Former NASCAR crew chief Steve Letarte is optimistic about Trackhouse Racing's driver lineup for the 2026 season. He believes that the team has a strong foundation for a bright future.For 2026, Trackhouse Racing will retain Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen and add Connor Zilisch—replacing Daniel Suárez—to the lineup. Letarte sees the potential in SVG and Zilisch as newcomers in the series, which should help Chastain, who has been with the team since 2022.Both rookies have shown rapid growth and winning form early in their NASCAR careers. SVG has already collected five Cup Series victories—including his most recent triumph at the Charlotte Roval—while Zilisch continues to impress in the Xfinity ranks with 10 wins to his name.Steve Letarte, who served as crew chief for four-time champion Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr., spoke about the future of Trackhouse on the NASCAR Inside The Race. “I feel like Ross has been on an island with help at the ovals. I think Suárez has been a little off, and SVG's new. Zilisch coming on board, he's going to learn a lot about this car, and look, I'm not saying Zilisch should be expected to be unbelievable. I think that the foundation they have with Ross, Zilisch, and SVG, I think they have the building blocks to circle around on,” Letarte said.“I just think they have a lot of good things coming,” Steve Letarte added.As of posting, Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen have been eliminated from the playoffs, with the latter being out of contention earlier in the Round of 16. Connor Zilisch, meanwhile, currently leads the playoff standings in the Xfinity Series ahead of JR Motorsports teammate and defending champion Justin Allgaier.“Keep the learning curve going”: Shane van Gisbergen told Steve Letarte his mindset for four remaining races in 2025On the same NASCAR Inside the Race episode, Steve Letarte asked Shane van Gisbergen about his goals for the remaining four races of the 2025 Cup Series season, considering he’s already notched five victories. The #88 Trackhouse Racing driver said he aims to keep learning, especially since each of the remaining tracks features a different layout.SVG, who won three championships in Australia's Supercars, stated (via NASCAR on YouTube):“All of them. The next three are all polar opposites of each other. So yeah, looking forward to it. Keep the learning curve going.” [11:32]“The superspeedways, I feel like I've gotten a lot better, but I haven't gotten a result there. So I'd love to get a good result at Talladega, and then at Vegas, keep getting better at mile and a half. Hopefully, we have a good one,” the Kiwi driver added.Next on the calendar is the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which spans 1.5 miles in length. It will precede a drafting-style race at Talladega Superspeedway before the Round of 8 concludes at Martinsville Speedway, a 0.526-mile track. The final stop will be a one-miler at Phoenix Raceway, where NASCAR will crown a champion.