SPIRE MOTORSPORTS PARTNERS WITH NETFLIX TO PROMOTE “THE CREW” FOR O’REILLY AUTO PARTS 253
CONCORD, N.C. (February 17, 2021) – A new season breaths new life into the spirit of any sports fan. Major League Baseball fans live for Opening Day. Alumni and die hards alike, bask in the glory of the first kick signaling a new season of college football. For National Hockey League fans, the drop of the first puck is a long-awaited moment that began immediately after the previous season’s champion hoisted the Stanley Cup.
In NASCAR circles, the Daytona 500 is the Super Bowl of stock car racing. The countdown to the Great American Race begins immediately following the final checkered flag the November before. But what about the lull that’s sure trail the biggest race of the season? Thirty five points races dot the calendar for the next 10 months. Get ready for the grind.
Cue Netflix’ latest sitcom “The Crew,” and NASCAR fans can beat their day-after-the-500 blues with the hilarity that is bound to follow Kevin James in his newest role as the veteran crew chief for Bobby Spencer Racing.
Spire Motorsports and Netflix have partnered to showcase “The Crew” aboard the team’s No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro with driver Corey LaJoie in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 253 from Daytona International Speedway’s road course.
“The Crew,” streaming now on Netflix, stars James along with fellow cast members Jillian Mueller, Freddie Stroma, Sarah Stiles, Gary Anthony Williams, Dan Ahdoot, Paris Berelc and Bruce McGill. The NASCAR-themed Netflix comedy follows James when the team owner steps down and passes the torch to his daughter (Mueller). James keeps the laughs coming as he protects himself and his crew from her attempts to modernize the team.
“We’re excited to see ‘The Crew’ on the No. 7 this weekend,” said Spire Motorsports co-owner T.J. Puchyr. “We were fortunate enough to work with Netflix last year at the Michigan double-header so we’ve been looking forward to it. Our whole organization has had a lot of fun collaborating with Netflix on this project. Seeing the show drop this week is the icing on the cake.”
LaJoie steered the No. 7 entry to a ninth-place finish last Sunday in the 63rd running of the Daytona 500 at the track’s legendary 2.5-mile superspeedway. The solid effort marked LaJoie’s third top-10 finish in NASCAR Cup Series competition at the World Center of Racing. The 29-year-old Concord, N.C., native logged a 32nd-place finish last season in his lone start at the facility’s daunting 3.61-mile road course.
“We had a great start to the season at the Daytona 500,” said LaJoie. “Obviously, you always want to be in position to race for the win but to start off the year by finishing ninth in the biggest race of the season is pretty gratifying. We’re going to do our best to build on that momentum as we get ready for the Daytona road course race. It’s going to be a lot of fun to have ‘The Crew’ on our car this weekend. Kevin James is always a lot of laughs and ‘The Crew’ is a great reminder not to take ourselves too seriously.”
The O’Reilly Auto Parts 253 will be televised live on FOX Sunday, February 21 beginning at 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST). The second of 36 races on the 2021 NCS schedule will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
About Spire Motorsports …
Spire Motorsports was established in 2018 and is co-owned by longtime NASCAR industry executives Jeff Dickerson and Thaddeus “T.J.” Puchyr. Spire Motorsports earned an upset victory for the ages in its first full season when Justin Haley took the checkered flag in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on July 7, 2019. The team will field the Nos. 7 and 77 Chevrolet Camaros in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2021.
About The Crew …
“The Crew” stars Kevin James as a crew chief for the fictional Bobby Spencer Racing team. When the owner steps down and passes the team off to his daughter (Jillian Mueller), James has to protect himself and his crew from her attempts to modernize the team. Freddie Stroma portrays Jake Martin, charismatic driver of the team’s No. 74 Fake Steak-sponsored car. Sarah Stiles, Gary Anthony Williams, Dan Ahdoot, Paris Berelc and Bruce McGill also star. Jeff Lowell (The Ranch, Two and a Half Men, Spin City) will serve as writer, showrunner and executive producer. Andy Fickman (Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, Playing With Fire) directed all episodes and serves as an executive producer. James, Jeff Sussman (The King of Queens, Paul Blart) and Todd Garner (Tag, Isn’t It Romantic, Mortal Kombat) will also serve as executive producers. Matt Summers and Tim Clark will executive produce for NASCAR.
