Daniel Suárez to Join Spire Motorsports as Driver of the No. 7 Entry in 2026

In a formal announcement made early Wednesday at the NASCAR Productions Facility in Concord, North Carolina,  Spire Motorsports revealed that Trackhouse Racing Star Daniel Suárez will move to their team in 2026 and pilot the No. 7 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Cup Series. To some, it may seem like a driver swap, and let’s face it, that’s something we’ve seen plenty of in this sport lately.

However, this feels different as Suárez brings experience, hunger, and something else that’s hard to quantify: the belief that he’s not done making his mark and has more left to prove. So, why did Spire tap the No. 99 Trackhouse star, and what does his future in the Cup Series look like?

What Daniel Suarez Brings to Spire

Let’s be honest about where things stand. Suárez is coming off a tough year with Trackhouse Racing. After five seasons in the No. 99 Chevrolet, where he scored both of his Cup Series wins and made the playoffs twice, this year didn’t go according to plan. He’s currently sitting 28th in points with two races left, his lowest finish since 2021.

But here’s the thing about racing: sometimes, a fresh start is exactly what a driver needs. And Suarez knows it. “To me, to be quite honest with you, it was a no-brainer,” Suarez said during the announcement. He pointed out something that caught his attention: Spire Motorsports has been growing fast. Really fast. Three years ago, he admitted he probably wouldn’t have looked at Spire as an option.

Now? He sees them as the fastest-growing team in NASCAR. That kind of growth doesn’t happen by accident. Team owners Jeff Dickerson and Dan Towriss have been building something special, expanding to three cars in 2024 and showing they’re serious about competing at the highest level.

The Story Behind the Move

Trackhouse announced back in July that Suárez wouldn’t return after what both sides called a mutual parting of ways. That opened the door for Connor Zilisch to move up to the Cup Series and compete for Rookie of the Year honors in 2026. Meanwhile, Spire needed to fill the No. 7 seat after announcing Justin Haley’s departure on October 14. Haley had two stints with the team, but this year didn’t produce the results anyone hoped for, just one top five and two top-10 finishes.

Dickerson was straightforward about it during Wednesday’s press conference. Neither Suárez nor the No. 7 team had the year they wanted in 2025. But sometimes two parties that need each other find each other at exactly the right time.”It’s just the thing where I think we need each other,” Dickerson explained. “I think all of us love a good story of redemption and giving people a platform to prove doubters wrong.”

There’s something compelling about that narrative. Suárez wants to show that 2025 was an outlier. Spire aims to demonstrate that the No. 7’s performance this year does not accurately reflect the team’s capabilities. Put them together, and you’ve got two groups with something to prove.

Understanding What’s at Stake

Suárez didn’t sugarcoat his feelings about this season. Things didn’t go the way he wanted with his team, and the same could be said for the No. 7. Both have unfinished business. Both are hungry.”So I believe that we both have some things that we want to get back in place, and we’re hungry to do that,” Suárez said.

That hunger matters in this sport. Dickerson even used the word “desperate” to describe what he sees in Suarez’s approach for 2026—and he meant it as a compliment. When you’re desperate to succeed, when you don’t want to find yourself in the same situation again, that’s when you dig deeper than you thought possible.

The Partnership That Makes It Work

Freeway Insurance will serve as what the team called an “anchor partner” for the No. 7, with primary sponsorship starting at the Daytona 500 on February 15, 2026. That kind of backing gives the team stability and resources to compete. Suárez will be teammates with veteran Michael McDowell and 2024’s top rookie, Carson Hocevar. All three of Spire’s drivers missed the playoffs this season, which was a tough loss. But it also created a collective motivation to do better, to show what they’re capable of when everything clicks.

A Career Built on Breaking Barriers

Daniel Suárez’s path to this moment has been remarkable. He rose through the NASCAR México Series and what’s now called the ARCA Menards Series East. After winning the Xfinity Series championship in 2016, he got promoted to the Cup Series the following year after Carl Edwards’ retirement from Joe Gibbs Racing. He’s driven for Stewart-Haas Racing and Gaunt Brothers Racing before Justin Marks called him for Trackhouse’s inaugural Cup Series season in 2021.

And in 2022 at Sonoma Raceway, he made history as the first Mexican-born driver to win in NASCAR’s top division. That breadth of experience, the highs, the lows, the lessons learned at every stop, is precisely what Dickerson values in his new driver.”He’s going to fit in perfect,” Dickerson said. “Daniel knows how to do this. Daniel’s won races at every level, right? Won a championship. So we don’t need him to be anybody that he’s not.”

Looking Toward 2026 and Beyond

Suárez made an interesting admission during the announcement. He said about 98% of his team will be new in 2026. With all that change, with all that possibility ahead, he feels like he’s starting fresh.”Honestly, right now, I feel like it’s kind of like my first year in the Cup Series,” Suárez said. “Like I just feel like everything is new, a lot of butterflies in my stomach, and super excited to get going.”

Those butterflies are real. He even confessed to feeling a little jealous watching the Spire cars outrun him this season. Now he gets to be part of what they’re building. While the announcement focused on the 2026 season, Dickerson clarified that they have “a path forward for multiple years, for sure.”

This isn’t meant to be a one-year arrangement.”My goal, and I’m sure that it’s Spire Motorsports’ goal and Jeff’s goal, is to make this a long-term relationship,” Suárez added. “And hopefully we can write a great chapter together, winning races, fighting for championships and started to hang banners in the race shop,” he concluded.

The Bottom Line

Sometimes in racing, timing is everything. Daniel Suárez needed a team that believes in him and provides the platform to showcase his capabilities. Spire Motorsports needed a proven winner with championship experience who’s hungry to get back to victory lane. What we have here are two parties that found each other at the right moment, both ready to prove something. Suarez knows he’s capable of more than what 2025 showed.

Spire knows their No. 7 team can perform better than it did this year. Come February 15, 2026, when that green flag drops at Daytona, we’ll start to see what this partnership can become. And if Dickerson and Suarez are right about what they can accomplish together, we might be watching the beginning of something special.