September 4, 2022 | By Lee Spencer

As Playoffs approach, Trackhouse owner Justin Marks wants teams to stay the course

Justin Marks’ pre-playoff message to his teams this week was simple: stay the course.

With the resounding success Trackhouse Racing has enjoyed during its second season in the NASCAR Cup Series, why would the team owner want to change a thing?

Last Saturday at Daytona International Speedway, the 41-year-old team co-owner offered a preview of his pep talk to the organization and why he was waiting until this week to rally the troops.

“We're in this position because we're good at what we do,” Marks said. “So let's keep doing what we're doing right is basically what the narrative is…We're very, very execution-focused. We're very execution-focused.

“So that speech, that narrative, whatever it is to the company was never going to happen before the week leading into the first race of the Playoffs.”

Each week the focus is on the task at hand—winning races. And the week-to-week approach has paid off with three wins and both drivers—Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez—in the NASCAR Cup Playoffs.

Not surprisingly, Marks feels as if he’s playing with house money. A year ago, Trackhouse was a one-car team operating out of Richard Childress Racing. Trackhouse’s transformation occurred after acquiring two charters from Ganassi Racing in June, along with key personnel at season’s end. The ability to improve on an established recipe expedited the learning curve.

In 2022, Trackhouse became fully independent. Chastain joined Suarez on the driver roster. Although the two drivers might have seemed like marginal talents at other organizations, Marks saw a spark in the competitors and turned it into a full-blown fire. Both drivers have enjoyed breakout seasons with their first Cup wins and Playoff berths. Their success and the organization’s success have attracted new opportunities for sponsors and drivers alike.

At Daytona, Trackhouse introduced an extended deal with Princess Cruises on the No. 99 Chevrolet—one day after the company extended Suarez’s contract. A week earlier, Marks’ Project 91 team debuted with former F1 champ Kimi Raikkonen at Watkins Glen. There’s been talk of Helio Castroneves climbing in that ride for the Daytona 500, as well as Jimmie Johnson possibly doing the NASCAR end of the Indy 500/Coke 600 of the double in the No. 91.

But Marks promised his team there would be no discussion of Project 91 until after the Playoffs. The team was laser-focused on Raikkonen at the Glen, last week’s Cup regular-season finale at Daytona and now it’s all about Darlington Raceway and the first round of the postseason.

Marks wanted the opportunity to congratulate the organization for the effort and accomplishments of the first 26 races. He did that on Tuesday at the Concord, N.C.-based race shop. Marks recruited former NFL safety Eugene Robinson to inspire the company in preparation for the Playoffs.

With 16 different Cup winners this year, it wasn’t until very recently that Marks’ attention turned to the postseason. Chastain’s two wins made him a lock. Suarez’s victory at Sonoma Raceway would almost ensure his advancement.

“It was like, ‘Alright, we've got that off of our shoulders now, we can start thinking about what execution might look like for the playoffs,’” Marks said. “Even though, as we talk about it within the company, the main narrative is like, ‘Don't really change anything. Don't try harder,’ right? Just keep doing. We've won races because we're executing well, so we have to just continue doing that.

“I think you get in trouble when you start trying harder, when you start changing it up, when you start thinking about the pressure. We're such a young company. Ross and Daniel are both young. Everybody in this company has got such a bright future ahead of them that there's really not a lot of pressure on us. Let’s go out there and have fun, try to go as fast as we can and see how things work out.”

Certainly, Marks’ philosophy has emanated throughout Trackhouse. He has inspired the organization and the former Ganassi employees who believed in his vision—including Chastain.

“Everybody is different, and there are strengths and weaknesses on all sides,” Chastain said. “It takes someone with strong belief in their thinking to get up in front of a shop and say that if you don’t believe in this new car and where NASCAR is going, we don’t need you here. That was blatantly said.

“For a lot of people, this was their time to step out. If it had been at that point of my life, I may have made the same decision. You never know. For me and for Trackhouse, it was the perfect time to fully be in the sport.”

And they’re just getting started.