In 22 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Bristol Motor Speedway, Spire Motorsports has recorded one top\u201110 finish and eight top\u201120 results. The organization\u2019s best finish at the high\u2011banked half\u2011mile came in September 2025, when Carson Hocevar earned a seventh\u2011place result. Spire Motorsports will field three Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entries in Sunday\u2019s Food City 500: No. 7 with Daniel Su\u00e1rez, No. 71 with Michael McDowell, and No. 77 with Carson Hocevar.<\/p>\n
The Food City 500 will be televised live on FS1 on Sunday, April 12, beginning at 3 p.m. EDT. Radio coverage will be provided by the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).<\/p>\n
Daniel Su\u00e1rez \u2014 Driver, No. 7 NationsGuard Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Daniel Su\u00e1rez returns to Bristol Motor Speedway to pilot the No. 7 NationsGuard Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in Sunday\u2019s Food City 500. The Monterrey, Mexico native will pull double duty, also competing in Friday\u2019s NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Tennessee Army National Guard 250 in the No. 71 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet Silverado RST.<\/p>\n
Su\u00e1rez has made 15 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Bristol, earning two top\u201110 finishes and nine top\u201120 results, with a venue\u2011best eighth\u2011place finish in both races during the 2019 season. In Truck Series competition, he owns two Bristol starts, highlighted by a 77\u2011lap led effort in 2016 after starting second.<\/p>\n
Before the Easter break, Su\u00e1rez finished 20th at Martinsville, securing his fifth top\u201120 result of the season. Through seven races in 2026, the two\u2011time Cup Series winner sits 16th in the driver standings, second\u2011highest among Spire Motorsports drivers. He has recorded one top five, two top 10s and has led 15 laps, with an average finish of 16.9\u2014four positions better than at this point last season.<\/p>\n
The NationsGuard brand returns as primary sponsor, continuing its work as an innovator in the automotive F&I space focused on process optimization, customer retention and measurable performance gains.<\/p>\n
Daniel Su\u00e1rez \u2014 Quote
With Bristol winners receiving a ceremonial sword, what would it mean to win that trophy?
\u201cIt would be incredible to win the Gladiator sword. Having one of my own would feel truly special. The detail in the design is amazing, and I\u2019d love the opportunity to meet the person who created it and learn more about the process.\u201d<\/p>\n
Atop the No. 7 Pit Box \u2014 Crew Chief: Ryan Sparks
Ryan Sparks enters the weekend with 209 NASCAR Cup Series races atop the pit box, earning five top\u2011five and 12 top\u201110 finishes since his Cup debut in 2020. Earlier this season, Sparks led Su\u00e1rez to a top\u2011five finish at Atlanta and a second top\u201110 at Darlington.<\/p>\n
His best Bristol result came last September, when he guided Justin Haley to a 13th\u2011place finish. Since joining Spire Motorsports in 2021, Sparks has played a key role in building the organization\u2019s technical foundation. In 2026, he serves exclusively as Su\u00e1rez\u2019s crew chief, bringing experience from championship\u2011winning programs in both the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series and the O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Series.<\/p>\n
Michael McDowell \u2014 Driver, No. 71 Delaware Life Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Michael McDowell will pilot the No. 71 Delaware Life Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in Sunday\u2019s 500\u2011lap event. The Glendale, Arizona native has made 28 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Bristol dating back to his 2010 debut.<\/p>\n
Since 2020, McDowell has earned two top\u201110 finishes and three 11th\u2011place results at \u201cThe Last Great Colosseum,\u201d completing nearly every lap contested. Over his last nine starts at the venue, he holds an average finish of 14.8, with just one result worse than 25th.<\/p>\n
McDowell also owns five Bristol starts in the NASCAR O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Series, with a series\u2011best 10th\u2011place finish in 2009. Most recently, he rebounded from early struggles at Martinsville to finish 18th. Through seven races in 2026, McDowell sits 17th in points, earning one top five, two top 10s and leading 15 laps.<\/p>\n
Michael McDowell \u2014 Quote
\u201cBristol is all about intensity. It\u2019s a place where we\u2019ve had good success recently in the Next Gen car, and we\u2019ve addressed some of the issues we had last spring. Spire has a strong notebook here, and Bristol is one of those races fans absolutely have to experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Atop the No. 71 Pit Box \u2014 Crew Chief: Travis Peterson
Travis Peterson brings an engineering background from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and extensive Bristol experience. In five Cup Series starts calling races at Bristol, Peterson has posted an average start of 13.4 and an average finish of 15.0, all with McDowell at the controls.<\/p>\n
The duo\u2019s best Bristol result came in the 2023 Night Race, where they finished sixth after qualifying fourth. Peterson also played a key role in Chris Buescher\u2019s 2022 Bristol win while serving as a race engineer. Across 120 Cup Series starts as a crew chief, Peterson has recorded one win, eight poles, eight top\u2011five finishes and 25 top\u201110 results.<\/p>\n
Carson Hocevar \u2014 Driver, No. 77 Spectrum Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Carson Hocevar will make his sixth NASCAR Cup Series start at Bristol in the No. 77 Spectrum Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 while also pulling double duty in Friday\u2019s Truck Series race in the No. 77 Delaware Life Chevrolet Silverado RST.<\/p>\n
Through seven Cup Series events, Hocevar sits 15th in the standings, four points above the playoff cutline. His two top fives, two top 10s, 171 points scored and 16.6 average finish all represent career highs.<\/p>\n
At Bristol last spring, Hocevar ran inside the top five for much of the race before a late pit\u2011road issue dropped him back. He rebounded to finish 11th, earning the fifth\u2011best average running position and fourth\u2011best driver rating. In the fall race, he restarted on the front row with four laps remaining and finished seventh, the best short\u2011track finish of his Cup career. Spectrum returns as primary sponsor for the first time since Atlanta.<\/p>\n
Carson Hocevar \u2014 Quotes
How do you stay optimistic given strong speed but limited finishes at Bristol?
\u201cWe\u2019ve been fast at Bristol ever since my first Cup race there in 2023. We just need everything to come together. Luke has a lot of experience and success here, so we\u2019re close.\u201d<\/p>\n
What about Bristol fits your driving style?
\u201cIt\u2019s super fast. You have to make decisions quickly and pick lanes around traffic. In a lot of ways, it feels like racing on dirt.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spire Motorsports PR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 22 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Bristol Motor Speedway, Spire Motorsports has recorded one top\u201110 finish and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":589342,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,716,717,718,720,12716,634,582,721,1704,722,82],"class_list":["post-589341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-channel","tag-charlotte","tag-craftsman-truck-series","tag-motor","tag-motorsports","tag-nascar","tag-racing","tag-series","tag-speed","tag-speedway","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=589341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589341\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/589342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=589341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=589341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=589341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}