Spire Motorsports Daytona 500 Race Advance

• In 22 NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) starts at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway (DIS), 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 DIS 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.
• The Daytona 500 will be televised live on FOX Sunday, Feb. 16, beginning at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The first of 36 points-paying races on the 2025 NCS schedule will be streamed live on Amazon and broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. FOX NASCAR Raceday will take the green flag at 12:30 p.m. EST.

Justin Haley – Driver, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet ZL1

• Justin Haley will pilot Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Chili’s Ride the ‘Dente Chevrolet ZL1 in Sunday’s Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.
• Haley secured his first Cup Series win in the 2019 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway. He picked up both his and the team’s first win – an upset of practically unprecedented proportions – behind the wheel of the No. 77 Chevrolet.
• In total, the 25-year-old has nine NASCAR Cup Series starts under his belt at Daytona, tallying one win, one top five and two top 10s.
• Haley will pull double duty on the weekend and wheel the No. 7 Gainbridge Chevy Silverado in the Fresh from Florida 250 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race Friday night. He started 12th in the 2018 event where he went on to lead nine laps and finish second. That race marks his only CRAFTSMAN Truck Series start at the World Center of Racing.
• In 10 appearances in NASCAR Xfinity Series competition at the World Center of Racing, Haley collected wins in back-to-back in the summers of 2020 and 2021. In July of 2019, he fell 0.109 seconds short of a three-peat, losing the closely-contested battle at the finish line. He’s tallied six top 10s to accompany his three top five-finishes in Xfinity Series competition at the historic venue.
• Chili’s is a leader in the casual dining industry and the flagship brand of Dallas-based Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE: EAT). Chili’s is known for its big mouth burgers, Chicken Crispers®, full-on sizzling fajitas and hand-shaken margaritas. Chili’s takes its food seriously – but not themselves – because dining out should feel like a celebration even if there is nothing to celebrate. Chili’s passion is making everyone feel special, and every day, ChiliHeads make it their job to spread #ChilisLove across almost 1,600 restaurants in 27 countries and two territories. And Chili’s cares. Chili’s hosts local Give Back Events to support kids, education and hunger and has raised more than $100 million benefiting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital through generous Guest donations. Find more information about Chili’s at chilis.com, follow on Twitter or Instagram, like them on Facebook or join Chili’s on TikTok.
• Chili’s iconic chili-pepper logo will adorn the hood of the No. 7 for the Daytona 500. Race fans can meet Haley and teammate Carson Hocevar at Chili’s in Ormond Beach Friday, Feb. 14 from noon – 1 p.m.
• Last September, Haley made his return to Spire Motorsports after beginning the 2024 season with Rick Ware Racing. The three-time NASCAR Xfinity Series race winner participated in the final seven events of the year aboard the team’s No. 7 Chevrolet, earning a season-best finish of seventh at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
• The Winamac, Ind., native is a veteran of 144 Cup Series starts and has notched one win, five top fives, 16 top 10s and led 103 laps in NASCAR’s premier division.
• In total, Haley has made 41 Cup Series starts for Spire Motorsports, with the bulk of races coming during the 2021 season behind the wheel of the team’s No. 77 machine. He made his first Cup Series start at Talladega Superspeedway on his 18th birthday.

Justin Haley Quote
How do you feel about your chances in the Daytona 500?
“Kicking off the season in Daytona is truly one of the highlights of the year. I have complete confidence the No. 7 team will bring a fast Chili’s Chevrolet to Daytona, and, if everything goes according to plan, we’ll do our best to position ourselves to race for the win. I am eager to work with my teammates, Carson (Hocevar) and Michael (McDowell), and hopefully we can start off the season with a strong run in Daytona.”

Atop the No. 7 Box – Crew Chief Rodney Childers

• Crew chief Rodney Childers comes to Spire Motorsports after spending the past 11 seasons at Stewart-Haas Racing, leading the organization’s No. 4 team. The first 10 of those campaigns were with 2014 NASCAR Cup Series Champion Kevin Harvick.
• Childers has called 38 races at Daytona International Speedway, including eight top-five and 12 top-10 finishes. Childers-prepared cars have led 132 laps at DIS.
• The veteran crew chief has participated in 676 NASCAR Cup Series races where he’s earned 34 poles, 40 wins, 178 top-five and 298 top-10 finishes. He also earned 2014 championship honors with former driver Kevin Harvick.
• Childers’ 40 wins at NASCAR’s premier level are second-most amongst all active crew chiefs in the Cup Series garage.

Rodney Childers Quote
What will it take to finally close the deal and win a race at Daytona after coming so close so many times?
“Daytona and winning at a superspeedway have turned into my nemeses. We have been leading with a couple laps to go it seems like 15 times and haven’t been able to bring it home. Hoping this year is the year and we can end the night in victory lane.”

Michael McDowell – Driver, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet ZL1

• Michael McDowell will pilot Spire Motorsports’ No. 71 Go Bowling Chevrolet ZL1 in the 57th edition of the Daytona 500.
• After claiming victory in the 2021 Daytona 500, McDowell looks to become the 12th driver to earn multiple victories in the Great American Race. A second triumph in stock car racing’s most prestigious event would put him in elite company with racing royalty including Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Cale Yarborough.
• The 40-year-old driver will pull double duty on the weekend, competing in Friday evening’s Fresh from Florida 250 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race. McDowell will pilot the No. 07 Go Bowling Chevrolet Silverado with crew chief Allen Hart atop the box. He will be making his third-career CRAFTSMAN Truck Series start and first since a series/career-best 14th-place finish with ThorSport Racing at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 2009.
• GoBowling.com is the destination for bowling consumers and enthusiasts seeking news and information about one of America’s favorite pastimes and the nation’s number one participatory sport. Consumers visit GoBowling.com every day to find bowling centers in their communities, learn new tips and techniques to improve their game, and to access bowling promotions available at more than 1,700+ family-friendly bowling centers across the country.
• Go Bowling joins Spire Motorsports as the primary partner on board McDowell’s No. 71 Chevrolet ZL1 and his No. 07 Chevrolet Silverado for a combined 750 miles on NASCAR’s opening weekend at Daytona. Go Bowling will return to the primary position for the August 10 Go Bowling at the Glen at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International.
• In 27 attempts at Daytona International Speedway, McDowell has earned one win, three top-five, and eight top-10 finishes. He earned a front row starting spot in last year’s 500-mile contest and a start from the pole position in the 2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400.
• McDowell has experience beyond the oval configuration at Daytona International Speedway, holding six attempts in the Rolex 24 at Daytona. McDowell owns one top-five and four top-10 finishes at one of the world’s toughest endurance races. He has led 69 total 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 occasions in which the NASCAR Cup Series visited the Daytona road course in 2020-21.
• McDowell and crew chief Travis Peterson earned five pole positions at the six events contested at drafting tracks during the 2024 season. Additionally, McDowell led the field to the green flag at World Wide Technology Raceway (Ill.) in June, giving the team six total Busch Light Pole Awards on the season – the most of any team last season.
• Across his first five qualifying attempts during the 2024 season, McDowell held an average starting position of 6.2, which included two front-row starting positions, second at Daytona and a pole position at Atlanta. McDowell’s lowest starting position in his first five races last season was a 12th-place qualifying effort at Las Vegas.
• McDowell marked his 500th career start at Martinsville Speedway last fall, a milestone he celebrated at the site of his first Cup Series start in 2008. Now 40-years-old and a father of five, McDowell is set to complete his 17th season competing in NASCAR’s premier division. To date, he has 501 Cup Series career starts on his resume.

Michael McDowell Quotes
What makes the Daytona 500 so special?
“Daytona is tough. It’s hard to get to the end of a 500-mile race, and with this NextGen car, you have to be aggressive and keep track position, which means you have to fight hard to get up there and stay up there. But it’s all calculated risk. You’re trying to put yourself in the best position you can, but you’re also feeling the energy in the pack and seeing where you think something’s going to come from. It’s a balance of when to take that risk and when not to, when to back out and when to keep going. There’s less opportunities now to get out of the pack and recharge. So, you know who you’re around and when you’re around other cars it is really important. The fuel mileage and pit cycle stuff is super important now, too. Those factors change the intensity of the race at different points, and you have to adapt to that intensity when it picks up. There’s a lot of moving dynamics that have changed over the years.”

Atop the No. 71 Box – Crew Chief Travis Peterson

• Crew chief Travis Peterson joins Spire Motorsports after spending the past two seasons at Front Row Motorsports. He made the move alongside driver, Michael McDowell.
• The 33-year-old helped McDowell to an outside front row starting spot in the Great American Race one year ago, and to a pole position in the series’ last stop at Daytona last August. The duo also earned pole awards in both the series’ stops at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in 2024.
• Peterson contributed to several victories during his tenure at RFK Racing, Hendrick Motorsports and JR Motorsports, highlighted by clinching the NASCAR Xfinity Series title in 2014 and racking up three Cup Series wins with Dale Earnhardt, Jr., and the No. 88 team in 2015.
• Peterson is a mechanical engineering graduate of the Williams States Lee College of Engineering at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. The West Bend, Wis., native earned his degree in 2012.

Travis Peterson Quotes
Talk about the difference between strategy and calculated risk at a track like Daytona.
“From my seat, it’s all about strategy and that risk comes down to both Michael and his spotter. We worry about strategy and trying to stay close to the front and in the lead with enough fuel to go from the final pit stop and from there it’s in the hands of those two. The reality is the Speedway game has changed a lot. We have to do a lot of fuel saving and different strategy things to try to execute track position, but in the end, it comes down to a lot of luck and having the right push at the right time.”

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

• Carson Hocevar will pilot the No. 77 Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet ZL1 in the 67th running of the Daytona 500. The Portage, Michigan native will make his second start in the Great American Race after making his rookie debut in 2024.
• 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 majority of the imported manufacturers. The family-owned and -operated organization has been a regular on the Cup Series tour since 2019.
• Hocevar and representatives from Zeigler Auto Group will host Dawson Noaeill, an 18-year-old from Battle Creek, Mich., living with a rare heart condition, along with his family, at the Great American Race. Noaeill was on hand at Zeigler Motorsports in Kalamazoo, Mich., in December when Zeigler Automotive announced a partnership extension with Spire Motorsports. Noaeill, an avid outdoorsman, was gifted a sports utility vehicle at the event and invited to attend the season-opening race where his name will appear on the driver-side name rail in place of Hocevar’s.
• In 2024, Hocevar started 20th in the first Duel at Daytona qualifying race and drove to a fourth-place finish that positioned him ninth on the grid for the Daytona 500. He was running 10th on Lap 6 when two cars to his outside made contact and collected the No. 77, ending Hocevar’s race.
• The 22-year-old returned to Daytona in August for his second Cup Series start on the 2.5-mile superspeedway to earn a solid 11th-place finish.
• In five superspeedway starts in the NASCAR Cup Series, Hocevar has three top-20 finishes.
• Hocevar owns three NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series starts at Daytona resulting in two top 10s and a best finish of fifth in 2021.
• Race fans can meet Hocevar and teammate Justin Haley at Chili’s in Ormond Beach Friday, Feb. 14 from Noon – 1 p.m.

Carson Hocevar Quotes
Though your first Daytona 500 experience was cut short, is there anything you can take away from last year to help with your preparation for next week?
“The biggest thing that I walked away with is confirmation that superspeedway racing is unpredictable and a lot of times what happens on track is the result of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Going through qualifying and the Duel was good. Knowing what going through all of that is like will take a lot of pressure off of me. It’ll be like any other time we show up to the track and getting back into that routine will be nice. I feel kinda lucky that I have two teammates that are really good on the drafting tracks and we’ve had a lot of conversations about how we approach the races next week. We’ve worked really hard in the offseason to make sure we show up ready to compete this year and Daytona is the first step in making that happen.”

Atop the No. 77 Box – Crew Chief Luke Lambert

• Luke Lambert will be atop the pit box as crew chief for Hocevar for a second full season. In 2024, the pair earned one top-five and six top-10 finishes. Their best result was a third-place effort at Watkins Glen in September.
• Lambert has collected 411 starts as crew chief in the NASCAR Cup Series with a total of 28 top fives and 92 top-10 finishes, highlighted by a win with Ryan Newman at Phoenix in 2017.
• In 22 Cup Series events at Daytona, the veteran crew chief owns a pair of top-five finishes with Chris Buescher (3rd, February 2020) and Ryan Newman (5th, July 2017), and six top 10s.
• The Mount Airy, N.C., native has called 22 races at Daytona resulting in two top fives and six top 10s.

Luke Lambert Quotes
No other sport starts their season with the biggest event like NASCAR. What is it like for the No. 77 team to begin the season with the biggest race of the year?
“It’s always exciting. This time of year builds a lot of anticipation for all of us. Everybody looks forward to going down to Daytona and seeing where we all stack up. At the same time, it’s a unique track compared to a lot of the other race tracks on the schedule. So, although it is the most important race of the year from a lot of perspectives, there are other things going on within every organization to prepare for those other style of tracks that make up the bulk of our schedule. It’s important for us not to fixate on the Daytona 500 and miss what’s coming ahead.”

About Spire Motorsports …
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 (Fla.) 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 (Va.) Speedway. The team’s most recent win came on April 12, 2024, when Kyle Busch took the checkered flag in the SpeedyCash.com 250 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.

In 2025, Spire Motorsports will campaign the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolets in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team will also field the Nos. 07, 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet Silverados in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series and the No. 77 Chevrolet in the ARCA Menards Series in select events.