A Trackhouse driver won’t be part of NASCAR’s Championship Four in 2023, but Trackhouse continues to show its championship form off the track in the world of business.
Freeway Insurance has extended its sponsorship with Daniel Suárez in the No. 99 Chevrolet and Anheuser Busch will become the primary sponsor for Ross Chastain’s No. 1 Chevrolet beginning in 2024.
Also, before the October 22 4EVER 400 Presented by Mobil 1 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Chastain announced an initiative “Ag to Asphalt) with the podcast, “Like a Farmer” that will strengthen the connection between agriculture and the NASCAR Cup Series.
Plus, there are two more races left in the 2023 season for Chastain and Suárez to get another victory for Trackhouse as the team continues to solidify itself as a winning operation in all phases of competition and business.
“Ultimately, as race teams the ultimate mark of success on the surface is winning races because that is what we are all passionate about and work really hard to do,” Trackhouse Founder and Owner Justin Marks said. “But as a business, the best wins we can have as a business is partnering with companies like Anheuser Busch and partners like Jockey and Kubota and Worldwide Express and Coca-Cola and Freeway Insurance and on and on and on.
“For these large companies that have these huge marketing budgets and are very particular about how they spend that money and who they partner with, to trust Trackhouse is incredibly humbling, and it shows we have been doing the right stuff since we got started.”
Freeway Insurance joined with Suárez, the only Mexican driver to win a Cup Series race, and his Trackhouse Racing team in 2021. The company’s message was to let everyone understand low-cost car insurance is available to people who need it, regardless of their driving record.
It helps drivers who have had issues get a second chance.
For the past two years, the combination was featured in a national television and digital advertising campaign featuring Suárez in both English and Spanish, and customer outreach across the nation.
The recognition Freeway Insurance received from NASCAR viewers and the public dramatically increased as millions of television viewers and social media fans watched Suárez on the racetrack and in commercials.
Building on that success, Freeway Insurance announced an expansion of primary sponsorship to 12 races in the 2024 season, including serving as the primary sponsor for Suárez’s No. 99 Chevrolet in the 66th running of the Daytona 500 on Feb. 18 – NASCAR’s most important and viewed race.
Freeway Insurance will serve as the No. 99 team's provider for all lines of insurance and the exclusive provider of auto insurance to Trackhouse Racing.
“Freeway Insurance has been there for me just like it’s been there for thousands of customers who rely on the brand for affordable insurance solutions, and I’m excited to continue our relationship,” Suárez said. “I take great pride in having the Freeway Insurance name on our cars and hope to make them and our NASCAR fans proud next year.”
Freeway Insurance was established in 1987 and is the leading personal lines insurance agency in the United States and is an affiliate brand of Confie.
“We value our partnership with Trackhouse and Daniel Suárez who has become a powerful ambassador of our Freeway brand and an influential voice in our own diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. Daniel’s story inspires us and deeply connects to the daily lives and goals of our Hispanic customers,” said Cesar Soriano, Chief Executive Officer of Freeway Insurance, the largest auto insurance, and personal lines distribution company in the United States.
“Thousands of race fans have met Daniel at Freeway Insurance stores across the country, and we want him to meet and share his story with even more in 2024. He has been part of our national advertising initiatives and has taken us to new customers. We want to continue with that effort and scale our presence in NASCAR so when you see the No. 99 racing by you immediately think of Freeway Insurance.”
As one of the fastest-growing nationwide insurance distribution companies, Freeway offers insurance policies via a “click, call, or come-in” approach that provides customers coverage throughout the United States.
The company is constantly researching, growing, and diversifying product offerings to stay responsive to the ever-evolving insurance market. Freeway offers a wide range of plans, from the most basic to premium plans, in auto, truck, commercial vehicle, fire, flood, homeowners, renters, small commercial, motorcycle, and recreational vehicle insurance products. In 2008, Freeway Insurance joined Confie, a national insurance distribution company.
Today, Freeway Insurance services customers in more than 500 offices.
Suárez has visited a Freeway Insurance office to meet employees, customers, and race fans at nearly every Freeway race this season.
On October 21, he made his first visit to sister company Estrella Insurance for the fan event.
It was also a big weekend for Daniel’s Amigos.
The guests from the Latino community spent race morning with Suárez enjoying Mexican food, a Mariachi band, a deejay, and prize giveaways before going to the grandstands to watch the race on the 1.5-mile track. For the first time, Freeway Insurance gave 25 of its customers the opportunity to register for the event.
The program is a passion play for Suárez who has worked with Coca-Cola, Homestead-Miami Speedway and NASCAR to create the best day possible for his guests.
Daniel’s Amigos goes beyond explaining the sport, it’s about welcoming new fans by creating fandom on-ramps for those who are less familiar with the sport. It’s also about diversifying the image of what it is to be a NASCAR fan and allowing guests to see themselves as a part of the NASCAR family.
The Daniel's Amigos program began in 2019 with several events before pausing because of COVID in 2020. It held one event in 2021 and three events last year. The Amigos have made three 2023 appearances at Atlanta, Charlotte, and Homestead.
Daniel's Amigos were in the grandstands at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway in June 2022 when Suárez became the first Mexican driver to win a NASCAR Cup Series race. After taking the checkered flag, the Monterrey, Mexico native called on the group to join him in victory lane as part of a raucous celebration of his first career victory.
National Hispanic Heritage Month was a busy time for No. 99 Trackhouse Racing driver Daniel Suárez and his corporate partners at Trackhouse Racing and NASCAR.
Each year, Americans observe National Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15 to October 15, by celebrating the histories, cultures, and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America.
Suárez, 31, is the only Mexican driver to win a NASCAR championship (Xfinity Series, 2016) and a Cup Series race (Sonoma Raceway, 2022).
Freeway Insurance created digital and social media content with Suárez.SiriusXM Radio features Suárez in an hour-long interview airing on its platforms beyond its NASCAR Channel, Worldwide Express asked Suárez to take part in its initiatives spotlighting Hispanic Americans, and NASCAR and several tracks have used Suárez in its month-long promotions.
Coca-Cola hosted Suárez in Atlanta for a daylong celebration and outfitted Suárez and the No. 99 Chevrolet in the Aguas Frescas paint scheme at the Charlotte Roval. Daniel's Amigos, a program NASCAR, Coca-Cola, and Suárez created to bring the Hispanic community to NASCAR races returned in Charlotte and will host another event Sunday in Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway.
"I love being able to celebrate and share our culture on social media and at the racetrack," said Suárez. "Everyone has been incredibly supportive. I am proud to be from Mexico and I am proud to live in America, a country that has given me and others this chance to pursue our dreams."
While Suárez has become a great spokesman for the Hispanic community, Chastain speaks for the farmers.
Like a Farmer, a podcast and video series that spotlights and celebrates Rural America, announced the formation of the Ag to Asphalt campaign to shine a light on the agriculture industry and farmers across the country.
The campaign will highlight the importance of agriculture by sharing the real stories of farmers across the country.
For each race in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season, the Ag to Asphalt program will identify a local family farm in each race market. Chastain will tell each farm’s unique story via a video shared on social media the week before the race. The family farmer will then be invited to the NASCAR race on behalf of Chastain and Like a Farmer to show appreciation and give thanks for their work as farmers.
As an eighth-generation watermelon farmer, Chastain knows the importance of agriculture and the sacrifices farmers make daily to put food on the table for all Americans.
“Using my platform to spotlight these working family farms across America is something very important to me,” Chastain said. “When we started collaborating with the Like a Farmer team, the concept of creating this Ag to Asphalt program was a natural fit.
“Pat Spinosa (host of Like a Famer Podcast) and I had a great time exploring my background in agriculture on the podcast and taking this program to all of the NASCAR Cup Series races in 2024 is going to be equally exciting and rewarding.”
The Chastain family has been involved in the agriculture industry for over a century. Chastain’s childhood growing up on the farm curated a blue-collar approach and hard-working attitude that has catapulted him to the top of NASCAR.
He earned his nickname “Melon Man” through his family’s heritage in the watermelon farming industry. His signature move is to smash a watermelon on the frontstretch after each win. Although he can be found racing for Trackhouse Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series, Chastain still takes time to head back to the farm and uses his platform to be a voice for the agriculture industry.
Chastain is proud to launch the Ag to Asphalt campaign with the support of Like a Farmer for the 2024 NASCAR season.
“We are thrilled to announce a partnership that not only shines a light on Rural America but helps some of our nation’s farmers take a mental break from their everyday jobs,” Spinosa explained.
Chastain will be on the Like a Farmer episode on Thursday, October 26. He joins Spinosa to reflect on his upbringing on the farm and how it paved the path to his successful career in NASCAR. He will discuss the partnership and learn more about Like a Farmer’s mission to celebrate the agricultural community by sharing the stories of big names from NFL stars to country musicians who know and love Rural America.
Joining Like a Farmer and Chastain is Trackhouse Racing partner Kubota Tractor Corporation, as well as Bayer Seminis, both of which are part of the fabric of the agriculture community.
The support of this campaign further illustrates the importance of farmers and the larger agricultural industry across the country.
On the track, Trackhouse is among the best in NASCAR. Off the track, Trackhouse Racing and Trackhouse Entertainment are taking the steps to become the best in business.
According to Marks, there is more int the future.
“We are having a lot of discussions right now,” Marks said. “For the other ancillary businesses that we want to launch around the brand, it requires really intelligent and strategic due diligence. We have to understand what we are getting into. We have to know our brand. We have to know our audience. We have to own our story.
“There are a lot of things on the table right now, and a lot of discussions happening right now. Some of those are really, really exciting, but we are going to take our time and make the right decisions.”
