Spire

By Cole Cusumano

Spire Motorsports has made an early statement they should no longer be slept on and all three NASCAR Cup Series teams should be serious contenders to qualify for The Chase in 2026. By bolstering their driver roster and investing in quality personnel, this organization that was a backmarker not long ago has asserted itself as arguably the fastest-growing group in the sport with undeniable speed to back up this claim.

Typically, most teams are chasing the “Big Three” of Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing and Team Penske to start the season. But after six races, sixth-year team 23XI Racing has set the racing world on fire with Tyler Reddick now coming off his fourth victory of the year at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.

With Penske and JGR having one win each, the main question being asked is, “When will Hendrick Motorsports find victory lane?” But in reality, it should be, “When will Chevrolet get their first win?”

And why not Spire Motorsports?

Understandably overshadowed by 23XI’s dominance, no one is talking about how Spire has taken claim as the next-best Chevy team to HMS — even over the likes of Richard Childress Racing and Trackhouse Racing.

Through six races, the next-highest ranked drivers in the standings to former champions Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson, and reigning regular-season champion William Byron, are Carson Hocevar and Daniel Suarez. Additionally, the only thing in the way of all three cars sitting top-16 in the standings is one-point between Michael McDowell and Shane van Gisbergen (Joey Logano currently owns the final Chase spot in a tiebreaker over McDowell).

Hocevar, who sits 13th in the standings as the highest-ranked Spire driver, has been knocking on the door of his first Cup win as one of the most talked about talents in NASCAR over the past couple seasons. Although he may be the youngest of the trio at 23 years old, he’s also gotten a front row seat witnessing and being part of the organization’s progression as the longest tenured driver on the team.

“We had some moments of excellence my rookie year, and then we were in contention for a lot more (wins) last year, but my reliability really wasn’t 100% there,” Hocevar said. “I feel like I would try to Fred-Flintstone it and put my feet through the floorboard to make up for what happened last week – I would push too hard.

“This year, I think we’re all ready. I think I’m at an elite level of driving and I think Spire’s gotten to an elite level in our cars. Our potential and our ceiling continues to rise. We take it as a compliment that the narrative is we haven’t won yet.”

When Hocevar took over full-time driving duties for the No. 77 in 2024, that same team placed 32nd in the standings the year prior with no top 10s and a 27.5 average finish. He wrapped his rookie campaign 21st in the standings with six top 10s and an 18.3 average. In 2025, he scored a career-best nine top 10s, headlined by two runner ups.

One week before the 2026 Daytona 500, Spire announced they’d inked Hocevar to a “long-term contract, into the next decade.” The investment in the young driver has already shown early signs of success, with him replicating a season-best fourth-place finish for the second time in six starts.

“I take a lot of pride that myself and Spire have grown hand-in-hand,” Hocevar said. “If we can make this much progress in just over two years, I can’t imagine where we’re going to be in eight to 10 years. I want to be a part of it and they want me to be a part of it. It’s just been a great relationship and I think we just continue to get faster, and there’s just never any doubt between us.”

Sitting directly behind Hocevar in the standings is the newest addition to Spire Motorsports, Suarez.

The Mexico-born driver has gotten off to a fast start with Spire, firing off his second top-10 of the season in the form of a seventh-place finish at Darlington. From his first time piloting the No. 7 in a test at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway, Suarez was taken back by how much speed his new team’s Chevrolets had.

As a competitor, Suarez wasn’t oblivious to the sharp upward trajectory Spire Motorsports was clearly on over the years. Now with his fifth team in his 10th full-time season, he explains why he was sold on signing with them.

“From the outside looking in, you always see things, but you never know how they’re doing it,” Suarez said. “I (saw) an organization that is young, that is doing great things, that’s bringing good speed to the race track and that’s just growing very quickly – probably the fastest growing organization out there.

‘Once I became part of Spire Motorsports, I understood the reason. It’s not by coincidence that you’re bringing the speed to the race track almost every single weekend. They have a good platform, good processes and a good system in place to be able to compete.

“There are a lot of pieces in the puzzle to be able to be fast on Sunday,” Suarez added. “I believe that Spire has all those pieces and they continue to put the pieces together. I don’t believe that there is perfection when it comes to these things, but I believe that the starting point that we have with Spire is a very good one.”

Second-year driver for Spire and the veteran of the bunch, McDowell, got a sample of the speed and what the organization is building towards in 2025.

Although the No. 71 team didn’t meet their ultimate goal of making the playoffs, McDowell still ended the season with two poles, a career-high three top fives and his third-best finish in the standings (22nd) – all in his first year with Spire.

“As far as confidence going into this season, I feel really confident because our cars had speed last year,” McDowell said. “We were building and learning as we went, and we were still in the game where we needed to be. We need to execute better … But I feel like we have the opportunity to really prove that this year, now’s the time.”

Unanimously, the common thread between all three drivers and why they believe in Spire’s potential in being a front-running team is the quality personnel and the continuity within.

Since Hocevar joined full-time in 2024, all the engineers and people working on the car have remained with the team. The same can be said for McDowell, who had crew chief Travis Peterson follow him to Spire, as well as many others from his previous Front Row Motorsports group. Suarez even admitted, the thing that impressed him from “day one,” was the “quality of people” at Spire.

In addition to having stability within the shop, Spire also hired the likes of veteran crew chief Matt McCall as Competition Director and Chris Gabehart as Chief Motorsports Officer in the offseason.

Now, instead of taking things week-by-week like in the past, Spire has been able to look months down the road and prepare with an abundance of people and resources.

“I think that when you’re building something, and you’re building continuity and chemistry and confidence, it’s a lot easier to do when you can keep that group intact,” McDowell said. “In motorsports, it’s hard. Guys are constantly picked off, so to speak. You start to run well, and as you start to have success, it’s hard to keep guys in the building.

“We did a really good job this offseason across all three teams of keeping our crew and our teams intact. That means we’re doing a good job behind the scenes creating an environment and creating that shop family we need to go and contend with.”

In the end, the main reason why Spire has seen so much success in such a short period of time is the commitment by team co-owner Jeff Dickerson and the vision which everyone has bought in on.

Dickerson took what was essentially a back-marker team and has created a winning culture that spans far beyond the Cup Series – whether it be the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, High Limit Racing Series, dirt late models or super late models.

“Jeff Dickerson is all why we’re here,” Hocevar said. “I think every single employee is bought in on his vision. He is the most understanding, the most strategic, the most aggressive – he just does everything you would expect or want out of a quality owner.”

But perhaps the most striking quality is Dickerson’s significant involvement in virtually every operation.

Even Suarez, who’s competed for owners such as Joe Gibbs, Justin Marks, Tony Stewart and Gene Haas, has been enamored by Dickerson’s vision and involvement with Spire.

“I give a lot of credit – because a lot of people talk about it, but not a lot of people actually do it – to how involved Jeff Dickerson is with the team,” Suarez said. “I believe that’s something that is very important.

“To be quite honest with you, I have never seen an owner like this, that is so involved in the race shop. I think that’s very exciting having a team owner that’s involved.”

Only time will tell if Spire Motorsports can ride this positive wave of momentum to start the season throughout the entirety of 2026.

At any rate, there’s no denying the speed this organization has right now and the fact they’re clearly the next-best Chevy team to Hendrick Motorsports through six starts.

If things keep trending the way they are, it won’t be a matter of “if,” but “when” Spire finds victory this season. Not to mention, their goal of getting all three cars into The Chase could be all but a lock.

Regardless, Dickerson has created an inspiring and infectious atmosphere that’s sure to spawn much more success in the immediate future for Spire Motorsports.

“If you see Spire Motorsports doing good things right now, just wait because I truly believe that the best is ahead for this organization,” Suarez said. “Having each other’s backs and continuing to push each other to be the best versions of ourselves, that is going to be what takes us to the next level.

“I believe that the potential is as big as we want it to be. The sky is the limit, baby.”