Spire Motorsports will field the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet Silverados full time in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS). An all-star driver lineup will rotate throughout the 2024 season in the No. 7 Chevy. Rajah Caruth will drive the No. 71 entry and Chase Purdy rounds out the team’s fleet of Chevrolets in the No. 77.
The Fresh from Florida 250 from Daytona International Speedway will be televised live on FS1 Friday, Feb. 16, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The first of 23 NCTS races on the 2024 schedule will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
Corey LaJoie – Driver, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado
- Corey LaJoie is set to make the fifth NCTS start of his career in Friday night’s Fresh from Florida 250 at Daytona International Speedway driving the No. 7 Bluegreen Vacations Chevrolet Silverado. Across his first four NCTS starts, the 32-year-old driver has posted an average finish of 16.5 with a best result of 10th coming at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2014.
- The third-generation driver also opened last season at the controls of the No. 7 Chevy Silverado at the “World Center of Racing” where he started fifth and led a race-high 19 laps. He was the class of the field before getting shuffled out of the top spot during the late-race goings. He ultimately finished 23rd when rain forced NASCAR officials to call the race, 21 laps short of the scheduled distance.
- Bluegreen Vacations Holding Corporation, a subsidiary of Hilton Grand Vacations, markets and sells vacation ownership interests and manages resorts in popular leisure and urban destinations. The Bluegreen Vacation Club is a flexible, points-based, deeded vacation ownership plan with 70 Club and Club Associate Resorts and access to nearly 11,300 other hotels and resorts through partnerships and exchange networks. The Company also offers a portfolio of comprehensive, fee-based resort management, financial, and sales and marketing services to, or on behalf of, third parties.
- The 2024 season marks LaJoie’s fifth year collaborating with Bluegreen Vacations and the vacation company’s first venture into NCTS competition.
- LaJoie will be pulling double duty this weekend, as he heads into his fourth full-time season behind the wheel of the No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in the NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) for Spire Motorsports. Sunday’s event will mark his eighth career start in The Great American Race. The North Carolina native has recorded two top-10 finishes across his first seven starts in the 500. Chili’s Grille & Bar will serve as the primary sponsor of LaJoie in the prestigious event.
- LaJoie’s father, Randy, was a three-time winner in NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) action at Daytona. The two-time series champion won the NXS season opener in 1997, 1999 and 2001.
- The No. 7 Silverado, which competed in 11 NCTS events in 2023 will graduate to a full time-effort in 2024 with multiple drivers competing for an owner’s championship. Veteran crew chief Brian Pattie will lead the team. Details regarding the rest of the No. 7 team’s driver lineup are forthcoming.
- Both of Spire’s NCTS wins have been registered by the No. 7 team. William Byron collected the organization’s first-ever Truck Series win at Martinsville Speedway in April of 2022 and Kyle Larson was victorious last May at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
Corey LaJoie Quotes:
You get to have a little fun and mix it up on Friday night, plus it’ll be your first weekend with Bluegreen in 2024.
“We ran the truck race last year, led the most laps and it rained. I knew the rain was coming and I was working with a new spotter in my ear. There was one instance where he called the bottom lane was coming and we were working the lanes, trying to play defense, and I looked in the spot mirror and didn’t quite trust if I was clear or not and I didn’t cover it – I actually didn’t cover Zane (Smith) – and that was the difference. It started raining two-three laps later and they called the race. I thought we had a good enough truck to take the win, so I was irritated about that. I’m still irritated about that so I’m glad I get a chance to do it again this year.
“We’ve been working with Bluegreen Vacations now for four years so it’s cool to continue to grow that partnership. They sponsor the Duals on Thursday night so we always try to do a good job for them because they have such a big presence during Speedweek at Daytona. Having them on our truck and giving them a chance to root for me, hopefully we can get those guys in Victory Lane. That would be really cool.”
Rajah Caruth – Driver, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado
- Rajah Caruth revs up for his second full-time NCTS season, kicking off with the Fresh from Florida 250 at Daytona International Speedway this week. Caruth will pilot the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado with HENDRICKCARS.COM as the primary sponsor for 10 races, including Daytona.
- HENDRICKCARS.COM is the online home for everything Hendrick Automotive Group. Visitors can shop thousands of new or pre-owned vehicles, locate centers for service and collision repair, receive a value to sell or trade their car, chat online with customer service, discover career opportunities, learn more about vehicle protections programs, and explore how the company gives back to the community.
- The 21-year-old Washington D.C. native raced his first full-time season in NCTS in 2023, earning four top-10 finishes and coming home 16th in the division’s season-ending point standings.
- Catch Caruth answering questions at the Chevy Display in the midway on Thursday, February 15th, at 4 p.m. EST.
- Caruth was named the 2021 Wendell Scott Trailblazer Award recipient in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series, an award based on a driver’s final Weekly Series national standing and on-track performance, sportsmanship and community service.
- Caruth started racing professionally online for the first time in the eNASCAR Ignite Series. He finished 20th in points. Caruth still races with iRacing for recreation.
- Veteran crew chief Chad Walter has over two decades of experience and began his career with Hendrick Motorsports in 1996. Some of Walter’s most notable accomplishments include a pair of Daytona 500 victories (2001 & 2003) with Michael Waltrip, along with Cup Series wins with Steve Park and Terry Labonte.
Rajah Caruth Quotes:
What have you learned from racing Daytona last year that you can apply to this year?
“I’ve learned how turbulent the air is, because the truck on this track is not easy to drive, especially when you’re in the middle of three wide or the bottom of two wide. I’ve learned a lot over the years from just watching truck races, Cup races, being on the spotter stand, which is what I’ve done that last three or four years.”
What’s the most unique or challenging aspect of racing at Daytona compared to other tracks?
“One of the most challenging things for me to understand is that you can’t do it yourself. Some racetracks you can just do it on the speed of your truck, or you can find a different line that other guys may not have found. At Daytona it’s usually based off working with others or at the mistakes of other people.”
What’s your goal this season with Spire Motorsports?
“It’s hard to set on a numeric value, but honestly especially with how things ended last year, hopefully a playoff spot is in the relm of possibility. I have a few personal goals like my first top five, leading more than a lap, racing in the top 10 consistently. I do think all those will come with time and see no reason why we won’t be competing for a championship come late summer.”
Chase Purdy – Driver, No.77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado
- Chase Purdy will make his third NCTS start at Daytona International Speedway in Friday’s Fresh from Florida 250. The Meridian, Miss., native was named the full-time driver of Spire Motorsports No. 77 Chevrolet Silverado earlier this year and will compete for NCTS Championship honors.
- In two previous NCTS starts at the World Center of Racing, Purdy has averaged a seventh-place starting position and a 23rd-place average finish. Bama Buggies makes its 2024 debut with Spire Motorsports as the primary sponsor on Purdy’s No. 77 Chevrolet Silverado.
- Purdy has led one lap at Daytona and 22 total laps on superspeedways.
- Purdy has completed 170 of 180 total laps in Daytona NCTS competition, completing 94.4 percent of the laps contested over those two starts.
- The 2024 season marks Chase Purdy’s third full season in the NCTS. The Fresh from Florida 250 will mark Purdy’s first start for Spire Motorsports after spending last season at the wheel for Kyle Busch Motorsports.
- Since becoming a Chevrolet driver in 2023, Purdy has notched two top-10 finishes and one pole at Superspeedway races. Purdy is looking to carry his late-season momentum from 2023 into the 2024 campaign.
- Purdy made significant forward progress in 2023 but still seeks his first career NCTS win. He made a significant jump from his 2022 efforts by qualifying for all 23 events, earning two poles and logging an average starting position of 10.7. Purdy also earned a total of three top fives, 11 top 10s and a 14.6 average finish.
Chase Purdy Quotes:
How are you feeling about the new transition from KBM to Spire? Working with new team members, crew chiefs, resources.
“It’s a new transition but it’s also not in some ways. It’s really nice to work with a lot of the same people as last year so it’s nice to have that comfortability of knowing that you’ve worked with a lot of people and work off of the relationships that you already have. But it’s also really great to be working with new people. Everyone so far has been really great, and I’ve already started building relationships with them. I’m just excited to get the year started and get down to Daytona Friday.”
After all of the momentum you’ve built in 2023, especially at speedways, how are you feeling in terms of momentum for another year of forward progress?
I think 2024 is going to be a great year. I’m excited to build on what we did at the back half of last year and starting out strong with Spire in 2024. You know, we’ve had some, some really good stuff and a lot of speed at speedways. Daytona, ya know, that’s a really good racetrack for me personally, and also our team. I’m excited to go to every racetrack this season. I think the schedule that NASCAR has put out for the trucks this year is really kind of built around my wheelhouse and, what I like, so I’m excited to get started.
What would it mean to get your first career win this season, especially at a place as historic as Daytona?
I think that it would be really special for me, at a track with that much history and you know that’s like the Super Bowl for us right so, to get my first win at the biggest most famous race track there would be very special to me. I think any one would be special to me but one there would be, you know, certainly one to never forget.
From the Top of the Box
Brian Pattie – Crew Chief, No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado
- Brian Pattie comes to Spire Motorsports from Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM), where he earned two victories last year, both with team owner-driver Kyle Busch.
- In addition to his three NCTS wins, Pattie was atop the pit box for six wins across 14 seasons in the NASCAR Cup Series and has 11 career victories as a crew chief in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
- Pattie’s drivers have two wins at Daytona, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in the July Cup Series race in 2017 and Joe Nemechek in the July NASCAR Xfinity Series event in 2002.
Chad Walter – Crew Chief, No. 71 Chevrolet Silverado
- Chad Walter has over two decades of experience and began his career with Hendrick Motorsports in 1996.
- He comes to Spire Motorsports with Caruth after spending last season in the same role with GMS Racing.
- Some of his most notable accomplishments include a pair of Daytona 500 victories (2001 & 2003) with Michael Waltrip, along with Cup Series wins with Steve Park and Terry Labonte.
Jason Trinchere – Crew Chief, No. 77 Chevrolet Silverado
- Jason Trinchere earned his Bachelor of Science from Penn State University and began his professional career in 2005 as the race engineer for the iconic No. 75 Spears Manufacturing NCTS team, owned by series’ pioneers Wayne and Connie Spears.
- Notable accomplishments include Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 wins with both Ganassi Racing and Penske Racing. He was a key member of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series Championship team with driver Joey Logano.
- He comes to Spire Motorsports from Kaulig Racing where he began as an engineer before being promoted to crew chief in 2021, ultimately serving in that capacity for all three of the organization’s NXS teams.
About Spire Motorsports …
Spire Motorsports is a NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race team co-owned by long-time NASCAR industry executives Jeff Dickerson and Thaddeus “T.J.” Puchyr. In 2024, Spire Motorsports will campaign the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1s in the NASCAR Cup Series with drivers Corey LaJoie, Zane Smith and Carson Hocevar, respectively. The team will also field the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet Silverados full time in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. An all-star driver lineup will rotate throughout the 2024 season in the No. 7 Chevy. Rajah Caruth will drive the No. 71 entry and Chase Purdy rounds out the team’s fleet of Chevrolets in the No. 77.
Spire Motorsports earned its inaugural NASCAR Cup Series victory in its first full season of competition when Justin Haley took the checkered flag in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on July 7, 2019. Less than three years later, William Byron drove Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado to its inaugural NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series win on April 7, 2022, at Martinsville Speedway. The team’s most recent win came on May 20, 2023, when Kyle Larson took the checkered flag in the Tyson 250 at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
