“Once we get into the race, we don’t want to deal with any of this stuff, and I just want to focus and have fun driving race cars.” Daniel Suarez said these words ahead of NASCAR’s Mexico City Cup race. However, the Monterrey, Nuevo León native, got a rude reality check as his teammate soared to glory on his home ground and Suarez faded to 19th. This story seems to be up for repetition with Dale Jr.’s younger prodigy making strides.

Connor Zilisch is presently the next big thing in NASCAR. The 19-year-old’s foray into the Xfinity Series has already yielded 5 top-fives that include two wins. One of which came last weekend, and that led to fans making sinister comparisons with Zilisch’s teammate, Daniel Suarez.

Is Daniel Suarez in hot water?

Well, the hints are in place for the sole Mexican driver in NASCAR. Daniel Suarez has been riding a winless streak for over a year, as his last Victory Lane visit happened in February 2024 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. As glamorous as that three-car photo finish was, it could not veil Suarez’s upcoming dire fortune. The 33-year-old was the poster boy of NASCAR’s Mexico campaign, yet he lost the Cup Series trophy to Shane Van Gisbergen. Suarez did win in the Xfinity Series at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. However, NASCAR’s second tier is currently housing the No. 99 driver’s possible replacement, so Suarez’s Xfinity celebration may not last long.

Daniel Suarez recently appeared on an episode of The Dale Jr. Download. The Trackhouse Racing driver won the Chilango 150 race driving a JR Motorsports backup car two weeks ago. Hence, his gratitude was overflowing for both Dale Jr. and Kelley Earnhardt Miller. At the same time, however, he spilled out his tensions indirectly related to one of Dale Jr.’s mentees – Connor Zilisch.

A fan on Reddit caught those jittery comments: “Did anyone else catch Daniel’s comments on DJD podcast? Some unsure comments he kept repeating.. “a lot of things in the air” “some things I’m uncomfortable with” “we’ll see what happens” Curious how that all turns out.” Things do not look good with Suarez’s Trackhouse contract running through 2025 and Zilisch giving all the signs for an upgrade to the Cup Series in 2026.

Connor Zilisch recently won the Xfinity Series race at Pocono Raceway, with none other than Dale Jr. acting as his crew chief. He pulled the No. 88 JRM Chevy across the finish line after prevailing in a late-race sprint with rival Jesse Love. His greatest challenge came from Chase Elliott, who led for 38 laps. Yet Zilisch powered through and beat the Cup Series driver. The same fate seems in place for Daniel Suarez in terms of seat retention. The Mexican driver slipped his worry recently: “I’m going to be quite honest with you: I wish I didn’t have to have these conversations, and I didn’t have these distractions, but it’s part of life, right?”

Whether the distraction actually becomes part of his life or not, fans are focused on reminding him.

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The NASCAR community drops grim signs

After all, Connor Zilisch is a prodigy. The Dale Jr.-trained driver has been on loan to several teams from Trackhouse to drive in NASCAR’s lower tiers. Wherever he went, he oozed gold – Zilisch won his debut Xfinity race at Watkins Glen last year. With two victories in his pocket for 2025, both Shane Van Gisbergen and Daniel Suarez were worried until SVG won the Mexico race. Now, the spotlight is just on Suarez, with fans not helping.

Somebody wrote with certainty on Reddit, “He’s getting replaced by Zilisch.” Over 17 races in the 2025 season, Suarez has picked up only 3 top tens and 1 top five. Hence, somebody wrote that his fate now lies in the Xfinity Series: “He isn’t performing, won’t be long until we hear Connor to the 99 and Daniel either gone or back to Xfinity.”

Well, Daniel Suarez is not a bad Cup Series driver. He owns two victories, one in Atlanta and another in Sonoma. But 2025 is turning out to be bad for him. What is even worse, his teammate Ross Chastain is outpacing him in the same equipment, having fetched 8 top tens already. So one fan wrote, “He seems like a good guy but he’s mediocre at best. Ross outperforms him with the same equipment on a weekly basis.” This dire reality of the stats further stresses Suarez’s grim future. Somebody else wrote, “He gone my guy.” What is more, another fan began dissecting the consequences of Suarez and Zilisch’s replacement. They wrote, “So now does the 99 get rebranded to the 87? Personally, I think they should go with 87 because 1+87=88.”

Clearly, Daniel Suarez is not attracting the best encouragement from the NASCAR community. With a few races left in the regular season, Suarez also has a few chances to get back on track.