Founded in 2018 by Jeff Dickerson and T. J. Puchyr, the team bought its way into NASCAR, won its first Cup race in 2019 and now runs Cup and Truck entries under TWG Motorsports.
Spire Motorsports is a NASCAR Cup and Truck team founded in 2018 by Jeff Dickerson and T. J. Puchyr. It bought a charter from the defunct Furniture Row Racing, won its first Cup race in 2019 with Justin Haley and has been majority-owned through TWG Motorsports since 2024.
Spire Motorsports is an American stock car team that races in the Cup Series and the Craftsman Truck Series. Jeff Dickerson and T. J. Puchyr founded it in 2018 as a unit of their Spire Sports + Entertainment company, and it began racing in 2019 with a charter bought from Furniture Row Racing.
How did Spire Motorsports begin?
Spire Sports + Entertainment announced on 4 December 2018 that it had bought its charter from the defunct Furniture Row Racing, the company's first step into NASCAR ownership. The entry used the No. 77 and Chevrolet Camaro ZL1s, and Furniture Row's former president, Joe Garone, came on board in the same role.
The first season was run from the shop of Premium Motorsports, which Jay Robinson owned. After Rick Ware Racing bought Premium in 2020, Spire moved into that building for the rest of the year. On 11 August 2020 it bought the assets of Leavine Family Racing, growing into a two-car operation for 2021 and relocating to the former AK Racing shop in Concord, North Carolina.
The Associated Press writer Jenna Fryer has credited the team with reviving a charter system that had stalled. Charter values rose from about $6 million to $40 million between 2018 and 2024, which made the team's early purchase look especially well timed.
Steve Letarte, a former Hendrick Motorsports crew chief who now works as a broadcast analyst, became a consultant to the team from December 2020, adding racing know-how to the business side.
A team that bought a charter from a defunct rival and built itself into a Cup and Truck operation within seven years.
How did the team build up its charter portfolio?
Spire added a third charter in 2021, leased to Trackhouse Racing. That year it sold two charters, including the No. 77 charter, to Kaulig Racing for 2022, and in 2022 it bought Rick Ware Racing's No. 53 charter to keep its own grid position.
On 16 September 2023 Spire bought the Live Fast Motorsports charter for $40 million, giving it a third team for 2024. Less than two weeks later it agreed to buy the assets of the Truck team Kyle Busch Motorsports. On 4 December 2023 former Chip Ganassi Racing chief operating officer Doug Duchardt was named president.
| Car | Years | Drivers | Notable result |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 7 | 2021 to 2026 | Corey LaJoie, Justin Haley, Daniel Suarez | LaJoie led a career-best 19 laps at Atlanta in 2022 |
| No. 71 | 2024 to 2026 | Zane Smith, Michael McDowell | McDowell's first Cup pole for Spire, Las Vegas 2025 |
| No. 77 | 2019 to 2026 | Justin Haley, Ty Dillon, Carson Hocevar | First Cup win, 2019 Coke Zero Sugar 400 |
How did the No. 77 win its first Cup race?
Justin Haley won the 2019 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona on 7 July, a race cut short by rain, in his 18th start for the team. Haley and the team were ineligible for the playoffs, but they still collected the winner's check.
The No. 77 had a varied early history. Jamie McMurray drove a one-off No. 40 at the 2019 Daytona 500, after the car had been renumbered to guarantee a place in the race. Quin Houff had part-time duty in 2019, and Ross Chastain drove the car at the 2020 Daytona 500 and Coca-Cola 600.
Shane Callis, the car chief, was ejected from the Atlanta track in 2019 after the No. 77 repeatedly failed its pre-qualifying checks. The team was not always on good terms with NASCAR. In November 2019 it was docked fifty owner points after a race manipulation at Homestead, and owner T. J. Puchyr was fined $50,000 as a result.
Who owns Spire Motorsports today?
Jeff Dickerson and Dan Towriss, the chief executive of TWG Motorsports, are the principal owners, and their roles were clarified in the 2024 restructuring. Towriss took over T. J. Puchyr's shares in 2024, and Puchyr spent 2025 consulting for Rick Ware Racing and Legacy Motor Club.
In November 2024 the team restructured, placing Spire and Spire Sports + Entertainment under Dickerson's Spire Holdings. The organisation was revealed to be owned and operated by TWG Global, the company founded by billionaire Mark Walter. A March 2026 filing signed by Dickerson acknowledged TWG Motorsports' majority interest.
The restructuring brought new technical staff. Matt McCall became director of vehicle performance and Dax Gerringer technical director in late November 2024, with McCall coming from RFK Racing.
What did Carson Hocevar's years bring?
Carson Hocevar was announced for the No. 77 for 2024, replacing Ty Dillon. He began that season with a 40th-place retirement at Daytona and scored his first career top 10 at Texas. He went on to win NASCAR Rookie of the Year honours.
In 2025 Hocevar finished second at both Atlanta and Nashville. The team fined him $50,000 after comments made during a livestream about Mexico City, and it ordered cultural-sensitivity and bias-awareness training. He was fined again after a crash at the Kansas playoff race.
Hocevar's first Cup victory came at Talladega on 26 April 2026. The team also used him in the Truck Series, where he won at Kansas in 2025.
How did the No. 7 and No. 71 cars develop?
Corey LaJoie drove the No. 7 from 2021 to 2024, and the team chose that number to honour Alan Kulwicki and Geoff Bodine. LaJoie finished ninth at the 2021 Daytona 500. In 2022 at Atlanta he led a career-best 19 laps before Chase Elliott's block sent him into the wall.
Justin Haley took the No. 7 from 2024 into 2025, and Daniel Suarez replaced him for 2026. Zane Smith drove the No. 71 in 2024 under a Trackhouse agreement, but that deal was ended, and Michael McDowell signed a multi-year contract for the car in May 2024.
The No. 71 became a second Cup car with a changing roster, which kept the team's engineers busy. McDowell scored Spire's first Cup pole at Las Vegas on 15 March 2025 and stayed with the team into 2026. Suarez opened 2026 by finishing thirteenth at the Daytona 500, and he went on to win the Coca-Cola 600, which was shortened by rain.
How did the 2026 season begin?
Daniel Suarez finished 13th in his first Spire race of the season at the Daytona 500, and Carson Hocevar was 18th in the same race. Suarez went on to win the rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600, his first win with the team.
Hocevar's Talladega win on 26 April came in a season that also saw him start the 77 in NASCAR's Truck Series, where he ran 13 races. The Cup and Truck schedules show how the team used its drivers across both series.
What is the team's Truck Series record?
Spire fielded its first Truck team in 2022, with Austin Hill at the wheel of the No. 7 and Kevin Manion as crew chief. William Byron gave the team its first Truck win at Martinsville that April, and Rajah Caruth made his Truck debut the same year.
After buying the Kyle Busch Motorsports assets, Kyle Busch drove for the team in 2024 and won at Atlanta. In 2025 Kyle Larson won at Homestead for the No. 07, and Hocevar took the No. 7 to victory at Kansas.
The team expanded to four trucks in January 2025 and scaled back to three midway through that season. The No. 07 made its last start at Watkins Glen that year. Caruth gave the No. 71 truck its first win at Las Vegas in 2024 and won again at Nashville in 2025.
How has the No. 77 Truck program been run?
In 2026 Hocevar ran 13 Truck races for the No. 77, and the seat was shared with a set of guest drivers. James Hinchcliffe made his Truck debut at St. Petersburg, Connor Zilisch drove at Charlotte, and Tristan McKee made his debut for the car at Richmond.
The No. 77 Truck was also used by Jesse Love at Nashville and by Justin Marks at San Diego. Parker Kligerman and Nick Sanchez took turns at Lime Rock Park and at Indianapolis and Kansas, which shows how the team used its development and guest drivers in one truck.
On 7 October 2026 the team announced that Kasey Kahne would drive the No. 77 full-time.
How did the crew structure change?
Crew chief changes were frequent at Spire. Ryan Sparks was suspended for four races in 2022 after a tire and wheel came loose during a Phoenix race, and Kevin Manion replaced Kevin Bellicourt on the No. 77 in July 2023.
In July 2024 the team announced that Rodney Childers would replace Sparks on the No. 7 for 2025, with Sparks promoted to competition director. Childers left in April 2025, and Sparks returned to the crew chief role the next day while keeping his competition job.
What happened in the 2021 to 2023 seasons?
In 2021 Corey LaJoie finished 29th in points in the No. 7, while Jamie McMurray took eighth in the Daytona 500 in the No. 77. Justin Haley's best runs that year came at Indianapolis, where he took eighth, and at the Daytona night race, where he finished sixth.
In 2022 Landon Cassill drove most of the No. 77 races, with Josh Bilicki filling in on the others, and Justin Allgaier was named for the Bristol dirt race. Cassill's results were modest, and the team looked for a stronger long-term driver.
In 2023 Ty Dillon drove the No. 77 full-time. His results were mostly modest, and the crew was changed at Richmond in July.
Who are the team's development drivers?
Tristan McKee and Connor Zilisch both came through Spire's development pathway. McKee ran part-time in the CARS Tour in 2025, where he took the Pro Late Model title at All American Speedway. He also won his TA2 class in the Trans-Am Series at Mid-Ohio and Watkins Glen.
Spire also used the Xfinity Series in a limited way. In 2023 it ran four races with Hocevar at the wheel. In 2025 Corey Day drove an ARCA car for the team, and McKee took a car at the season finale at Phoenix.
