“Unfortunately, I have felt a few things are missing for the last several months.” Daniel Suárez’s emotional words a few days ago spoke volumes about his misery in NASCAR. While his No. 99 Chevrolet failed to fetch consistent speeds on racetracks, Suarez’s Trackhouse Racing teammates were soaring ahead in 2025. That includes Shane van Gisbergen, who further sealed Suárez’s exit deal last weekend in Chicago.

The Kiwi speedster was also not in an excellent position initially. Like Daniel Suárez, Shane van Gisbergen sputtered and faltered to fetch several finishes outside the top 30 along with 3 DNFs. But once SVG came back to life on road courses, it spelled disaster for his teammate. So now, SVG bids a calculated farewell to Suarez.

Shane van Gisbergen tries to sugarcoat his words

Well, if anybody’s seat was in jeopardy at Trackhouse Racing after the first few races, it was Daniel Suárez and Shane van Gisbergen. Starting the 2025 season, only Ross Chastain seemed a well-performing driver for Trackhouse, picking up top ten finishes and top five finishes frequently, even winning the Coca-Cola 600. Then, NASCAR headed to Mexico City, and both of Chastain’s teammates came to life.

Daniel Suárez, however, could showcase his prowess only at the Chilango 150 – the NASCAR Xfinity Series race. Meanwhile, Shane Van Gisbergen roared to victory in the Viva Mexico 250 at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, his first Cup Series win of the season and the only win that mattered to save his seat. Meanwhile, Suárez faded to a 19th-place finish. Soon enough, on July 1st, he left Trackhouse on ‘mutual’ terms.

So now, Shane van Gisbergen has lined up his note of farewell for his teammate. Yet it might have been SVG himself who sealed Daniel Suárez’s departure with a second victory at the Chicago Street Race last week. With two wins this season, SVG gave Trackhouse another reason to push off Suarez. SVG bid adieu in a recent episode of Rubbin’ is Racing: “Yeah, I have loved being a teammate of Daniel, whenever he asked me on road courses or I asked him on ovals, it’s awesome. Communication’s open, he’s a great teammate. It’s good to race with him on track. So yeah, hopefully finishing out the year end with him, keep learning off him, ’cause he’s a great driver.”

Daniel Suarez‘s pedigree as a driver cannot be questioned, and SVG knows that. The Mexican speedster is an Xfinity Series champion (2016) and was the driver who took Trackhouse Racing to the heights they are at today, teaming up with Ross Chastain in 2022 to deliver stellar performances. However, wins have dried up, and so have his performances, and this is something SVG can relate to from his Supercar days back in Australia.

When SVG was in Supercars, he almost quit racing in 2012 because of a legal dilemma in his team, Stone Brothers Racing. After they shifted from Ford to Mercedes as their OEM, the Kiwi was not too fond of it, but ended up facing backlash for his decision to leave the team under contract. While Suarez’s situation is different, SVG understands the feeling of not being the #1 option on a team anymore.

Hence, SVG empathized with Suarez: “He’s going through what I’ve gone through, you know.” SVG also tipped his hat in respect to the roaring cheers and tremendous crowd response which Suarez commanded in Mexico City. He said, “That Saturday at Mexico was one of the coolest racing experiences I’ve had that doesn’t involve me, it was epic to watch. Seeing how the crowd reacted when he took the lead was awesome.”  

Presently, Daniel Suarez is receiving his fair share of farewells from the NASCAR Cup Series. Meanwhile, SVG grows into a stronger threat to his rivals.

Dominating a major part of the show

In 2025, NASCAR is hosting six road courses as part of its Cup Series schedule after nearly 30 years with just 2 road courses, Watkins Glen and Sonoma. The addition of Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City marked the sport’s first international venture in decades. Now, talks are going on about adding one more, with a street race in San Diego rumored to join the schedule in 2026. However, veteran Brad Keselowski voiced his displeasure, claiming that 7 would be too many for NASCAR.

If NASCAR decides to go ahead with proliferating its road course schedule, it would be Christmas for Shane van Gisbergen and a nightmare for his rivals. The former Supercars champion kicked off his NASCAR career with a debut victory in Chicago. He has now won seven of his 16 career starts on those tracks between the Cup and Xfinity Series. There is a high chance that Shane Van Gisbergen will be the final boss on the 6 or 7 road courses in 2026, being a formidable playoff contender. And SVG’s words may be terrifying for his rivals to hear: “These (road) races are like a holiday to me; it’s the ovals where I’m really focused on getting better and better. I come here and there’s no stress.” 

Meanwhile, the ovals are a steady grind, but SVG is not shying away from them. He further said, “I’m slowly starting to understand it, but there’s still some things we can be a lot better at… We’re near in position now where you have that playoff spot, you can take more risk. It’s been enjoyable figuring this car out and getting outside the box a little bit.”

Clearly, Shane van Gisbergen is gearing up for domination. Meanwhile, Daniel Suarez is browsing his options after his exit from a five-year tenure in the Cup Series.