It won’t be all new faces for Michael McDowell when he joins Spire Motorsports next season. His current crew chief Travis Peterson is set to join him on his new team after two years at Front Row Motorsports. The duo has earned three pole positions so far this year and won the Indianapolis road course race last season. Spire now has an impressive trio of crew chiefs for next season which includes Peterson, Luke Lambert, and the legendary Rodney Childers.
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“It’s going to be exciting,” Peterson said about his move to Spire. “Rodney is a veteran of the sport. It is exciting for me to learn from a guy with that much success. Luke and I worked together when I was an engineer at Roush so we’re definitely familiar with one another. We have all seen each other around and we’ve all paid attention to each other.”
Hoping to continue their winning ways.
Travis Peterson will join Spire Motorsports as crew chief of @Mc_Driver’s No. 71 Chevrolet in 2025.
Learn more: https://t.co/jMWxbGzGHi pic.twitter.com/FUS0BfBa5z
— Spire Motorsports (@SpireMotorsport) August 6, 2024
The FRM crew chief has an impressive resume. Before working with McDowell, he was a race engineer for the #17 RFK Racing team. He also has worked in a similar capacity for the #88 Hendrick Motorsports team which fielded drivers such as Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, and Alex Bowman. Peterson was a race engineer for the #9 JR Motorsports team as well when it steered Chase Elliott to the Xfinity Series championship in 2014.
Spire Motorsports might not be the most competitive team at the moment. However, their recent commitment towards the sport in the form of monetary investment as well as silly season moves pin them as the next 23XI or Trackhouse Racing if not Joe Gibbs Racing or Team Penske. Their driver lineup is quite impressive and all they need is a car that can race with the usual heavyweights of the Cup Series.
Given how much the owners are investing in the team right now, it would not be surprising if there was a marked improvement in performance from the 2025 season.
Crew chief’s special relationship with McDowell
While Peterson said that it would be exciting to work with people like Childers and Lambert, the main reason why he left FRM was McDowell. The 33-year-old crew chief said that both he and his driver were impressed with Spire Motorsports’s vision. He also believes that the relationship with his driver also played a part. The two feel at ease with each other and it’s easier to discuss the difficult aspects of the sport. That can be sometimes hard to find with others.
“There are times when you meet people and you are immediately able to naturally communicate on a real level. I feel like we were that way from the start. We didn’t have to work at it. Our personalities, the way we openly communicate, and our honest nature helped us click from the start. We have no problem talking about hard stuff or easy stuff,” he explained.
There is a lot to be excited about with Spire Motorsports starting next season. With a healthy mix of youth and experience amongst its ranks, it could become a championship-contending team in the near future.
