The NASCAR Cup Series is tough, especially with how strong Toyota has been this season. It's no secret that Chevrolet's new body has negatively impacted the performance and speed for all of the teams who run for the manufacturer, from Hendrick Motorsports on down.
But the struggles have been especially massive for Trackhouse Racing, and they extend well beyond the body of the car.
Sure, the new body is a part of it, but the way the season has gone for Trackhouse, something else seems off. The 2026 season has been by far Trackhouse's worst season since they began in 2021 with Daniel Suarez as their lone driver.
What has gone wrong for Trackhouse Racing?
It isn't for lack of talent or trying, because the team currently has three very polarizing drivers. Shane van Gisbergen has been the best of the three this season with two road course wins, Ross Chastain is a former championship runner-up, and rookie Connor Zilisch is one of the highest-upside talents in recent memory.
But even when the team has shown speed, they have failed to bring home quality finishes. SVG just missed out on the Chase after a poor finish at Daytona. As for Chastain, who finished runner-up in the championship in his first season with the team in 2022, he has barely sniffed the top five this season. His best finish is third in the second race of the year, and since then, he's been almost an afterthought.
In Zilisch's case, he's learning the hard way how tough the Cup Series is. If he isn't keeping himself clean, he's catching headlines because he's gotten caught up in a wreck. He's certainly kept his nose clean the past month or so, so maybe he would have better numbers if the team were in a better place.
Chevrolet in trouble as a whole?
Not to take away from the disappointing season it has been for Trackhouse, but perhaps this is a manufacturer issue as a whole. Sure, Chevrolet has won six races this season. Trackhouse is actually tied for the most wins among Chevrolet teams with two, along with Hendrick and Spire Motorsports.
But overall they have all struggled, and the summer months of the season proved that with most of the top Chevy drivers lacking speed for weeks on end.
Trackhouse's two wins are road course wins. One of Hendrick's came largely due to a strategy gamble. One of Spire's is a superspeedway win, and the other is a win in a rain-shortened race.
It has been a season to forget for Chevrolet as a whole. There are eight races left on the calendar, but at this rate, it's already pretty much a wash for the manufacturer.
Future of Trackhouse getting fuzzy
The struggles of Trackhouse haven't yet backfired from a sponsorship standpoint, but there is a much bigger issue staring the team in the face, as their future driver lineup is getting fuzzy. The news has already been broken that Zilisch is on his way to Hendrick and the No. 48 Chevrolet in 2028. Chastain and SVG also don't have contracts after the 2027 season, although in SVG's case, it's hard to see him going anywhere else.
But Chastain would be a huge free agent, especially for a team looking for a new center piece to build their future around. After two relatively quiet silly seasons, 2028 certainly seems like it's going to be a season with massive driver lineups changes. When wins start lacking, and you rarely have the speed to compete, a change of scenery tends to be what needs to happen.
Whatever the future at Trackhouse is, they are pretty much at rock bottom right now, and climbing out doesn't seem to be a realistic option at any point in the near future.
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