Daniel Suarez agonizes over Daytona loss, promises a win “soon”

On the same day his replacement at Trackhouse for 2026 was confirmed to be Connor Zilisch, Daniel Suarez nearly pulled off a stunning upset in the regular season finale.

Suarez was running 19th with two laps to go, but he followed Ryan Blaney in a remarkable late charge through the field. As they approached the finish, Suarez was on the far outside of a four-wide photo finish, ultimately crossing the line in second place. NASCAR's results show the No. 99 of Suarez being just 0.031s behind Blaney at the checkered flag.

Watch: Four-wide finish! Ryan Blaney wins regular-season finale at Daytona

Both of Suarez's Trackhouse Racing teammates are locked into the playoffs via wins, and Suarez was attempting to snap a winless streak that goes back to Atlanta in February of 2024. In an ironic twist, it was Blaney who Suarez defeated in a photo finish to win that Atlanta race last year.

"I don't know about the last few laps, but maybe 40 laps before the end," said Suarez when asked if there was anything different he could have done. "I felt like we didn't set up ourselves as good as we wanted to be, but that's not an excuse. The 12 [Blaney] was back there with us and he was able to make it to the front. Definitely probably the fastest superspeedway car we have had in a few years."

And while disappointed, Suarez promised that this is not the end of his 2025 story. "Our playoff run ends here, but I'm very positive we're going to be in Victory Lane here very soon," concluded Suarez.

It's unclear where Suarez will end up next year after five years with the same team, but playing spoiler in the final ten races is a great way to get noticed. Daytona is the second time this year Suarez has been the runner-up, also finishing second at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to race winner Josh Berry.