Spire Motorsports

Spire Motorsports

Owner(s)	Jeff Dickerson T. J. Puchyr[1] TWG Global[2]
Principal(s)	Doug Duchardt (President)
Base	Mooresville, North Carolina
Series	NASCAR Cup Series NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
Race drivers	Cup Series 7. Justin Haley 71. Michael McDowell 77. Carson Hocevar Truck Series 7. TBA 71. Rajah Caruth 77.TBA
Sponsors	Cup Series 7. Chili's, Celsius, USANA, Group1001 (Gainbridge, Clear Spring Health), Schlüter Systems, Razzle Dazzle Grapes, Iowa Hawkeyes, Garner Trucking, Parity in Paris, Mattress Warehouse 71. WeatherTech, City of Refuge, Focused Health, Ambetter Health, Wellcare, Jockey 77. Group1001 (Gainbridge, Delaware Life), Premier Security Solutions (NLEOMF), Zeigler Auto Group, Bon Secours, Mattress Warehouse Truck Series 7. Bluegreen Vacations, Group1001, Austin Hatcher Foundation, TMC Transportation, Realtree, Pinnacle Racing Group, BAMF Enterprises, Pilot Flying J, Herdez, Rush Truck Centers, Friends of Jaclyn Foundation, Golden Harvest, Silver Hare Racing, MKS Pipe & Valve 71. HendrickCars.com 77. TBA
Manufacturer	Chevrolet
Opened	2018
Career
Debut	Cup Series: 2019 Daytona 500 (Daytona) Xfinity Series: 2023 Shriners Children's 200 (Darlington) Truck Series: 2022 NextEra Energy 250 (Daytona)
Latest race	Cup Series: 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race (Phoenix) Xfinity Series: 2023 Cabo Wabo Tequila 250 (Michigan) Truck Series: 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship Race (Phoenix)
Races competed	262
Drivers' Championships	0
Race victories	6 (1 Cup, 5 Trucks)
Pole positions	5 (5 Truck)

Spire Motorsports is an American auto racing organization competing in the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The team is a subsidiary of Spire Sports + Entertainment. In the Cup Series, the team currently fields three Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 teams: the No. 7 for Justin Haley, the No. 71 for Michael McDowell , and the No. 77 for Carson Hocevar. In the Truck Series, the team fields three Chevrolet Silverados: the No. 7 for multiple drivers, the No. 71 for Rajah Caruth, and the No. 77. They have also competed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in the past.

On December 4, 2018, Spire Sports + Entertainment announced they purchased their charter from the now-defunct Furniture Row Racing. At the same time, the team announced they will use the No. 77 and field Chevrolet Camaro ZL1s.^[1][3][4] FRR President Joe Garone joined the team to serve the same position.^[5]

The team, in its first year of operation, operated in the same shop as Premium Motorsports as part of an alliance with Premium owner Jay Robinson. However, Premium was sold to Rick Ware Racing in 2020, and the team operated out of the RWR shop until season's end. On August 11, 2020, Spire Motorsports purchased the assets of Leavine Family Racing, allowing them to expand to a two-car operation in 2021.^[6] Following the acquisition, the team moved their headquarters from Mooresville to the former shop of AK Racing in Concord, North Carolina.^[7] On October 7, it was announced that Spire Motorsports had secured a third charter which would be leased to Trackhouse Racing for the 2021 season.^[8] On December 10, it was reported that NASCAR on NBC analyst and former Hendrick Motorsports crew chief Steve Letarte will serve as a consultant for the team.^[9]

On June 18, 2021, it was announced that Spire had sold two charters (for the No. 77, and the one leased to Trackhouse Racing) to Kaulig Racing for the 2022 season. In the announcement, Spire's co-owners said, "We will continue to field the No. 7 with Corey LaJoie as a chartered entry in 2022. We remain committed to NASCAR and the Cup Series and we will continue to look for opportunities to grow and compete in the future."^[10] In 2022, Spire purchased Rick Ware Racing’s No. 53 charter for the No. 77.^[11]

On September 16, 2023, Spire purchased Live Fast Motorsports charter for US$40 million to field a third team in 2024.^[12] Less than two weeks later, on September 27, Spire agreed to purchase the assets of NASCAR Truck Series team Kyle Busch Motorsports.^[13] On December 4, former Chip Ganassi Racing COO Doug Duchardt was named President of Spire Motorsports.^[14]

On November 25, 2024, former RFK Racing crew chief Matt McCall was named director of vehicle performance, while former Stewart–Haas Racing engineer Dax Gerringer was named technical director.^[15] On the same day, it was revealed in the Cadillac Formula 1 team announcement that TWG Global owns and operates Spire Motorsports (Alongside Andretti Global and Wayne Taylor Racing).^[2]

On November 30, 2020, Spire Motorsports announced that Corey LaJoie signed a multi-year agreement with the team starting in 2021. In addition, the team selected the No. 7 with permission from Tommy Baldwin Racing to pay tribute to Alan Kulwicki and Geoff Bodine.^[7]

LaJoie drove the No. 7 to a ninth-place finish at the 2021 Daytona 500. Following the season opener, however, the team was unable to break into the top 20 until the race at COTA, where LaJoie finished 20th. Josh Berry drove the No. 7 at Michigan, as LaJoie was sidelined in accordance with team and COVID-19 protocols.^[16] LaJoie finished the season 29th in points.

On March 15, 2022, crew chief Ryan Sparks was suspended for four races due to a tire and wheel loss during the 2022 Ruoff Mortgage 500 at Phoenix.^[17] At Atlanta, LaJoie led a career-best 19 laps and was on his way to claiming his first career win with two laps to go when Chase Elliott overtook him and blocked him on the high side, causing him to brush the wall and spin before colliding with Kurt Busch and finishing the race in 21st place.^[18]

LaJoie started the 2023 season with a 16th place finish at the 2023 Daytona 500. He showed huge improvement over the past season with more consistent top-20 and top-30 finishes. On May 30, LaJoie was announced as the substitute driver of the Hendrick Motorsports No. 9 at Gateway after Chase Elliott was suspended for one race for intentionally wrecking Denny Hamlin at Charlotte. Carson Hocevar filled in for the No. 7, making his Cup Series debut.^[19]

LaJoie started the 2024 season with a 4th place finish at the 2024 Daytona 500.

On July 9, 2024, Spire Motorsports announced that Rodney Childers would replace Sparks as the No. 7's crew chief in 2025 while Sparks would be promoted to competition director.^[20] On July 25, LaJoie announced he was parting ways with Spire at the end of the 2024 season.^[21][22]

On September 20, 2024, it was announced that LaJoie would move to the Rick Ware Racing No. 51, while Justin Haley would replace him in the No. 7 for the remainder of the 2024 season starting with Kansas, as well as full-time in 2025.^[23]

During the same announcement on September 16, 2023, when Spire purchased Live Fast Motorsports' charter, Zane Smith was announced as the driver of Spire's third team in 2024 as a partnership with Trackhouse Racing. Smith signed a multi-year deal with Trackhouse and was supposed to drive the Spire car until he moved to Trackhouse, in a third car, however, in 2024, Trackhouse terminated the agreement, leaving Smith without a ride for 2025.^[12][24]

On May 8, 2024, Michael McDowell signed a multi-year deal to drive the No. 71 starting in 2025.^[25]

In January 2019, Quin Houff signed with Spire for a part-time schedule in the No. 77 in 2019 starting at Phoenix Raceway.^[26] Spire Motorsports formed a partnership with Chip Ganassi Racing to field the No. 40 for Jamie McMurray at the 2019 Daytona 500 and Advance Auto Parts Clash, using the newly acquired No. 77 charter to effectively renumber it to the No. 40 for a one-off and guarantee it qualified for the race.^[5][27] Prior to Houff's debut, Garrett Smithley and Reed Sorenson drove the car at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway, respectively.^[28][29] Prior to the Atlanta race, car chief Shane Callis was ejected from the track after the No. 77 failed pre-qualifying inspection multiple times.^[30] D. J. Kennington joined the team for the Martinsville Speedway race.^[31] In April, NASCAR Xfinity Series regular Justin Haley made his Cup debut with the team at Talladega Superspeedway.^[32]

On July 7, the team won their first Cup race in their 18th start at the rain-shortened 2019 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona, with Haley behind the wheel. Haley and the team were not eligible for the Cup Series Playoffs but did receive the Daytona winner's check.^[33]

On September 29, Blake Jones was announced to drive the No. 77 at the October Talladega race.^[34] Timmy Hill drove for the team at the Kansas and Martinsville playoff races.

On November 27, the team was docked 50 owner points and listed owner T. J. Puchyr fined $50,000 after being caught in a race manipulation scheme at the Homestead-Miami race: Sorenson was heard ignoring multiple calls to pit late in the race before finally obliging. The team then retired the car with an official reason stated being mechanical issues. Along with Rick Ware Racing also exiting the race, this enabled the No. 27 of Premium Motorsports to secure the highest Open (non-chartered) team in the final point standings.^[35]

Spire and Chip Ganassi Racing rekindled their partnership in 2020, fielding the No. 77 for Ross Chastain at the Daytona 500 and Coca-Cola 600.^[36]

For the Michigan double-header the No. 77 team was renumbered to the No. 74 with sponsorship from "Fake Steak" as a tie-in promotion with the Netflix sitcom The Crew.^[37]

Jamie McMurray was hired to drive in the 2021 Daytona 500, his first NASCAR sanctioned start since the 2019 Daytona 500. He was caught up in a wreck on Lap 14 but managed to recover to finish in an incredible eighth place. Haley drove the car for the majority of the season, with his highest finishes being eighth at Indianapolis and sixth at the Daytona night race.

In 2022, Landon Cassill drove the No. 77 for the majority of the year, while Josh Bilicki drove in the races Cassill was not entered in. Justin Allgaier was announced as the entry for the Bristol dirt race.

On October 17, 2022, Spire Motorsports announced that Ty Dillon would drive the No. 77 full-time in 2023.^[38] On July 25, 2023, following a string of disappointing finishes, crew chief Kevin Bellicourt was replaced by Kevin Manion starting at the Richmond summer race.^[39]

On October 10, 2023, Carson Hocevar was announced as the driver of the No. 77 for the 2024 season, effectively replacing Dillon.^[40][41] Hocevar started the season with a 40th place DNF at the 2024 Daytona 500. He scored his first career top-10 finish at Texas. At Nashville, Hocevar spun out Harrison Burton during a caution lap; as a result, he was fined US$50,000 and docked 25 driver points.^[42] On August 31, Hocevar scored the team's best ever starting spot at Darlington, qualifying on the front row in second place. At the end of the season, he won the NASCAR Rookie of the Year honors.^[43]

On March 7, 2023, the team announced that they will expand their racing operations to the NASCAR Xfinity Series, with Carson Hocevar running six races in their No. 77 car.^[44] However the team only ran in four races.

On November 23, 2021, Spire announced that they would field a team in the Camping World Truck Series in 2022, with Kevin Manion as crew chief.^[45] On February 11, 2022, Spire announced Austin Hill would drive the No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado at Daytona with Kevin Manion as crew chief and sponsorship from United Rentals.^[46] On April 7, William Byron gave Spire its first Truck Series win at Martinsville.^[47] Chase Elliott drove the No. 7 to a seventh-place finish at Bristol dirt race.^[48] On May 31, It was announced that Rajah Caruth would make his truck series debut at the World Wide Technology Raceway in the No. 7.^[49]

The No. 7 returned on a part-time basis in 2023, with Corey LaJoie finishing 23rd at Daytona. Professional dirt track racer Jonathan Davenport drove the truck to a 14th place finish at the Bristol dirt race. Kyle Larson drove the No. 7 to the team's second Truck Series win at North Wilkesboro.^[50]

During the 2024 season, LaJoie drove the No. 7 to a 20th place finish at Daytona. A week later, Kyle Busch won at Atlanta in his first Truck race after selling his team to Spire.^[51] Connor Zilisch, Trackhouse Racing development driver, made his debut race in the series with Spire Motorsports at COTA.^[52] On March 27, 2024, it was announced that Sammy Smith would drive the No. 7 Truck in a four-race deal.^[53] On April 12, Busch won at Texas.^[54] On April 23, it was announced that Connor Mosack would drive the No. 7 on a five race deal.^[55] On May 21, it was announced that Andrés Pérez de Lara would make his Truck Series debut at Gateway.^[56]

On February 7, 2024, It was announced that Rajah Caruth will be driving the No. 71 full-time in 2024.^[57] At Las Vegas, Caruth scored his first career win, becoming the second ever African-American driver to win a Truck Series race and only the third ever to win a NASCAR national series race.^[58]

In 2023, Spire fielded the No. 77 Chevrolet Silverado for Derek Kraus at season finale at Phoenix.

In 2024, the No. 77 is being driven full-time by Chase Purdy.

• Official website
• Spire Motorsports owner statistics at Racing-Reference