Spire Motorsports Grant Park 165 Race Advance

In last year’s inaugural Chicago Street Race, Spire Motorsports finished 14th and 35th with drivers Corey LaJoie and Ty Dillon. In 2024, Spire Motorsports fields the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1s in the NCS with LaJoie, Zane Smith and Carson Hocevar, respectively.
The Grant Park 165 from Historic Grant Park in downtown Chicago will be televised live on NBC Sunday, July 7, beginning at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The 20th of 36 races on the 2024 NCS schedule will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

Corey LaJoie – Driver, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Corey LaJoie heads to the NASCAR Chicago Street Race Weekend behind the wheel of the No. 7 Celsius Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.
The Grant Park 165 will mark LaJoie’s second start at NASCAR’s Chicago Street Course. LaJoie started 19th and finished 14th in last season’s inaugural event.
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In addition to Sunday’s Grant Park 165, CELSIUS will also be showcased as LaJoie’s primary sponsor later this summer at the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway.
LaJoie recorded a series-best 11th-place finish in road-racing competition in the 2023 EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
LaJoie started 21st and finished 20th in last weekend’s Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway. The 32-year-old, father of three has led 38 laps in 2024 and is currently 29th in points.
Over 255 career NCS starts, LaJoie has earned four top-five and nine top-10 finishes and led 161 laps in NASCAR’s premier division.

Corey LaJoie Quotes
You raced your way to the front of the field last weekend at Nashville and while your finish wasn’t reflective of your overall performance, it was still a good run. Now, we flip the script from an oval to the Chicago Street Race. What’s your perspective heading into this weekend?
“We ran 14th at the Chicago Street Course last year and our goal is to better that this weekend. Our road course program has been solid so we’re looking to have a great run in the Celsius Camaro. There’s no margin for error on the race track so we have to be perfect all weekend. I’m looking forward to going back to Chicago this weekend and putting on a great show.”

Zane Smith – Driver, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

After posting a career best second-place finish at Nashville Superspeedway Sunday night, No. 71 Focused Health Chevrolet driver Zane Smith hopes to continue that momentum Sunday in the NASCAR Cup Series’ second running of the Chicago Street Race.
The Spire Motorsports driver survived a record-breaking five overtime attempts, battled three abreast with the leaders in the final turn before falling just 0.068 seconds short of capturing his first checkered flag in NASCAR’s premier division.
Smith’s runner-up finish at Nashville Superspeedway marked Spire Motorsports’ second top-two effort since its 2019 inception. Justin Haley earned the team’s lone NCS win when he took the checkered flag in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on July 7, 2019.
The rookie driver makes his 29th-career Cup Series start on Sunday but has never raced on a street course. He’s enjoyed two of his best results this season on road courses, a 19th-place finish at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas in March and a 16th-place finish at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway in June.
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Race fans can order Focused Health No. 71 Zane Smith merchandise at Zanesmithracing.com.

Zane Smith Quotes
Career best second-place finish last weekend in Nashville. How does that feel and how will you carry this momentum with you?
“It feels so good to put a solid weekend together. It was an awesome result and obviously it stinks to be 0.068 seconds away from my first Cup victory. You never know when you might get a shot at that again. But, so proud of my team for pulling the second-place finish off and the strategy we chose. We know what our cars are capable of now. Going to build off this momentum and continue to learn and get better. I’m looking forward to getting to Chicago this weekend. I’ve heard how cool of an event it was last year and I’m excited to make my first start on a street course.”

Carson Hocevar – Driver, No.77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Carson Hocevar will make his first NCS start on the Chicago Street Course this weekend in the Grant Park 165 driving the No. 77 Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports.
Hocevar started 15th and finished 16th in last Sunday’s Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway.
Zeigler Automotive Group is one of the largest privately-owned dealer groups in the U.S. with 84 franchises across 41 locations in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. Vehicle brands represented include all the domestic and the majority of the imported manufacturers. Founded in 1975, the organization employs over 2,500 people, ranking among the top one percent of automotive dealers in the nation with estimated annual sales of $2.2 billion for 2023. The family-owned and -operated company is well known for its commitment to both customer service and employee satisfaction. Zeigler is regularly recognized as one of the Best and Brightest Companies to Work for in the Nation, also earning similar accolades in Wisconsin, Chicago, and Michigan. Besides these prestigious accolades, Zeigler is also one of Glassdoor’s 100 Best Places to Work in the U.S. for 2024, and among Glassdoor’s top 10 U.S. companies for work-life balance.
Over the course of the season’s first 19 races, Hocevar has notched two top-10 and five top-15 finishes.
Hocevar has two NCS roadcourse starts on his resume and has recorded an average start of 15.5 and an average finish of 19.5. The Portage, Mich., native finished 22nd at Circuit of the Americas in March and 17th last month at Sonoma Raceway.
Hocevar will be a guest on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90 Saturday at 11 a.m. Central Time.
Fans can also join Hocevar on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Chevy Display in the Fan Plaza.

Carson Hocevar Quotes
Even though it’s your debut at the Chicago Street Race, you’ve been putting in extra prep time since last year. Has that extra effort made you feel more ready heading into race week?
“I did a lot of prep work in the SIM. It’s kind of weird to say, I’ve gotten a ton of laps on the Chicago Street Course but I’ve never raced there, so I’m really looking forward to just getting on the actual race track. The SIM was interesting last year without all the buildings, it was just completely bare so I’m excited to go and see the actual Chicago skyline everyone keeps talking about. The extra time makes me feel good about this week. I feel pretty good. I think we are going to have a fast car and I know we can continue to build and get better at road courses.”
From the Top of the Box

Ryan Sparks – Crew Chief, No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Ryan Sparks serves in a dual role as both Spire Motorsports competition director and crew chief for driver Corey LaJoie and the No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro in the NCS.
Sparks, a Winston-Salem, N.C., native, has been paired with LaJoie since 2020.
Combined, Sparks and LaJoie have earned four top-five and seven top-10 finishes, including a fourth-place finish in the 2024 Daytona 500.

Stephen Doran – Crew Chief, No. 71 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Stephen Doran begins his first full season as a Cup Series crew chief leading Zane Smith and the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet team during the 2024 season.
In 2006, Doran got his start in NASCAR at Petty Enterprises.
Prior to his arrival at Spire Motorsports, Doran worked at Stewart-Haas Racing as an engineer, most recently on the No. 4 car driven by Kevin Harvick.

Luke Lambert – Crew Chief, No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Luke Lambert is the crew chief for Spire Motorsports’ No. 77 team with 2024 NCS Rookie of the Year candidate Carson Hocevar.
The 2005 North Carolina State graduate has led the competition efforts for some of the sport’s most notable names including Jeff Burton, Ryan Newman, Elliott Sadler and Chris Buescher.
In 2014, Lambert led Newman to a berth in the Championship 4, and ultimately a runner-up finish in the NCS championship point standings.

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 April 12, 2024, when Kyle Busch took the took the checkered flag in the SpeedyCash.com 250 at Texas Motor Speedway.