One look at the NASCAR Cup Series car Daniel Suarez drives at Nashville Superspeedway provides a strong suggestion of the strength of the symbiotic relationship between Trackhouse Racing and the city of Nashville.
In select races—notably at Talladega and Nashville—Suarez’s No. 99 Chevrolet bears the lavender colors and branding of Tootsie's Orchid Lounge, a Nashville institution located at 422 Broadway in the heart of Music City.
Tootsies managing partner Steve Smith was one of the early believers in—and backers of—owner Justin Marks’ vision for Trackhouse Entertainment, based in Nashville, and Trackhouse Racing, which competes out of a shop in Concord, North Carolina.
“Justin, when he had this idea of Trackhouse, he didn’t come back to Huntersville, North Carolina, where he’s lived as a driver,” says Ross Chastain, who has raced for Trackhouse since 2022 in the No. 1 Chevrolet. “He went to Nashville. That’s where he wanted to curate it and kind of incubate the idea, and he’s done that. He’s built out his idea into a real race-winning, championship-contending team. A lot goes back to Tootsie's and what Mr. Steve (Smith) did early on in investing in Trackhouse.”
After retiring from a racing career in both NASCAR and sports cars, Marks moved to Nashville in 2020 and began pursuing his novel concept with the creation of the Trackhouse Entertainment Group and its Trackhouse Racing division.
Partnering with rapper Armando Perez, known worldwide as Pitbull, Marks hired Suarez to drive the No. 99 Chevy in 2021. Later that year, Marks acquired the assets of Chip Ganassi Racing in a move that shocked the NASCAR community.
Concurrent with the advent of NASCAR’s Next Gen Cup car, Trackhouse added Chastain to the roster in 2022. The watermelon-farmer-turned-race-car-driver won twice in his first season with the team, at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, and at Talladega Superspeedway.
Seven weeks after Chastain’s Talladega win, Suarez picked up the first victory of his Cup career on the road course at Sonoma Raceway.
The capper came the following season when Chastain won the organization’s “home” race at Nashville Superspeedway, leading the last 34 laps (99 total) and beating runner-up Martin Truex Jr. to the finish line by 0.789 seconds.
Chastain capped his sophomore season at Trackhouse with a victory in the season finale at Phoenix Raceway, holding off Ryan Blaney, who claimed the series championship with his second-place finish.
Though Chastain acknowledges that most of the drivers’ in-season time revolves around the shop in Concord, they are well aware of the synergy with Nashville.
In fact, the day after the June 2 race at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, Chastain was scheduled to attend the Rock 'N Jock Celebrity Softball Game in Nashville benefiting Folds of Honor Tennessee, with title sponsorship from Jockey International, Inc., which sponsors select races on both full-time Trackhouse Cup cars.
With support from Tootsie's, Chastain also plans to run the Pro Late Model Race at Nashville Fairgrounds on June 27, three days before he defends his victory in the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway.
For Marks’ part, the team owner is convinced that Trackhouse’s presence in Music City is the right move for the organization. In a press conference at Nashville Superspeedway in 2021, he laid out a cogent expression of his vision—a vision that was mindful of the impact the Next Gen car would have.
“Nashville is a quickly growing community,” Marks said. “It’s an entertainment and event city. That’s the business that we’re in. Entertainment and events.
“And it represents an opportunity for us to carve a niche out for ourselves in a market where we can really get the community support behind us and be one of the professional sports teams in this market.”
-- NashvilleSuperspeedway.com --
Race Schedule and Tickets
Nashville Superspeedway’s 2024 race schedule includes:
Friday, June 28
Rackley Roofing 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race
7 p.m. CT, FS2, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Saturday, June 29
Tennessee Lottery 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race
4 p.m. CT, USA, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Sunday, June 30
Ally 400 NASCAR Cup Series race
2:30 p.m. CT, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Sunday, Sept. 15
NTT IndyCar Series Big Machine Music City Grand Prix
2 p.m. CT, NBC, Peacock, INDYCAR Live, SiriusXM
Call 866.RACE.TIX to discuss your options with an account representative, or visit NashvilleSuperspeedway.com. Tickets for children ages 12 and younger (with a paying adult) are free for the NASCAR races on Friday and Saturday and are only $10 for Sunday.
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About Nashville Superspeedway
Nashville Superspeedway, Middle Tennessee’s racing jewel, is a year-round family-friendly destination in one of the fastest-growing regions in the country. The 1.33-mile D-shaped track with 14 degrees of banking has hosted three NASCAR Cup Series races, 24 NASCAR Xfinity Series races, 16 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series events and eight INDYCAR SERIES contests. The largest concrete-only track in NASCAR, Nashville Superspeedway is owned by Speedway Motorsports.
