9:45 AM ET

  • Associated Press

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Daniel Suarez has signed a second extension in six months with Trackhouse Racing, getting a multiyear deal done after landing a one-year contract last August.

The team announced Suarez’s latest extension Wednesday as NASCAR kicked off Speedweeks with Daytona 500 media day and pole qualifying. The team declined to release details but will keep the 31-year-old Mexican driver behind the wheel for a third season and beyond for co-owners Justin Marks and Pitbull.

“Obviously, everyone at Trackhouse Racing is pleased with the performance and professionalism of Daniel both on and off the track,” Marks said in a statement. “Culture has been of prime importance since the idea of Trackhouse existed only on a whiteboard in an office. Daniel has fulfilled every expectation and we look forward to the future. The best is yet to come.”

Suarez, the 2016 Xfinity Series champion, has one victory in 215 Cup starts. He won last year at Sonoma Raceway, becoming the first Mexican-born winner in NASCAR’s top series.

He insisted in August, after signing the one-year extension, that he believed he would get a long-term deal done once the team had more financial clarity regarding the racing series’ next media rights deal.

But as the 2023 season opener neared, Suarez talked to team management about getting the deal done.

“I’m the kind of person that, once I start racing, I like to focus on that,” Suarez said. “I feel like at times it can be a distraction. This time, when we started having all these conversations, I said, ‘Hey, let’s get it out of the way before the Daytona 500.’

“It’s a good day because we are announcing this and I am answering these questions, but I don’t want to have to think about it during the weekend, not really heading into next week.”

Trackhouse competed as a single-car team with Suarez in 2021. That summer, Trackhouse acquired Chip Ganassi Racing’s NASCAR assets and cleared a path for expansion.

Trackhouse moved into its race shop in Concord, North Carolina, in 2022 and fielded cars for Suarez and Ross Chastain. They combined for three wins, 21 top-5 finishes and 34 top-10s last year.

“The future of Trackhouse is very bright,” Suarez said. “Everybody at Trackhouse believes in me. I believe in Trackhouse, since Day 1. We’re building something great here. I think we have something special going on. It would be silly not to see that and to take advantage of that, to take it to the next level.”