Spire Motorsports

Spire Motorsports

Owner(s)	Jeff Dickerson T. J. Puchyr
Principal(s)	Bill Anthony (President) Joey Dennewitz (Manager)
Base	Concord, North Carolina
Series	NASCAR Cup Series NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Race drivers	Cup Series 7. Corey LaJoie 77. Ty Dillon Truck Series 7. TBA (part-time)
Sponsors	Cup Series 7. Built Bar, General Formulation, Schlüter Systems, Fraternal Order of Eagles, NationsGuard, Raze Energy, Drydene, Stacking Pennies, Garner Trucking, United Service Organizations, Gnarly Jerky, Peacock (WWE SummerSlam), Circle B Diecast, Shelton Energy Solutions, OpTic Gaming, Ark.io 77. Fox Nation, Voyager, SpendMe, Mutoh America, Pacific Coast Termite, Zeigler Auto Group, Ukrainian American Coordinating Council, BRANDT, NationsGuard, Bon Secours Truck Series 7. TBA
Manufacturer	Chevrolet
Opened	2018
Career
Debut	Cup Series: 2019 Daytona 500 (Daytona) Truck Series: 2022 NextEra Energy 250 (Daytona)
Latest race	Cup Series: 2024 Xfinity 500 (Martinsville) Truck Series: 2022 Lucas Oil 150 (Phoenix)
Races competed	155
Drivers' Championships	0
Race victories	2 (1 Cup, 1 Trucks)
Pole positions	0

Spire Motorsports is an American auto racing organization competing in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team is a subsidiary of Spire Sports + Entertainment. In the Cup Series, the team currently fields two Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 teams: the No. 7 for Corey LaJoie and the No. 77 for Ty Dillon. In the truck series, the team fields the No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado part-time for multiple drivers.

History

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. FRR President Joe Garone joined the team to serve the same position.

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. Following the acquisition, the team moved their headquarters from Mooresville to the former shop of AK Racing in Concord, North Carolina. 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. 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.

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." In 2022, Spire purchased Rick Ware Racing's No. 53 charter for the No. 77.

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 and a to-be-determined schedule and driver line-up.

NASCAR Cup Series

Car No. 7 history

Corey LaJoie (2021–present)

Corey LaJoie in the No. 7 at Martinsville Speedway in 2022

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.

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. 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. 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.

Car No. 7 results

Spire Motorsports No. 7

Year	Driver	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	Owners	Pts
2021	Corey LaJoie	7	Chevy	DAY 9	DAY 31	HOM 36	LVS 37	PHO 27	ATL 29	BRI 38	MAR 37	RCH 21	TAL 22	KAN 27	DAR 22	DOV 26	COA 20	CLT 19	SON 18	NSH 15	POC 36	POC 23	ROA 21	ATL 22	NHA 23	GLN 24	IND 16		DAY 16	DAR 15	RCH 29	BRI 26	LVS 30	TAL 22	CLT 35	TEX 20	KAN 25	MAR 21	PHO 32	29th	459
	Josh Berry																											MCH 26
2022	Corey LaJoie			DAY 14	CAL 28	LVS 15	PHO 36	ATL 5	COA 36	RCH 31	MAR 32	BRI 19	TAL 14	DOV 18	DAR 35	KAN 19	CLT 35	GTW 36	SON 34	NSH 20	ROA 34	ATL 21	NHA 32	POC 19	IND 18	MCH 19	RCH 28	GLN 27	DAY 30	DAR 24	KAN 33	BRI 15	TEX 14	TAL 35	ROV 12	LVS 24	HOM 23	MAR 21	PHO 18	32nd	466
2023				DAY	CAL	LVS	PHO	ATL	COA	RCH	BRD	MAR	TAL	DOV	KAN	DAR	CLT	GTW	SON	NSH	CSC	ATL	NHA	POC	RCH	MCH	IRC	GLN	DAY	DAR	KAN	BRI	TEX	TAL	ROV	LVS	HOM	MAR	PHO	*	*

Car No. 77 history

Multiple drivers (2019–2022)

Garrett Smithley driving the 77 at Texas Motor Speedway in 2019

In January 2019, Quin Houff signed with Spire for a part-time schedule in the No. 77 in 2019 starting at ISM Raceway. 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. Prior to Houff's debut, Garrett Smithley and Reed Sorenson drove the car at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway, respectively. Prior to the Atlanta race, car chief Shane Callis was ejected from the track after the No. 77 failed pre-qualifying inspection multiple times. D. J. Kennington joined the team for the Martinsville Speedway race. In April, NASCAR Xfinity Series regular Justin Haley made his Cup debut with the team at Talladega Superspeedway.

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.

On September 29, Blake Jones was announced to drive the No. 77 at the October Talladega race. 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.

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.

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.

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, Josh Bilicki drove the No. 77 for the majority of the year, while Landon Cassill drove for the 11 races Bilicki was not entered in. Justin Allgaier was announced as the entry for the Bristol dirt race.

Ty Dillon (2023)

On October 17, 2022, Spire Motorsports announced that Ty Dillon would drive the No. 77 full-time in 2023.

Car No. 77 results

Spire Motorsports No. 77

Year	Driver	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	Owners	Pts
2019	Garrett Smithley	77	Chevy	DAY	ATL 36			CAL 36		TEX 32																MCH 35														36th	132
	Reed Sorenson					LVS 36																			GLN 37		BRI 38	DAR 30	IND 23	LVS 37	RCH 37	CLT 39	DOV 37					PHO 37	HOM 37
	Quin Houff						PHO 30				BRI 32	RCH 34		DOV 36	KAN 34	CLT 28	POC 29	MCH 32		CHI 38		KEN 34	NHA 31	POC 31													TEX 33
	D. J. Kennington								MAR 32
	Justin Haley												TAL 32						SON 34		DAY 1
	Blake Jones																																	TAL 31
	Timmy Hill																																		KAN 39	MAR 34
2020	Ross Chastain			DAY 25						CLT 21									IND 17										DAY 16	DAR 29										34th	244
	Reed Sorenson				LVS 34	CAL 36	PHO 30	DAR 29																			DOV 39	DOV 33			RCH 36	BRI 36				KAN 36	TEX 32
		74																						MCH 30	MCH 31
	J. J. Yeley	77							DAR 28		CLT 34		ATL 36								TEX 24												LVS 33		CLT 35
	Garrett Smithley											BRI 26		MAR 36								KAN 26	NHA 31															MAR 39
	B. J. McLeod														HOM 35	TAL 31
	James Davison																POC 34	POC 30
	Josh Bilicki																			KEN 32																			PHO 35
	Stanton Barrett																									DAY 38
	Justin Haley																																	TAL 11
2021	Jamie McMurray			DAY 8																																				31st	338
	Justin Haley				DAY 24	HOM 26	LVS 29	PHO 24	ATL 30		MAR 35	RCH 38	TAL 30	KAN 30	DAR 28		COA 40	CLT 28		NSH 35	POC 27		ROA 25	ATL 29	NHA 28	GLN 29	IND 8	MCH 25	DAY 6	DAR 25	RCH 27	BRI 36	LVS 32		CLT 37	TEX 37	KAN 39	MAR 31	PHO 26
	Stewart Friesen									BRI 23
	Josh Berry															DOV 30
	Ben Rhodes																		SON 30
	Justin Allgaier																					POC 25												TAL 40
2022	Landon Cassill			DAY 15			PHO 30			RCH 32			TAL 19		DAR 22							ATL 24					RCH 30		DAY 4	DAR 25	KAN 24	BRI 22	TEX 22	TAL 11		LVS 32	HOM 29	MAR 32	PHO 36	33rd	371
	Josh Bilicki				CAL 30	LVS 29		ATL 16	COA 22		MAR 35			DOV 32		KAN 28	CLT 36	GTW 28	SON 29	NSH 33	ROA 36		NHA 34	POC 34	IND 22	MCH 21
	Justin Allgaier											BRI 36
	Mike Rockenfeller																											GLN 30							ROV 29
2023	Ty Dillon			DAY	CAL	LVS	PHO	ATL	COA	RCH	BRD	MAR	TAL	DOV	KAN	DAR	CLT	GTW	SON	NSH	CSC	ATL	NHA	POC	RCH	MCH	IRC	GLN	DAY	DAR	KAN	BRI	TEX	TAL	ROV	LVS	HOM	MAR	PHO	*	*

Camping World Truck Series

Truck No. 7 History

Alex Bowman in the No. 7 at Sonoma Raceway in 2022

On February 11, 2022, Spire announced Austin Hill would drive the No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado in the season opening race at Daytona with Kevin Manion as crew chief and sponsorship from United Rentals. On April 7, William Byron gave Spire its first Truck Series win at Martinsville. On April 12, Chase Elliott was announced as the No. 7 driver for the Bristol dirt race. 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.

Truck No. 7 results

Spire Motorsports No. 7

Year	Driver	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	Owners	Pts
2022	Austin Hill	7	Chevy	DAY 15	LVS	ATL													POC 6	IRP							31st	205
	Alex Bowman						COA 25								SON 29	KNO	NSH
	William Byron							MAR 1
	Chase Elliott								BRI 7	DAR	KAN	TEX	CLT
	Rajah Caruth													GTW 11							RCH 25	KAN	BRI 34	TAL	HOM	PHO 32
	Dylan Lupton																	MOH 32

External links

• Official website