“The goal is to win”: Daniel Suarez details his 2026 expectations following the move to Spire Motorsports 

Daniel Suarez, who has a new ride in Spire Motorsports' No. 7 Chevrolet for the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season, has detailed his plans to achieve his goal of winning next season. He said that he wanted the team to develop strong systems and work habits that push the car to the front.

Suarez parted ways with Trackhouse Racing after the 2025 season. He spent five years with the team and helped build it from a new entry in 2021 to a Cup Series winner. On October 22, Spire announced that they had signed the 33-year-old for multiple years, with primary sponsor Freeway Insurance, to replace Justin Haley, who left the team for Kaulig Racing after the 2025 campaign.

During a recent rapid-fire question-and-answer segment on Instagram, Suarez laid out his expectations for the next Cup season with Spire Motorsports.

"The goal is to win, but how to build a plan to be able to get there? Well, what is going to be required from people, from individuals, teamwork, to be able to get there? And that's my goal, how to build all these different processes and systems and work ethic to be able to get into the main goal, that is winning races," Daniel Suarez said.

The 2025 season was tough for Suarez. He finished the year 29th in the Cup standings, with two top-5 finishes and five top-10s. That was his weakest season since arriving at Trackhouse. But he did celebrate in his home country earlier this year.

Daniel Suarez talks about 'extremely special' Mexico City win

Daniel Suarez won his first NASCAR Xfinity race with a home crowd at Mexico City's Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. He started from the back in a backup No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet after a crash in qualifying but took the lead on lap 47 and held off Taylor Gray over the final circuits to claim the checkered flag.

In the aforementioned Q&A video, the Mexico native talked about the most meaningful memory of his career.

"This 2025 season definitely going to race in Mexico City in front of all the people that I love and all the people that have seen me since I was a kid and be able to win a race there. I think it was extremely special. Every win is different. Every win has a different meaning, but a different win in Mexico is up there," Daniel Suarez said.

Suarez lost the NASCAR Cup Series race at the same Mexico City track to Trackhouse Racing teammate and road course specialist Shane van Gisbergen, who dominated the inaugural Cup points race and won by a large margin.

Daniel Suarez scored his two Cup wins with Trackhouse, including the 2022 Sonoma race and the 2024 Atlanta race. His exit was announced before the team brought Connor Zilisch into the No. 99 car in 2026.

Get the latest NASCAR All-Star race news, Xfinity Series updates, breaking news, rumors, and today’s top stories with the latest news on NASCAR.

Edited by Hitesh Nigam