Spire Motorsports will be transcending its NASCAR participation and fielding a full-time 410 winged sprint car in the Kubota High Limit Racing series in 2026. This unexpected foray into the show that Kyle Larson is a co-owner of comes for various reasons. But the biggest of them all is the strong friendship that Jeff Dickerson, a co-owner of Spire, shares with him.
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Dickerson is a former USAC midget racer. He served as Larson’s manager when the driver moved from dirt racing to NASCAR and was instrumental in securing his first development deal with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2013. He also shares a good relationship with Kendra Jacobs, who is the Chief Marketing and Events Officer for the High Limit Racing Series.
Jacobs was the marketing director of the Knoxville Raceway when Spire Motorsports managed the track operations. Owing to these established relationships, his strong desire to return to his short-track racing roots, and some crucial pieces that fell in their places, Dickerson decided to make the leap and go all-in.
He said, “I think with what Brad and Kyle are doing and with the amount of transparency that they show, obviously, I’ve got longstanding relationships with both of them. Add in J.P. (Josh Peterman) and Kendra and a lot of people around High Limit, and you know, we want to go racing with our friends. … You just want to do it with people that you enjoy being with. That’s certainly the High Limit series.”
@SpireMotorsport Co-Owner on why he chose #HighLimitRacing for his new sprint car team. ️ pic.twitter.com/cw6ol9phis
— FloRacing (@FloRacing) December 11, 2025
The High Limit Racing Series has been praised a lot for being transparent and collaborative with its teams. It has also freshly introduced the concept of charters, which makes it an attractive prospect for team owners. With the timing of how things worked, Dickerson found fielding a full-time entry to be a no-brainer on his part.
Industry sources say that he paid in excess of $400,000 to obtain the series membership card. He added, “The way that High Limit does it, or at least my experience with High Limit, is you feel like you’re part of the decision-making process. You feel like you have a seat at the table.” Piloting the Spire Motorsports entry in all 66 races will be 24-year-old Giovanni “Gio” Scelzi.
Scelzi is the son of former NHRA Top Fuel and Funny Car champion Gary Scelzi. He is also the 2023 World of Outlaws Rookie of the Year.
