When it was announced one year ago this week that Trackhouse Racing was parting ways with Daniel Suárez, it seemed like the Mexico native could be left out of the NASCAR Cup Series’ game of musical chairs.So as reporters gathered around to ask Suárez about his future, one of the questions was whether he’d consider dropping to the lower-tier O’Reilly Auto Parts Series to rebuild his career.Suárez wasn’t interested, expressing confidence he could stay in the Cup Series and vowing he could succeed. As it turns out, he was right.After a move to Spire Motorsports, Suárez has been the biggest surprise of the NASCAR season as it reaches its halfway point on Sunday at Sonoma Raceway. Last year, the 34-year-old finished 29th in the Cup Series standings; so far this year, he is eighth and headed toward what once seemed like an improbable-at-best berth in NASCAR’s Chase for the Championship.“Dude, if they pull this s— off, it’s like the last-place team that wins the division,” Spire co-owner Jeff Dickerson said.Watch the best highlights from the 2026 Coca-Cola 600 from a weekend full of honor and remembrance for those we've lost.Meanwhile, his average finish has jumped an astounding seven positions (from 20.9 to 13.6, on pace for a career best) — doing so in a car that finished 31st in the point standings last year.But Suárez insists he hasn’t been caught off guard by any of it.“To be honest, I already knew it, man,” he said in a recent interview. “Back in January, I’m like, ‘I want to show these motherf—ers I’m good.’ And now I’m just smiling because I already knew what was going to happen.“I have never doubted myself. I work very hard, I train, I do all these kind of things to be able to do this job to the best of my abilities. The only difference is that now you guys have seen it.”But few others would have predicted Suárez’s revitalized career, and for what seemed like perfectly viable reasons.First of all, Suárez’s performance at Trackhouse had lagged to the point where team owner Justin Marks’ once-difficult decision — which driver to jettison in favor of promising young rookie Connor Zilisch — was pretty clear by last summer.Anchor driver Ross Chastain was inside the top 10 in the point standings while Suárez was trying to stay ahead of then-rookie Shane van Gisbergen. Except van Gisbergen was unstoppable on road courses, winning five of them last season and putting himself into NASCAR’s playoffs.Suárez publicly claimed Trackhouse was headed in the wrong direction, but Chastain’s speed at the time sparked skepticism about the veracity of Suárez’s comments.Daniel Suárez has increased his average finish from 20.9 last season to 13.6 in 2026, on pace for a career best. (Sean Gardner / Getty Images)Second, Suárez did not appear to upgrade his ride with his new team. Driver Justin Haley’s average finish was a disappointing 22.2 in the No. 7 car last season; on paper, a struggling driver headed to an underperforming car didn’t exactly draw predictions of glory.But sometimes it all just clicks, and Ryan Sparks — who crew-chiefed the No. 7 car for the final 27 races of the season before being paired with Suárez this year — put it this way: “We needed Daniel, and Daniel needed us.