers was locked in with his new team before the green flag flew in that same race.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — One of Trackhouse Racing's drivers will be in the Chase for the NASCAR Cup Series championship but none of the team's current drivers or cars will compete with him for the Cup.
Neither Shane van Gisbergen nor Ross Chastain nor Connor Zilisch made the 16-man postseason, despite SVG winning twice on road courses and rallying at a handful of oval races to keep them in the fight all the way to the end in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway.
Carried by the Kiwi
Shane van Gisbergen entered Daytona above the cutline and spent most of the race there, winning the first stage and running up front.
However, a call to bring his No. 97 Chevrolet to pit road before overtime ultimately ended his chance at the Chase.
"One night doesn't sum up our year. I guess we haven't been good enough. It's been cool to be close. Yeah, shame we're not in it," SVG said.
In contrast to last year, when SVG came to Trackhouse Racing's NASCAR Cup Series program as by-far the least experienced oval racer in the series, he drastically caught up this year.
In 2026, Shane van Gisbergen earned 60 more points than the year before – according to statistician Daniel Cespedes – despite having two fewer wins than the year before and his two teammates massively regressing. Ross Chastain earned an adjusted 127 fewer points than the year before and Trackhouse's third team fell off a cliff with rookie Connor Zilisch.
SVG finished best among his teammates in 12 of the 26 regular season races. He also was in Chase contention for 20 weeks, while Chastain was in for just one.
"Bits of it were good. As a team, obviously we struggled. I'm proud that I've been able to match my teammates on the ovals. I think I've stepped up this year. But yeah, obviously you want to be in that Chase. Didn't make it," SVG said.
Suarez's Smart Move to the Chase
When Daniel Suarez left Trackhouse Racing, many believed that was the end of his Cup Series career. Joining Spire Motorsports was even viewed as a one-year option for both Suarez and Spire before the organization would move away from Suarez and on to someone else.
Now, Suarez is starting the Chase in the No. 11 seed as the third-best Chevrolet – behind only two Hendrick Motorsports drivers and ahead of all of his Spire teammates, all of Trackhouse and even a Hendrick Chase driver.
Suarez also has the seventh-best average finish of all 35 full-time drivers – ahead of every Hendrick driver and prospective title contender Joey Logano. Only Joe Gibbs Racing's drivers, Tyler Reddick and Ryan Blaney rank ahead of him in that stat line.
Suarez is also the second-most improved driver in the series, earning 208 more points in the first 26 races this season than last season.
In all, Suarez is on track for his best career, single-season average finish (14.7 so far) and has a win, three top-five finishes and seven top-10 finishes that trounce anything a full-time Spire driver has done before and stack up to Suarez's stats at Trackhouse's peak.
On the ground floor of Spire's rise, Suarez is set. Trackhouse is very much not.
What is the Future of Trackhouse?
Going into 2027, Connor Zilisch is a lame duck driver while Chastain and SVG's futures are in question. Each driver's contract is up and could be sought after by teams.
Chastain is a championship contender and proven winner with the right time. Sponsorship from Anheuser-Busch, a company that came to Trackhouse just to partner with the 2022 Championship Four qualifier, also carries huge leverage if he decides to leave.
SVG is also a road course and street course merchant who has guaranteed multiple wins each season for his team. He's also getting better on ovals and could be a potent power play for a team, even though he's at an older-than-average age of 37.
Zilisch leaving for Hendrick Motorsports is opening the door. To what, is unclear. Rick Hendrick and Jeff Gordon agreed on the respect they have for Zilisch being a Trackhouse driver for 2027 and wanting to doing anything they can to "make a rising tide lift all ships" in the Chevrolet camp.
It's needed. Hendrick's teams rank alongside Trackhouse's teams as the most regressed in the series this season: Chase Elliott -90 points, Kyle Larson -122, William Byron -227.
Meanwhile, Spire's teams have all earned more points in 26 races this season than last season with Suarez earning 208 more, Carson Hocevar earning 182 more and Michael McDowell earning seven more.
The tables have turned for Trackhouse and Suarez – and Trackhouse may now be looking in Suarez's direction to get some help to improve.
Trackhouse will ultimately need to take the final 10 races to test and tune for 2027. The off-season will take a collective effort by Chevrolet, if they truly want to raise the tide for all ships.
Or else, the Trackhouse may be cleaned from top to bottom.
