NASCAR Cup Series
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Jul 29, 2024
Ah, internet rumors. They're fun when they turn out to be true. When they are ultimately unfounded, they're not as fun -- for anyone. Early on Wednesday morning, Trackhouse Racing co-owner Justin Marks shut down swirling internet rumors that suggested musical artist Pitbull would be leaving Trackhouse as an investor at the end of the 2024 season.
“Every single element to the stories of my friend and partner @pitbull leaving Trackhouse are materially untrue,” Marks said in his post on X. “Unreliable ‘media’ perpetuating a lie. We have big plans for 2025 and beyond!”
The rumor, which started in the r/NASCAR subreddit, was picked up by the perennial clickbait news outlet EssentiallySports on July 29. While no legitimate news outlets within the sport had any reports suggesting the world-renowned musician would be leaving the team, the EssentiallySports report was amplified by a citation in a story in Newsweek.
On Tuesday, Daily Downforce gave the rumor more legs by using it as an engagement farming post on X, and then later wrote a story on its website, a story which has now been updated with Marks' comments.
With Marks taking the time to address the situation at 3:52 AM ET on his X account, we can finally put the rumor completely to rest as Pitbull is set to remain a fixture within Trackhouse in 2025 and beyond, according to Marks.
This saga serves as a stark reminder to journalists to check with their sources before running a story based on a rumor posted by a random user on Reddit.
As for the Trackhouse Racing team, which was established in 2021, they are in the midst of attempting to get both of its cars into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs for the second time in the past three seasons.
Currently, Daniel Suarez is locked in by way of his thrilling three-wide photo finish win at Atlanta Motor Speedway back in February. Ross Chastain isn't quite as comfortable.
The driver of the No. 1 Chevrolet has yet to score a win this year, and is clinging to a seven-point advantage over Bubba Wallace for the final Playoff spot with just four races remaining in the regular season.
Provided there isn't a new winner behind them in the championship standings, it will certainly be a dogfight between the two drivers to see who will make it into the Playoffs.
Photo by Ben Jackson/Getty Images
