Daniel Suarez’s upcoming exit from Trackhouse Racing isn’t shocking, but the timing of the announcement raised a few eyebrows. With a long stretch of road courses ahead, including Chicago next week and Sonoma the week after, where Suarez claimed a win three years ago, most expected Trackhouse to let the summer play out before making a decision. Instead, the team made their intentions clear early.
And while there’s no confirmed reason behind the timing, one insider believes the move might be linked to Jimmie Johnson’s push to extend Legacy Motor Club. As the speculations rise, this NASCAR analyst has a theory that has been making the rounds.
Did Trackhouse try to block Jimmie Johnson’s move?
Legacy Motor Club has been loudly quiet about its ambition: grow big, grow fast. After switching to Toyota and weathering a rough transitional year, the team owned by Jimmie Johnson is actively pursuing a third charter after an uptick in success in 2025. But the road hasn’t been smooth. Earlier this year, Legacy’s attempt to buy a charter from Rick Ware Racing fell through, resulting in a lawsuit that is still ongoing. According to multiple reports, the organization was set to add a third car for 2025, only for the deal to collapse at the 11th hour. The situation has left Legacy temporarily stuck at two cars, but their intention to expand hasn’t gone away. That lingering possibility has created a ripple effect across the NASCAR garage.
Meanwhile, Daniel Suarez’s early-season struggles with Trackhouse Racing had left his future uncertain. But most expected the team to give him until late summer to prove himself, especially with several road courses coming up where Suarez historically runs well. NASCAR insider Eric Estepp pointed this out in his recent YouTube video, saying, “The only surprising part of this announcement, frankly, is the timing. Like, this week, right before Chicago and Sonoma, a race Daniel won three years ago—it seems a little early. I was under the impression that Justin Marks [owner] and the folks at Trackhouse were going to wait through most of the summer to see how Suarez performed.”
The timing raised questions. Why now? Why not wait until after the Sonoma or Chicago stretch to see if Suarez could deliver under pressure? To be fair, Daniel Suarez hasn’t had the strongest 2025 so far. With an average finish of 21.4, the worst since joining the day, and only a single top 10 finish in the last two months, his No. 99 team has been trending in the wrong direction. Still, the expectation was that Trackhouse would give him more time. But they just had to roll out the announcement so soon. This, Estepp speculated, might not just be about Daniel’s performance.
Estepp added, “Frankly, that’s earlier than I would have expected, which does lead me to believe—or lead me to wonder—if there’s another driver out there they are considering besides Connor Zilisch. Or maybe Zilisch needed an answer. Jimmie Johnson name-dropped Zilisch as a young guy he’s got an eye on, that he thinks he’s really good.”
During the Never Settle podcast, Jimmie Johnson explicitly said he was targeting a third Legacy Motor Club car for 2026, and he’s definitely looking for a quality driver. He said on the podcast, “When you look through the Xfinity Series, Connor Zilisch, Jesse Love. I think you also look through the garage area in the cup series, and there’s some young talent that took early steps to get into vehicles.” That decision leads to an interesting theory. Was Trackhouse Racing trying to get ahead of a potential poaching situation?
March 8, 2025, Avondale, Az, USA: NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Xfinity Series driver, CONNOR ZILISCH 88, prepares to qualify for the GOVX 200 at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, AZ. Avondale USA – ZUMAa161 20250308_aaa_a161_059 Copyright: xWalterxG.xArcexSr.x
That’s quite an ambitious target to have, considering Connor Zilisch‘s loyalty to Trackhouse Racing. Estepp continues, saying, “I feel like the odds were slim Zilisch would ever leave Trackhouse for Legacy of all teams, but maybe Trackhouse saw those comments as well and said, ‘We got to get ahead of this. We’ve got to make a decision now to make sure we don’t lose Zilisch to a rival.’”
This speculation adds a new layer of intrigue to the story. Zilisch is currently embedded in Trackhouse’s development program, and while he’s young, his road course skills have improved. If Johnson’s remarks were interpreted as more than just casual praise, it could’ve triggered Trackhouse to speed up its internal timeline to show Connor a clear path forward in the Cup Series before Legacy made a serious play.
There’s no confirmation of talks, no hard evidence of a tug of war for Connor, but in NASCAR, perception often drives action. Daniel’s departure was inevitable. But its timing? That’s what raised flags. And Johnson’s quiet but growing influence could have played a part. But as of now, we are still in the gray.
Legacy’s long game and the opening it creates
Legacy Motor Club’s switch to Toyota in 2024 came with high expectations, but the results didn’t match. Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemechek ended the season outside the top 25, and the team struggled to find footing and make big changes. The road to becoming competitive has been slower than expected, but 2025 has shown promise.
LMC already has more top-5 finishes in 2025 than their last two years combined, with Nemechek and Jones both competing to make the playoffs on points, with Jones at 18th, -49 on the cut line, and Nemechek on 24th, -82 points away. So, their decision not to use Joe Gibbs Racing data and work solo may be paying dividends at the moment.
Former Jimmie Johnson crew chief Todd Gordon explained that while Legacy got Toyota packing, it didn’t inherit Joe Gibbs Racing’s internal tools or personnel. “Everybody had the perception that Legacy Motor Club was getting everything that JGR got. And that’s not how that whole piece works,” Gordon said on SiriusXM.
Still, Johnson’s vision hasn’t changed. Gordon said it’s a much longer process than most want to admit, but the team is building deliberately. Now, with the potential third charter in 2026 in the works, Legacy could be close to a breakthrough. In that context, Daniel’s sudden free agency becomes interesting. If legacy is looking to add a veteran presence while grooming a young talent like Zilisch, the timing might just align. The team may not be ready today, but they are laying the foundation for something bigger slowly but surely.
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