Spire Motorsports has moved from a footnote to a name that keeps showing up on the timing sheet. The team was founded in 2018 and entered NASCAR a year later, when Jamie McMurray drove the No. 40 Chevrolet into the Daytona 500. For a stretch, the team ran in the pack, taking laps as they came. Over the past three seasons, though, a shift has been seen in the whole dynamic, and Spire has begun to make noise where it matters.
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Corey LaJoie and Zane Smith initially carried the banner through the earlier phase, stacking top-five and top-10 finishes and keeping the team in the conversation. But then came Carson Hocevar, and the team’s outlook took a turn. His style on track has put Spire under the spotlight and drawn the gaze of fans who prefer elbows out over riding in line.
And now with two more drivers their roster reads like three drivers from completely different backgrounds, mindset, and personalities. That’s why, NASCAR insider, Steve Letarte believes the team is building the right mix for long-term success. He said, “You have a guy Suarez who has one trying to prove that he belongs here. You have a Hocevar who thinks he belongs here as he should trying to like find his way a little bit.”
“And then you have this journeyman or this like bluecollar guy and McDowell in the mix of three. And then you have the kind of the patriarch of the whole thing with Jeff Dickerson. So, I think they’re putting together a great mix over there, and they’re putting together a mix of building.”
“They’re not looking for gasoline on a flyer, big flame, hopefully it’s enough. I think it’s brick by brick. Like it seems like this is one of those lasting buildings, like we’re going to build slow so we can survive when we get there,” Letarte continued.
While Hocevar is looking for his first win, after being hyped up and being compared to Dale Earnhardt by many insiders, McDowell is still chasing a season that breaks the dam after 19 years and two wins. The duo shares the shop with Daniel Suarez, who left Trackhouse Racing to start a new journey with Spire.
Hocevar, whom Letarte places in the same breath as names such as Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson, and Jeff Gordon, has logged 15 top-10 finishes in 73 starts with the team, with five runs inside the top five and two runner-up results.
McDowell stands on the other end of the spectrum. After his 22nd-place finish in the standings last year, built on six top 10s and three top 5s, in his second season with Spire this year, he has bagged two top 10s and one top 5 so far in the first six starts.
Suarez rounds out the trio, bringing laps, scars, and a point to prove. His path through the garage has taken him across teams and through swings in form. In his first season with Spire, he has placed two races inside the top 10 and one inside the top 5.
