NASCAR driver Daniel Suárez will not return to his Gaunt Brothers team next year

Alex Andrejev
·2 min read

NASCAR driver Daniel Suárez will not return as the driver of the No. 96 Toyota Camry for Gaunt Brothers Racing next year.

Suárez, 28, has not announced his plans for next season, but he is the latest Cup Series driver to announce his departure from his team in 2021. Bubba Wallace, Corey LaJoie and Erik Jones are also parting with their current teams next season.

Suárez joined Gaunt Brothers for the 2020 season for a frustrating year, in which the team has not recorded a finish better than 18th place. The driver said he still did not have a complete crew at the time of the season-opening Daytona 500 in February.

Suárez alluded to a possible departure from the team in an interview with Frontstretch.com last week, saying there were “a lot of talks” regarding possible teams and “we don’t really know what’s going to happen.”

“The main goal is to make sure that I’m going to be able to be competitive next year,” Suárez told Frontstretch.

He announced his decision to part with GBR on Twitter Tuesday morning, thanking his Toyota manufacturer and team owner Marty Gaunt.

“And everyone in Gaunt Brothers Racing,” Suárez said. “They’ve been working super hard everyday to try to do a lot with a little.”

Suárez joined GBR, which competes without a charter that locks them into all events in NASCAR’s top series, this year. He raced for Stewart-Haas Racing last year after two seasons with Joe Gibbs Racing. His best career finish came in 2018 in second place with JGR. He is a native of Monterrey, Mexico, who grew up racing go-karts and emerged into the upper-level series of NASCAR as a member of the sport’s Drive for Diversity program.

In addition to Suárez, drivers Bubba Wallace and Corey LaJoie announced they are parting with their current teams next season.

“The entire team is very appreciative of the effort Daniel has put forth,” Gaunt said in a statement. “He has helped build the foundation we need for next season as well as 2022 when the NextGen car arrives. We’re both committed to earning as many points as possible in these last eight races together and finishing the season strong.”