2026 hasn’t gone the way Justin Marks or anyone at Trackhouse Racing would’ve wanted it to. In nine races so far this season, the team has not only not shown consistent speed or potential to win, but most of their finishes have been outside the top 10 across their three cars. Naturally, this has led to there being an air of concern about the state of the team.
Justin Marks insists Trackhouse Racing is rebuilding amid disappointing results
This is a sharp contrast to their performances last year when their star driver, Ross Chastain, had already secured four finishes inside the top 10 and one inside the top 5 at this stage of the season. Speaking about SVG, a case can still be made for him being on a learning curve on NASCAR ovals. In fact, he finished inside the top 10 at Atlanta and secured a runner-up finish at COTA (though he was highly expected to win that one, but again, the team just didn’t have the pace towards the end).
But for Connor Zilisch, the rookie driver who arrived in the Cup Series on the back of 10 wins in the Xfinity Series last season, things are concerning. Except for two finishes inside the top 20 at COTA and Darlington, all of Zilisch’s finishes have been outside the top 25.
Yet despite that, team owner Justin Marks admits that the team is working towards being better and dealing with its issues. After the race at Bristol earlier this month, he said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, “You have to realize we’re in a rebuilding phase right now. We’re working hard, there were certainly some highlights from the weekend, but ultimately, at the end of the day, yesterday, it was — you know, just a tough race, tough results, and just another step in the process of rebuilding this race team.”
At Bristol, Chastain finished 20th, Zilisch in 33rd, and SVG in 34th. But a week later, things hadn’t exactly improved for Trackhouse. At Kansas, Chastain finished in 26th, Zilisch in 29th, and SVG in 36th. Marks had claimed that it’s about ‘managing expectations’ and looking at the big picture of how difficult life in NASCAR is.
Despite that, NASCAR fans were convinced that Trackhouse is on a downward trajectory, one not too unfamiliar to another team’s in the past.
NASCAR fans call out the red flag and big ambitions of Trackhouse
One fan likened Marks’ NASCAR operation to the second coming of Tony Stewart’s Stewart-Haas Racing. “Sounds like SHR round 2,” the fan wrote. It’s worth mentioning that SHR is a good example of a team whose owners, having other priorities beyond NASCAR, ended up hurting the team.
Tony Stewart shifted attention to SRX and his NHRA operation while Gene Haas focused heavily on Formula 1, which diluted leadership and day-to-day involvement in NASCAR operations. The same thing could happen with Trackhouse as Marks is expanding into projects like MotoGP alongside NASCAR. This could stretch his focus if not managed carefully.
One fan claimed, “I think Trackhouse bit off more than they could chew and got excited and expanded too quickly.” While Trackhouse started as a one-car operation in 2020, it added another charter in 2021 to become a two-car team. They also hosted a third car from then on as part of the Project 91 program. But in 2024, they acquired their third charter and became a three-car team.
Another fan wrote, “It was a big red flag when he kept saying “we want to be more than just a racing team” in the middle of their first season. Like, figure out how to do one thing first.” To the fan’s point, Trackhouse’s rapid expansion and expansion and beyond NASCAR could be a big factor in their current state. Apart from having a team in NASCAR, Justin Marks also took the organization into MotoGP in 2024.
Another fan made a point on the similar lines of the team’s big ambitions as they wrote, “That’s what happens when you try to build “the biggest motorsports platform in the world”, or whatever the hell they said, in the year 3 lol.”
However, a fan simply suggested what Trackhouse could’ve and potentially should be doing following their disappointing result at Kansas. “That team needed to be on the phone making a deal with the Hendrick engine department yesterday, for a start,” the fan wrote.
Now, whether Justin Marks makes that call to Rick Hendrick or not, is something to be seen. But one thing is quite clear: Trackhouse Racing isn’t in a good place and unless they get promising results, things could potentially worsen.
