In 25 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, Spire Motorsports has logged one win, three top-five and seven top-10 finishes. Spire Motorsports earned its inaugural NCS victory in its first full season of competition when Justin Haley earned the checkered flag in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona on July 7, 2019. Spire Motorsports fields the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet ZL1s in the NCS with Justin Haley, Michael McDowell and Carson Hocevar, respectively.
This weekend, Spire Motorsports will be participating in the Martin Truex, Jr., Foundation and NASCAR Foundation\u2019s Honor a Cancer Hero Campaign. The names of cancer survivors will be aboard all three Spire-prepared Chevrolet ZL1s. Michele Broadley will ride along with Carson Hocevar and the No. 77 on Saturday, while Tabatha Guaglianone and Mary Rogers will be on Justin Haley\u2019s No. 7 machine and Jeanann Orna and Adam Brookhart will be featured on the No. 71 driven by Michael McDowell.
The Coke Zero Sugar 400 will be televised live on NBC Saturday, Aug. 23 beginning at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The NASCAR Cup Series regular-season finale will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Channel 90.<\/p>\n
Justin Haley \u2013 Driver, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet ZL1<\/p>\n
Justin Haley will pilot Spire Motorsports\u2019 No. 7 Gainbridge Chevrolet ZL1 in Saturday night\u2019s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway.
The names of two cancer heroes will be featured on Haley\u2019s No. 7 Chevy this weekend as part of the Martin Truex, Jr., Foundation and NASCAR Foundation\u2019s Honor A Cancer Hero campaign. Tabatha Guaglianone and Mary Rogers will ride on the driver\u2019s- and passenger\u2019s-side name rails, respectively.
Tabatha Guaglianone was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer in May 2021. She had a double mastectomy and went through 16 weeks of chemotherapy. She rang the bell in November 2021 and has been cancer free since. Her family is incredibly proud of her fight and the battle she won. \u201cTab\u201d and her family are Justin Haley fans and travel to many NASCAR races across the country.
Mary Rogers was diagnosed with Bladder Cancer in early 2025. She underwent surgery to have it removed in March, but during the routine procedure, doctors realized the cancer was more extensive than initially believed. She is currently undergoing chemotherapy and radiation to target the remaining cancer that wasn\u2019t removed during the surgery and ensure it doesn\u2019t spread. She is a mother of three: Gina, Ron, and Bryan; Grandmother to eight; and Great Grandmother to 10. She has been married to her husband, Dewey, for 66 years. There is nothing that she loves more than spending time with family. Her daughter-in-law, Tammy Rogers, is also battling cancer and is riding aboard Riley Herbst\u2019s No. 35 car on Saturday.
Haley secured his lone Cup Series win in the 2019 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at the \u201cWorld Center of Racing.\u201d He picked up both his and the team\u2019s first win \u2013 an upset of practically unprecedented proportions \u2013 behind the wheel of the No. 77 Chevrolet. In 10 previous NASCAR Cup Series starts at the \u201cWorld Center of Racing,\u201d Haley has notched one win, one top-10 and four top-20 finishes.
Haley will pull double duty this weekend, also driving the No. 11 Chevrolet for Kaulig Racing in Friday night\u2019s NASCAR Xfinity Series\u2019 Wawa 250. In 10 previous Xfinity Series starts at the famed Daytona Beach-venue, the 26-year-old driver has notched two wins, three top fives and six top 10s. He\u2019s logged a 14.1 average start, a 11.9 average finish and paced the field for 30 laps.
Last Saturday at Richmond Raceway, Haley raced inside the top 20 before a Lap 197 incident ended his night early, leaving him 37th in the final rundown.
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Haley has a pair of CRAFTSMAN Truck Series starts at the 2.5-mile superspeedway, including a runner-up effort in 2018 and a fifth-place result in Spire Motorsports\u2019 No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado in this year\u2019s season opener.
The veteran racer has earned one Cup Series victory, four NASCAR Xfinity Series checkered flags and three NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series wins, making him one of just 41 drivers in history to have earned victories across all three of NASCAR\u2019s National Touring Series.
The Winamac, Ind., native is a veteran of 169 Cup Series starts and has notched one win, five top fives, 16 top 10s and led 103 laps in NASCAR\u2019s premier division. In total, Haley has made 69 Cup Series starts for Spire Motorsports, including his first start in NASCAR\u2019s premier division at Talladega Superspeedway on his 20th birthday.<\/p>\n
Justin Haley Quote
What are your thoughts on pulling double duty at Daytona?
\u201cDaytona is one of my favorite tracks. I\u2019m excited to get back to superspeedway racing this weekend and make a final push for the playoffs with our No. 7 Gainbridge Chevy. Hopefully, we can learn a couple things Friday night in the Xfinity Series car so we can be there at the end and race for a win both nights.\u201d
Atop the No. 7 Box \u2013 Crew Chief Ryan Sparks<\/p>\n
Ryan Sparks serves in a dual role as both Spire Motorsports Competition Director and crew chief for driver Justin Haley. He was first paired with Haley at Bristol Motor Speedway in September 2024.
The Winston Salem, N.C., native has called 191 NASCAR Cup Series races where he\u2019s earned three top-five and nine top-10 finishes.
In total, Sparks has called 12 previous Cup Series races at Daytona International Speedway where he\u2019s led his drivers to one top-five and four top-10 finishes. The veteran crew chief recorded a fourth-place finish in the 2024 Daytona 500 with driver Corey LaJoie.<\/p>\n
Michael McDowell \u2013 Driver, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet ZL1<\/p>\n
Michael McDowell will pilot Spire Motorsports\u2019 No. 71 Fly Alliance Chevrolet ZL1 in Saturday\u2019s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway.
McDowell has made 28 starts in the NACAR Cup Series at the \u201cWorld Center of Racing,\u201d including a trip to Victory Lane in the 2021 Daytona 500. Additionally, the veteran racer has logged three top-five and eight top-10 finishes at the 2.5-mile Daytona Beach oval.
In 28 starts in NASCAR\u2019s premier division at Daytona, the Glendale, Ariz. native has earned one pole position and led 62 laps. Despite winning the 2021 edition of the Great American Race, McDowell only led one lap that day \u2013 the final one \u2013 enroute to his first career victory.
It took 358 starts or 13 years, 10 months, and 15 days (5,069 days) between his series debut in 2008 and his 2021 Daytona 500 victory.
Fly Alliance is a global private aviation company offering a comprehensive suite of services including on-demand charter, jet card programs, fractional aircraft ownership, parts sales, maintenance, and full-service aircraft management. Headquartered at Orlando Executive Airport, Fly Alliance operates a fleet of over 30 aircraft with a growing international footprint that includes operations across North America, Western Europe, and the Middle East. Known for its deep expertise and concierge-level service, Fly Alliance serves a diverse clientele of high-net-worth individuals, corporate executives, and professional sports teams.
The No. 71 entry will support both the Martin Truex, Jr., Foundation and NASCAR Foundation by sporting the names of two cancer heroes on the name rails. Jeanann Orna and Adam Brookhart will ride along on the driver\u2019s- and passenger\u2019s-side doors, respectively, at Daytona International Speedway, replacing the traditional Michael McDowell insignia for the weekend.
Jeanann Orna was a nurse who helped countless patients through her profession during her lifetime. While helping those in need, she was battling cancer, herself. She defeated breast cancer in 2006, but was diagnosed with stage-four ovarian cancer in June of 2020 and lost her battle in November of 2022. Even through life\u2019s toughest moments, being a mother remained her primary focus. She helped her kids (Kali and Sean) through high school, college and other major life experiences, all while battling the most vicious form of cancer. Jeanann was a true Cancer Hero and an inspiration for all.
Adam Brookhart was diagnosed with stage-three colon cancer in January 2025. He\u2019s been through 12 rounds of chemotherapy and hopes to be wrapped up by the end of August. Even while fighting the disease, he has taken on every treatment session with a positive attitude. His life motto is \u201cwhen life gives you a cactus, it doesn\u2019t mean you have to sit on it.\u201d
McDowell has experience beyond the oval configuration at Daytona, holding six attempts in the Rolex 24 at Daytona. McDowell owns one top-five and four top-10 finishes at one of the world\u2019s most prestigious endurance races. He has led 69 laps with an average start of 10.1 and an average overall finish of 13.8. He also boasts a pair of top-10 finishes in both NASCAR Cup Series events on the road-course configuration of Daytona International Speedway in 2020-2021.
In five NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at the famed superspeedway, the 40-year-old earned a series-best 13th-place result in the 2009 Subway Jalapeno 250.
The father-of-five raced Spire Motorsports\u2019 No. 07 Go Bowling Chevrolet Silverado in the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series season-opening Fresh from Florida 250, where he was ultimately saddled with a 26th-place finish after sustaining damage late in the race.
Over the first 25 races of the season, McDowell has tallied two top-five, three top-10 and 13 top-20 finishes. He\u2019s earned an average starting position of 14.5 heading into the final race of the regular season.
McDowell has claimed three Xfinity Fastest Lap awards this season, clocking the fastest lap in the Daytona 500, Phoenix Raceway and Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. The team is one of just three in the series to tally three or more bonus points via the program.
The No. 71 team secured Spire Motorsports\u2019 first Busch Light Pole Award at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March. The 28.833-second lap marks the fastest lap recorded in NASCAR\u2019s seventh-generation Cup Series car (2022-present) at the 1.5-mile Nevada oval. The team also earned Spire Motorsports\u2019 first stage win during the Grant Park 165 on the streets of downtown Chicago.
McDowell\u2019s team earned a $100,000 payday and a trip to Victory Lane after winning the Mechanix Wear Pit Crew Challenge during May\u2019s NASCAR All-Star Weekend at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway. The crew\u2019s blazing 12.587-second stop topped all entries for both the NASCAR All-Star Open and NASCAR All-Star Race, earning the title of the fastest team on pit road.
Jeff Ambrose, driver of the team\u2019s race transporter, calls Central Florida home. The Altamonte Springs native has spent nearly three years as McDowell\u2019s hauler driver. Prior to his time with Spire Motorsports, Ambrose was part of Ricky Stenhouse Jr\u2019s. Daytona 500-winning team.
Heading into the final race of the regular season, McDowell and Co. sit 206 points below the playoff cut line and are in a must-win situation to advance to the NASCAR Playoffs.<\/p>\n
Michael McDowell Quote
Talk about your perspective heading into the final race of the 2025 regular season.
\u201cIt\u2019s our last chance \u2013 the last race before the playoffs start. We all know what we\u2019re trying to do, and we\u2019re definitely going to try to get one of our Spire Motorsports cars in. It\u2019s a great opportunity for us and a new partner onboard with Fly Alliance. Justin (Haley) has won there, and I\u2019ve won there. We\u2019ve had strong speedway cars this year and the time has come. Unfortunately, we put ourselves in this predicament where it comes down to the last race to get into the playoffs, but we know what we\u2019ve got to do.\u201d
Atop the No. 71 Box \u2013 Crew Chief Travis Peterson<\/p>\n
Travis Peterson serves as the crew chief for driver Michael McDowell and Spire Motorsports\u2019 No. 71 Chevrolet ZL1 in the NASCAR Cup Series.
The potent Peterson\/McDowell combination have five starts together at the historic track totaling one pole \u2013 a front row start in the 2024 Daytona 500 \u2013 and 36 laps led.
Peterson helped Dale Earnhardt, Jr., to Victory Lane in the 2015 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at the 2.5-mile superspeedway while serving as a race engineer for Hendrick Motorsports\u2019 No. 88 team. \u201cJunebug\u201d qualified on the pole and led 96 laps en route to the win.<\/p>\n
Carson Hocevar \u2013 Driver, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet ZL1<\/p>\n
Carson Hocevar will pilot the No. 77 MODO Casino Chevrolet ZL1 in Saturday night\u2019s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway. The 26th points-paying race on the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series schedule marks the end of the regular season, when the 16-driver playoff field will be set ahead of the final 10 races.
In the 2024 edition of the Coke Zero Sugar 400, Hocevar\u2019s second NASCAR Cup Series start at the 2.5-mile oval, he drove to an 11th-place finish.
The Modo Casino livery will be showcased aboard the No. 77 Chevy for the first of four races beginning with the Coke Zero Sugar 400. America\u2019s fastest-growing social casino from ARB Interactive will return to Hocevar\u2019s Chevrolet at the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway ROVAL, Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway and Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. Modo Casino is proudly built in the U.S. and offers players the thrill of casino-style gaming online. This free-to-play platform features hundreds of popular slot titles, live dealer experiences, and classic table games like Blackjack and Roulette. Players use free coins to compete and can redeem winnings for real-world prizes and experiences, creating a fun, accessible and low stress way to play. Through partnerships with major sports properties, Modo Casino delivers exclusive content, unique fan experiences, and culturally relevant entertainment for millions of players nationwide. Modo Casino follows the International Social Games Association\u2019s and the Social Gaming Leadership Alliance\u2019s best practice principles, as well as all relevant consumer protection, competition, advertising and privacy regulations.
Joining the No. 77 team at Daytona as an associate partner is Welcome to Rockville, North America\u2019s largest rock festival. Fans can enter a sweepstakes to win a VIP experience to the Coke Zero Sugar 400 and four-day VIP passes to Welcome to Rockville 2026. Welcome To Rockville returns for its 15th year and sixth at Daytona International Speedway May 7-10 2026. North America\u2019s Largest Rock Festival broke its own records in 2025 with 230,000 music fans joining together for the four-day destination event that included back-to-back record-setting crowds. The festival is produced by Danny Wimmer Presents (DWP), one of the world\u2019s premier independent live event producers.
The No. 77 team will honor Michele Broadley at Daytona as part of the Martin Truex, Jr., Foundation\u2019s Honor a Cancer Hero initiative in conjunction with the NASCAR Foundation and Advent Health. Michele is a forever 24-year-old cancer warrior who loved to live life. She loved all animals, especially her cat Dusty, and she loved traveling. Michele fought a three-and-a-half-year battle with alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (ARMS). During her fight, she attended the University of Connecticut and graduated with honors with a B.A. in Psychology and minored in Women\u2019s Studies. She began graduate school for her Master\u2019s Degree in Social Work at Southern Connecticut State University to prove that \u201cyes, I have cancer, but cancer doesn\u2019t have me.\u201d Michele passed away on September 28, 2016 and continues to be an inspiration to those closest to her. Additional information can be found on the #TeamM Facebook page.
Hocevar finished seventh at Talladega in April, his best Cup Series finish on a traditional superspeedway, and owns three top-15 finishes at Daytona and Talladega combined.
The Portage, Mich., native earned a career-best runner-up finish at the superspeedway-like Atlanta Motor Speedway on Feb. 23 and returned in June to add a 10th-place effort to his r\u00e9sum\u00e9.
Hocevar owns three NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series starts at the \u201cWorld Center of Racing,\u201d resulting in two top 10s and a best finish of fifth in 2021.<\/p>\n
Carson Hocevar Quote
We\u2019ve seen a shift in your approach to superspeedway racing since this year\u2019s Daytona 500. Will you continue on that path as we head back to Florida?
\u201cYeah, I always felt like it was easier or safer to just stay out of trouble and be there at the end, but that didn\u2019t really work for us in February and I showed up at Atlanta kind of wanting to prove a point that if I ran hard, I\u2019d get caught up in something early. That didn\u2019t happen and we were fighting for a win at the checkered flag, so I guess I did prove a point, but more to myself. Superspeedway racing is tough. Everything happens so quickly and it comes down to trusting the crew chief and spotter to put you in the right position to make it to those last few laps. I think we\u2019ve done a good a job of that this year since Daytona.\u201d<\/p>\n
Is the goal for this weekend to make the playoffs?
\u201cI think everyone goes into Daytona knowing that anything can happen and you could leave with a spot in the playoff field. For us, we\u2019re going to run the best race we can. You always hope that means you\u2019re in Victory Lane at the end, but more importantly we need to keep working on putting together all of the pieces to have good races week after week. Playoffs is the goal. Wins are also a goal, but working together to be successful is what is going to help us find success consistently.\u201d
Atop the No. 77 Box \u2013 Crew Chief Luke Lambert<\/p>\n
Luke Lambert has called 47 superspeedway races, including 23 at Daytona, resulting in six top-five and 15 top-10 finishes. In 2023, Lambert led driver Chris Buescher to a third-place finish in the Coke Zero Sugar 400.
In four Xfinity Series races atop the pit box at Daytona, Lambert collected third-place results with Elliott Sadler (2012) and Noah Gragson (2022).
Lambert and Hocevar will make their 70th start as a driver\/crew chief combination in Saturday night\u2019s race. Together they\u2019ve earned 24 finishes inside the top 15.<\/p>\n
Spire Motorsports PR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 25 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, Spire Motorsports has logged one win, three…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":48066,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,717,718,925,77,634,17819,1702,721,722,82,723],"class_list":["post-82531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-charlotte","tag-craftsman-truck-series","tag-daytona","tag-international","tag-nascar","tag-nationwide","tag-ricky-stenhouse-jr","tag-series","tag-speedway","tag-sports","tag-xfinity-series"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82531","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=82531"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82531\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}