Built by former Cup driver Justin Marks after Leavine Family Racing's assets were sold, Trackhouse won races in the Cup Series within two seasons and entered MotoGP in 2024.
Founded in 2020 by former Cup driver Justin Marks, Trackhouse won its first Cup race at COTA in 2022. It runs Cup cars, a MotoGP team as an Aprilia satellite and an IMSA entry.
Trackhouse Racing is an American motorsports organisation that competes full time in the NASCAR Cup Series and in MotoGP. It was created in 2020 by the former Cup driver Justin Marks, and within a few seasons it had won Cup races and built a road-course reputation.
How did Justin Marks start Trackhouse?
In summer 2020 Leavine Family Racing announced the sale of its assets. Marks, a former NASCAR Cup Series driver who had also owned a World of Outlaws team and a K&N Pro Series East team, placed a bid on the sale. The assets eventually went to Spire Motorsports, but Marks had already decided to build his own team.
On 14 August 2020 Marks confirmed the creation of Trackhouse and revealed that Ty Norris, a former Dale Earnhardt Incorporated executive, had been brought in to help run it. At that stage Marks had no formal alliance with a manufacturer or another team, though he already had one potential sponsor lined up.
Marks had the means to buy a team without other backing, thanks to his ownership of a go-kart track and other family business ventures. He wanted to be an unconventional owner, and planned to use the platform as an advocate for STEM education.
A team founded in 2020 on the back of a sold-off rival that won Cup races, built road-course stars and entered MotoGP.
How did the ownership and structure take shape?
Ownership sits with Trackhouse Entertainment Group, which Marks runs with the Avenue Sports Fund. It was also once partly owned by the Grammy-winning rapper Armando Christian Perez, known as Pitbull, but on 14 February 2025 Pitbull announced that his partnership had been terminated.
In January 2023 a consortium of Trackhouse, DEJ Management, Jeff Burton Autosports and Kevin Harvick Incorporated bought the CARS Tour. Ty Norris later left the team in September 2024 to join Kaulig Racing.
How did Trackhouse reach the Cup Series?
On 30 June 2021 Trackhouse bought the NASCAR operation of Chip Ganassi Racing, along with its two charters for the No. 1 and No. 42 teams, which meant a two-car operation for 2022. The team also aligned with Richard Childress Racing as its engine provider for 2021 and used RCR's campus in Welcome, North Carolina.
Trackhouse signed the 2022 Truck Series champion Zane Smith on a multi-year deal in September 2021, and later hired Connor Zilisch to a multi-year contract on 11 January 2024. The contracts shaped a pipeline of drivers that ran through several series.
Who drove the No. 99 car?
The No. 99 car was run from 2021 by Daniel Suarez, who was announced as a full-time driver on 7 October 2020. Marks chose the number as a tribute to Carl Edwards, who had used it for most of his Cup career at Roush Fenway Racing. Travis Mack, a former JR Motorsports crew chief, was named the car's crew chief in November 2020.
The team's first top five came from Suarez, who finished fourth at the Bristol dirt race in 2021 and ended that year 25th in points. That season he took the NASCAR Open for a second time, which put him in the All-Star Race, where he crossed fifth. His Sonoma win made him the first Mexican-born Cup winner, and he finished a career-best tenth in points.
In 2023 Suarez finished nineteenth in points, after he was fined US$50,000 for intentionally bumping Alex Bowman on pit road. He won at Atlanta in 2024 in a three-wide photo finish against Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch. On 1 July 2025 it was announced that Suarez and Trackhouse had agreed to part ways after the 2025 season.
How did Ross Chastain build the No. 1 programme?
On 3 August 2021 the team announced that Ross Chastain would drive the No. 1 in 2022. He began that season with a 40th-place finish at the Daytona 500, but he then ran a third at Las Vegas, with runner-up finishes at Phoenix and Atlanta.
In 2022 Chastain also took his first career Cup win, which was Trackhouse's first at COTA, and a month later he took a second victory at Talladega. He became a Championship 4 driver after the Hail Melon move at Martinsville, in which he drove along the outside wall at full throttle to pass Denny Hamlin. He ended the year with a career-best second in points.
In 2023 Chastain won at Nashville, and Anheuser-Busch announced a multi-year sponsorship for the No. 1 from 2024. That deal ended a ten-year partnership with the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4. Chastain finished ninth in points that year after winning the season finale at Phoenix.
The 2024 season was harder. Chastain was winless in the regular season and missed the playoffs, though he won in the Round of 12 at Kansas. After the Martinsville playoff race the No. 1 lost fifty owner and driver points, and Chastain and the team were fined US$100,000 for race manipulation, after he and Austin Dillon formed a blockade to help William Byron reach the Championship 4.
In 2025 Chastain started with a 40th-place DNF at the Daytona 500, but he scored his first win of the season at the Coca-Cola 600.
What did Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch add?
Shane van Gisbergen won on his NASCAR debut at the Chicago street course in 2023, becoming the first driver in the modern era, and the first in sixty years, to win his first race. He drove the No. 91 that season and later returned to the Cup Series full time.
In 2025 van Gisbergen drove the No. 88 car. He struggled through the regular season, with only one top-ten finish in the first fifteen races. He then won at Mexico, won again at the Chicago Street Course, and took Sonoma a week later. He also scored a fifth consecutive road course win at the Charlotte Roval.
Connor Zilisch made his Cup debut at Austin in the No. 87 car in 2025, and he later suffered a broken collarbone that led the team to withdraw from the Watkins Glen race. Zilisch was announced as the new driver of the No. 88 car on 7 November 2025 after a dominant Xfinity Series season.
Van Gisbergen returned to the No. 97 in 2026, winning at Watkins Glen and Sonoma, while Zilisch took over the No. 88. The team's line-up had moved far from its 2021 start.
How did Project91 and the international entries work?
On 24 May 2022 Trackhouse announced Project91, a part-time entry that aimed to put international drivers behind the wheel in the Cup Series. Kimi Raikkonen was announced as the first driver to race the No. 91, at Watkins Glen, where he finished 37th after crashing on the tyre barrier past the bus-stop chicane.
Raikkonen returned to the No. 91 at COTA in 2023, finishing 29th. In 2025 Helio Castroneves was announced to drive the No. 91 in the Daytona 500, and he was guaranteed a starting place under NASCAR's new Open Exemption Provisional rule. On 3 June 2026 Kevin Magnussen was named for the No. 91 at the first race held at Naval Base Coronado, San Diego.
What else did the development programme and other entries involve?
In 2024 Trackhouse began signing developmental contracts with drivers. Zane Smith's 2024 Cup deal had him driving for Spire Motorsports, and his split with Trackhouse came at season's end. Van Gisbergen came on board in 2024 with a schedule split between Kaulig Racing in the Cup and Xfinity series, Pinnacle Racing Group in ARCA, and select late models, before his full-time Cup ride in 2025.
Chastain's 2022 season also had its moments of drama. At the 2022 All-Star Race he finished 22nd after going airborne in a collision with Kyle Busch that took Chase Elliott out. At the Indianapolis road course he crossed the line second to Tyler Reddick, but was penalised to 27th for crossing the access road during the final restart. Brad Keselowski's disqualification later moved him up to fourth at Martinsville.
In 2022 Freeway Insurance became a primary sponsor for Suarez and the No. 99 car for five events. The following year Suarez started with a seventh-place finish at the Daytona 500, and Chastain began 2023 ninth at the same race. Chastain's 2024 Daytona 500 ended in 21st place.
Zilisch's 2025 Cup programme was a part-time venture. It included a start at Austin, an appearance at the Coca-Cola 600 and further starts through his sponsor Red Bull. The entry was withdrawn from the Watkins Glen race after Zilisch broke a collarbone in a fall while celebrating his Xfinity win that weekend.
What are the MotoGP and IMSA side?
Trackhouse Entertainment Group announced on 5 December 2023 that it would take over RNF Racing's entry in the MotoGP class, after RNF breached its participation agreements. The team competes as a satellite team of Aprilia, and Davide Brivio, one of the most successful team managers with Yamaha and Suzuki, joined as team principal for the inaugural season.
SuperFile became the team's title sponsor for the rest of the 2026 MotoGP season, announced on 5 June. The group had also made its IMSA SportsCar Championship debut at the 2025 24 Hours of Daytona with a Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R in the GTD Pro class, finishing ninth at its first race.
What are the key results?
| Series or race | Result | Year |
|---|---|---|
| NASCAR Cup, COTA | First team win, Ross Chastain | 2022 |
| NASCAR Cup, Talladega | Second win, Ross Chastain | 2022 |
| NASCAR Cup, Sonoma | First Mexican-born Cup winner, Daniel Suarez | 2022 |
| NASCAR Cup, Chicago street course | Debut win, Shane van Gisbergen | 2023 |
| NASCAR Cup, Atlanta | Win in a three-wide photo finish, Daniel Suarez | 2024 |
| NASCAR Cup, Coca-Cola 600 | Win, Ross Chastain | 2025 |
| NASCAR Cup, Watkins Glen and Sonoma | Wins, Shane van Gisbergen | 2026 |
| MotoGP | Entry as an Aprilia satellite team | 2024 |
What is the legacy of Trackhouse Racing?
Trackhouse's legacy is a fast start built on a founder's ideas and the willingness to buy a team outright. In a few seasons it turned a bid for an assets sale into Cup wins, a road-course reputation and a MotoGP entry.
The team's future depends on keeping its drivers and sponsors together, as the 2025 exit of Suarez and the 2026 change in the No. 88 car show. Its international entries and its STEM aims also set it apart from older NASCAR organisations.
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