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Justin Marks and Trackhouse Racing aren’t afraid to make changes this season to get ready for 2026
NASCAR‘s Trackhouse Racing has fired two key members of its competition department, Heavy Sports has learned from unnamed sources who asked not to be identified.
Tony Lunders, chief operation officer, and Gary Putnam, director of shop floor operations, have been fired, according to the sources. Both were longtime members of the NASCAR industry for several teams.
Trackhouse Already Announced Changes for 2026
Last month, Trackhouse announced they were moving on from driver Daniel Suarez at season’s end. Team Co-owner Justin Marks shared reasons why after the Chicago Street, won by his driver Shane van Gisbergen.
“When we mapped out our three-year and our five-year plan and the sponsorships and everything that we’re trying to accomplish over the next five years of the company, we just got to a point where we felt like that relationship had borne a lot of fruit for us,” Marks said. “But it, was time to move on.”
This is Suarez’s fifth year with the team. He has two victories in 305 NCS starts with the first taking place at Sonoma in 2022, and the second was last year in Atlanta. The 33-year-old native of Monterrey, Mexico has made the Playoffs twice, doing so with the two aforementioned wins.
When the change was announced, Suarez and Marks both said it was amicable.
“I have known about this for a while,” Suarez said on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. “I’m actually a little bit relieved that this is out and people know about it, and we can talk about it, and we can move forward with future plans and continue to work. I’m excited for whatever comes next.”
He is currently 29th in points and would need a win at Daytona this Saturday to break into the Playoffs. No replacement for Suarez has been officially named. But, with Xfinity Series championship contender Connor Zilisch already under contract with the team, look for him to take over the No. 99 ride.
Trackhouse Looking to Be a Continuous Contender
Speaking of Daytona and the Playoffs, Trackhouse has two of its drivers locked in for the post-season championship battle. Ross Chastain of the No. 1 Chevrolet team, and van Gisbergen of the No. 88 team.
Chastain made it in by winning the prestigious 600-mile race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May. It was his sixth-career victory and fourth straight year he has won a race to make the Playoffs with Trackhouse.
His teammate of van Gisbergen set the NCS garage on its ear by winning four races in his first full-time season, all at road courses, this year. The native of Auckland, New Zealand will make his first Playoff appearance starting at the tricky Darlington Raceway, commonly referred to as the Lady in Black.
Formed in 2020 by Marks, Trackhouse solidified themselves as a full-time team when he bought the NASCAR portion of Chip Ganassi Racing during the 2021 season. This gave the team a shop and ready-to-race inventory. Rolling into 2022 with two charters and Chastain and Suarez as it’s drivers, Trackhouse started winning.
They continued that each season adding another charter last year for van Gisbergen to bring him on full time.
Tim Packman Tim Packman is a journalist for Heavy.com covering NASCAR. He grew up around the short tracks of Western New York watching his dad, stepdad and step brother race. His uncle was the head starter at many area tracks and member of the FOAR Score Hall of Fame.
Tim’s passion for racing took him to the announcer’s tower and writing program stores for multiple tracks in the area. In 2000, he moved to Mooresville, NC to become an award-winning journalist for NASCAR.com. He took a job with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. as the team’s Communications Director and was part of two Daytona 500 wins and two NASCAR Championships.
The announcing experience led to becoming a Pit Reporter and News Director for MRN Radio. A return to the team side at Richard Childress Racing as the Director of Corporate Communications took place, which also included another Championship.
From 2015 to 2018, Tim returned to where his career began in 1994 – Lancaster National Speedway & Dragway – as the Track President. He earned Short Track Promoter of the Year awards in 2016 and 2017.
Upon returning to NC, he joined The Garage Shop as Communications Director and host of it’s Podcast and MAV-TV docuseries “Legacy of Speed” talking about Land Speed Racing at Bonneville, and other places.
Tim has hosted two other Podcasts, namely “Pub Table Racers,” and wrote three books. One was with NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Allison titled, “Bobby Allison, a Racer’s Racer” and two Children’s books, “Funny Dan the Race Car Man” and “Petey the Pace Car.”
He also served in the US Navy. More about Tim Packman
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