TC Daily Pit Stop: Daniel Suarez's 2026 Contract Talks; Steve Phelps 'Not Sure' Why Teams Chose to Sue; TJ Puchyr Buying Rick Ware Racing
TC Daily Pit Stop: Friday, June 27th, 2025
Daniel Suarez on 2026 Contract Talks: “There Are Lots of Things in The Air”
Since last August, when Daniel Suarez inked a one-year contract extension to continue as the driver of the No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet in the NASCAR Cup Series, the talk about the Justin Marks-owned team has been surrounding 2026.
The three-car operation, which debuted in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2021, has a common problem: the team can only field three full-time entries, but has four drivers to choose from – Ross Chastain, Shane Van Gisbergen, Suarez, and 18-year-old development driver Connor Zilisch.
Zilisch is still just a rookie in the second-tier Xfinity Series, driving for JR Motorsports, but has already shown some impressive results, earning three wins between the 2024 and 2025 seasons. Plus, Trackhouse is set to give him a total of four opportunities in the NASCAR Cup Series this season.
“It’s going to be a few months,” Suarez told the Dale Jr. Download. “We’ll see what happens. There are still a lot of things [up] in the air, right now. There are just some things that I’m just uncomfortable in a few areas, and a few things, but I love Trackhouse [Racing] and I love this team.”
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NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps 'Not Sure' Why 23XI, FRM Chose to Sue
It’s one of the biggest off-track topics in NASCAR, right now: the antitrust lawsuit that is currently ongoing between the sanctioning body and a pair of NASCAR Cup Series teams, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports.
The two organizations chose to withhold their signature from NASCAR’s ‘final offer’ in Charter Agreement negotiations last September, and instead, chose to bring the sport (and NASCAR’s CEO, Jim France) to court over the last nine months.
For one of the first time since the lawsuit was brought against NASCAR last September, a representative from the sanctioning body, Steve Phelps, who is also the newly appointed Commissioner for NASCAR, talked to CNBC Sport’s Brian Sullivan about the suit.
“Listen, I’m not sure why [23XI Racing] decided to bring a suit, and there’s another team called [Front Row Motorsports] that also partnered with them on this suit,” Phelps said. “It’s an antitrust case. We don’t believe it’s an antitrust case, we believe it’s a contractual issue.”
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Report: T.J. Puchyr Agrees to Purchase Rick Ware Racing
T.J. Puchyr, one of the founding members of Spire Motorsports, has entered an agreement to purchase the NASCAR Cup Series operation owned by Rick Ware Racing, according to a report from Jenna Fryer of The Associated Press.
Puchyr and Jeff Dickerson (current co-owner of Spire Motorsports) agreed to purchase a Charter from Furniture Row Racing in 2018. Together, the pair had built the once single-car backmarker organization into a three-car mid-field contender.
Last year, Puchyr sold his shares in the Spire Motorsports operation to Dan Towriss, who is the CEO of TWG Motorsports and the leader of the brand-new Cadillac F1 team.
According to The Associated Press (AP), Puchyr will keep Rick Ware on board as a partner of the newly-founded organization, and thus, will be keeping Cody Ware as the driver of the No. 51 Ford Mustang Dark Horse.
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Other NASCAR Headlines:
Thomas Annunziata To Pilot No. 70 Nitro Motorsports Toyota in Lime Rock ARCA Race
Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Team Surging Heading into Home Track
Colby Evans Set For ARCA Debut with Clubb Racing Inc. at Iowa Speedway
Wesley Slimp to Make NASCAR Truck Debut for Halmar Friesen at Lime Rock
Lime Rock Park / EcoPark Speedway - Weekend Schedule
Friday, June 27th, 2025:
1:05pm ET - NASCAR Truck Series Practice at Lime Rock (FS2)
2:30pm ET - ARCA Menards Series Practice at Lime Rock (No TV)
3:00pm ET - NASCAR Xfinity Series Qualifying at EchoPark (CW App)
3:45pm ET - ARCA Menards Series Qualifying at Lime Rock (No TV)
5:05pm ET - NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying at EchoPark (TruTV)
7:30pm ET - NASCAR Xfinity Series Race at EchoPark (CW)
Saturday, June 28th, 2025:
9:30am ET - NASCAR Truck Series Qualifying at Lime Rock (FS1)
1:00pm ET - NASCAR Truck Series Race at Lime Rock (FOX)
4:00pm ET - ARCA Menards Series Race at Lime Rock (FS2)
7:00pm ET - NASCAR Cup Series Race at EchoPark (TNT/HBO Max)
Atlanta & Lime Rock - Weekend Resources:
NASCAR Cup Series (EchoPark): QUALIFYING | RACE
NASCAR Xfinity Series (EchoPark): QUALIFYING | RACE
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (Lime Rock): PRACTICE | QUALIFYING | RACE
2025 NASCAR Season Resources:
Schedules: NASCAR Cup | NASCAR Xfinity | NASCAR Trucks
Driver Points: NASCAR Cup | NASCAR Xfinity | NASCAR Trucks
Owner Points: NASCAR Cup | NASCAR Xfinity | NASCAR Trucks
Rookie Standings: NASCAR Cup | NASCAR Xfinity | NASCAR Trucks
Manufacturer Standings: NASCAR Cup | NASCAR Xfinity | NASCAR Trucks
2025 Driver/Team Charts: NASCAR Cup | NASCAR Xfinity | NASCAR Trucks