The second race in the first round of the 2024 NASCAR Playoffs is Sunday on the Road Course at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International and it couldn’t come at a better time for Trackhouse Chevrolet drivers Daniel Suárez and Ross Chastain.
Suárez arrives in Upstate New York ninth of the 16 playoff drivers and 22 points ahead of the 12th and final transfer position. Only Watkins Glen and Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway races remain in the first round when four of the 16 drivers will be eliminated from playoff contention.
Suárez and Chastain arrive at the 2.454-mile road course after both battled for the victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway last weekend. Suárez finished second and Chastain 13th, after a final lap incident took him out of contention. The Trackhouse Chevrolets led four times for 22 laps.
Sunday marks the 41st NASCAR Cup Series race on the Upstate New York road course that has hosted races in all forms of motorsports including the United States Grand Prix 1961-1980.
- Busch Light ‘Iconic’ at The Glen: The beloved beer of the Midwest is heading to New York with Ross Chastain bringing Busch Light’s ‘Iconic’ paint scheme back to the track. Chastain will be racing for the upstate mountains in the No. 1 car with Busch Light’s recognizable blue and white design.
- Busch Light Sweeps: Busch Light will be giving fans another chance to win this week with their #BreakForBusch#Sweepstakes. Follow @BuschBeer on X to learn more.
- Season Stats: Chastain currently has the fifth best average finish of 14.4 among fulltime Cup Series competitors, and is 14th in most laps led this season with 191. Chastain has earned nine top-10s in 27 races so far this season.
- Meet Chastain: Chastain will join the New York Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee (GTSC) on Thursday, September 12th to promote the importance of seat belt use through the “Protect Your Melon” campaign. Chastain will meet with fans on the lawn of the Schuyler County Courthouse, 105 9th St., Watkins Glen, N.Y., from 9 a.m.- Noon and again from 1-3 p.m. On Friday at 5 p.m. ET, Chastain will sign autographs at Walmart, 515 E. 4th St., Watkins Glen, N.Y. – wristband required and distribution begins in-store on Friday at 9 a.m. ET. Sunday at 11 a.m. ET, Chastain will sign autographs at the New York GTSC booth located in the Watkins Glen fan midway. Wristband required – distribution begins on Saturday at the booth.
- Double Duty at The Glen: In addition to piloting the No. 1 Chevrolet for Trackhouse, Chastain will drive the No. 92 Protect Your Melon Chevrolet for DGM Racing in the Xfinity Series race on Saturday afternoon. Chastain’s best Xfinity Series finish this season was ninth at Iowa Speedway in June.
- Watkins Glen Stats: This weekend marks Chastain’s sixth Cup Series start at the 2.454-mile road course. The Chevrolet driver has a best finish of 12th in August 2021.
- NASCAR: Full Speed: Catch Chastain in the five-episode docuseries NASCAR: Full Speed on Netflix. The series documented portions of Chastain’s 2023 season on and off the track. All five episodes are currently available on Netflix.
- Last Weekend at Atlanta: Chastain started 18th at for the season’s second race at the 1.5-mile track. He finished sixth in Stage 1 to earn five bonus points and seventh in Stage 2 to earn four bonus points. In overtime, Chastain restarted in the second row behind teammate Daniel Suarez to work together as drafting partners in the closing laps. Entering Turn 3 on the final lap, an errant shove from Chase Elliott put Chastain into the wall and he ultimately finished 11th.
- 2023 Season Recap: Chastain won at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway in June and at the Phoenix Raceway season finale in November. He posted 10 top-five and 14 top-10 finishes in his third full time Cup season. The Alva, Florida native finished ninth in points.
Chastain Quotes:
Do you enjoy going to upstate New York?
“I love getting back up to New York. I spend a lot of time in the state for various things with different partners. I’ll fly up a few days before the race weekend for appearances and enjoy doing it every year. I probably spend more time in New York than I do most other states.”
What is your outlook on Watkins Glen?
“I’m looking forward to this weekend’s race at Watkins Glen. I’m going to get a little warm up in with the Xfinity Series car, so that will be fun. It’ll be another fun weekend with SVG (Shane van Gisbergen) behind the wheel in a Cup car on a road course. I’ve been working really hard on my road course racing and feel like I’m improving each year which is good. Our cars are faster and I’m ready to climb back in the Busch Light Chevy.”
Suárez Notes
- Playoffs: Daniel Suárez arrives in Upstate New York ninth of the 16 playoff drivers and 22 points ahead of the 12th and final transfer position with just Watkins Glen and next Saturday’s Bristol races remaining in the first round when four of the 16 drivers will be eliminated from playoff contention.
- Watkins Glen Success: Daniel Suárez owns three top-five finishes in his six career races at Watkins Glen.
- Back in 2025: Trackhouse Racing announced in August that Suárez and Freeway Insurance will return to the No. 99 Chevrolet racing team for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, marking their fifth season together. Freeway will be the primary sponsor for one-third of the 2025 season, including the Daytona 500 and the NASCAR All-Star race.
- Married Man/Racer: Suárez married his fiancé Julia Piquet at a ceremony on July 30 in Brazil. Four days later he raced in the NASCAR Brazil race at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, better known as Interlagos. He won one of the three races and battled for victory in the other two races.
- Making History: Suárez now has the unique accomplishment of winning in NASCAR Mexico and Brazil in addition to all three American series.
Suárez is Now a Dual Citizen of Mexico and the United States:Suárez took the Oath of Allegiance at a naturalization ceremony on June 18 in front of media, friends, the NASCAR industry and NASCAR President Steve Phelps who gave the keynote address to the 48 new citizens from 28 countries who joined Suárez at the ceremony. The 32-year-old, Monterrey, Mexico native came to America about 13 years ago without speaking English. He passed the United States Citizenship test on April 29 in Charlotte before taking the final step on June 18. He is now a dual citizen of Mexico and the United States.
- Atlanta Victory: At Atlanta, he and runner-up Ryan Blaney were separated by 0.003 seconds at the finish line. It was the fourth-closest finish in series history, and with third-place Kyle Busch just 0.007 seconds behind the winner, it also stands as the closest finish among three cars in the history of auto racing.
- Trackhouse Victories: Atlanta marked Trackhouse Racing’s seventh win in the NASCAR Cup Series, and first at Atlanta. Chastain owns four victories, Suárez two and one for Shane van Gisbergen.
- Mexico Series Victory: Suárez won the 150-lap Mexico Series race at the Los Angeles Coliseum on Feb. 3. It was his 11th victory.
- First Mexican to Win in Cup: Suárez became the first driver from Mexico (Monterrey) to win in the NASCAR Cup Series on June 12, 2022, at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway.
- International Driver: He is one of six drivers not from the United States to win a NASCAR Cup Series race: Shane van Gisbergen (New Zealand), Marcos Ambrose (Australia), Juan Pablo Montoya (Colombia), Earl Ross (Canada) and Mario Andretti (Italy). Ambrose, Montoya, and Suárez own two victories each.
- Cup Career Highlights: Suárez owns two victories (Sonoma 2022 and Atlanta 2024) and three Busch Light Pole Awards – Pocono (Pa.) Raceway July 2018, Kentucky Speedway July 2019, and on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway August 2023.
Suárez Quotes:
What are your thoughts on last Sunday’s second-place finish in Atlanta?
“Whenever you finish second you are disappointed. It was a great race and weekend with the team, Quaker State, going to the Braves game, everything. But I so wish we could have finished one spot better. We are in a good position right now in the playoffs, but we must keep pushing. You can’t relax or take anything for granted.”
Is the No. 99 team an underdog in the playoffs?
“If you compare Trackhouse this year against the Gibbs teams, the Hendrick teams and things like that, yes. 2022, Trackhouse was actually one of the best teams. This year hasn’t been the same. This year we’ve been working extremely hard, but the results have been slower than what we thought they were going to be. I wouldn’t consider myself one of the favorites for the championship right now, but is that going to change my mentality of who am I as a racecar driver and the potential of the 99 and Trackhouse in the playoffs? Of course not. I know how good we are on road courses and how good we can be at some of these racetracks and the first two rounds are very critical. If we have good execution days in the first couple of rounds we can get to the Round of 8. And once you are there you have to be perfect. Anything can happen. We’ve seen it time and time again. We just have to continue to push hard, give it everything we got and see where we stand.”
Have you found some performance gains that can help you over these last 10 races?
“We found some stuff in the last couple months. We definitely got in the right direction. With that being said, we are not winning races yet. We still have work to do. Right now, we can compete consistently in the top 10. But we know that to make it to a championship that’s not going to be enough. We have to continue to push and continue to learn.”
Trackhouse Racing PR
