Spire Motorsports Sober or Slammer 200 Race Advance

• In four NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series starts at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, Spire Motorsports has earned one top-10 finish. Chase Purdy collected a team-best sixth-place result at the famed 1.366-mile egg-shaped oval last May. The Mooresville, N.C., organization fields the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolets full time in the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. The No. 7 entry will see a rotating roster of all-star caliber drivers throughout the remainder of the season, while Rajah Caruth and NASCAR Cup Series veteran Corey LaJoie will pilot the Nos. 71 and 77, respectively.
• The Sober or Slammer 200 will be televised live on FS1 Saturday, Aug. 30 beginning at noon Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The first round of the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series playoffs will be broadcast live on the NASCAR Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Channel 90.

Corey Day – Driver, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado

• Corey Day will race Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet Silverado in Saturday’s Sober or Slammer 200 at Darlington Raceway.
• The 200-mile event will mark the Clovis, Calif., native’s 12th CRAFTSMAN Truck Series start and eighth with Spire Motorsports. Last month, Day secured his second consecutive top five via a career-best runner-up finish at Indianapolis Raceway Park. He previously finished fifth at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway in June and scored his first-career Kennametal Pole Award in his season debut at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
• The Hendrick Motorsports development driver has started five races behind the wheel of the team’s No. 17 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. His series-best 11th-place finish also came in May at Nashville Superspeedway.
• In three ARCA Menards Series appearances with Spire Motorsports in 2025, including the national tour and ARCA Menards Series West competition, Day buoyed a disappointing start to the season at Daytona (Fla.) International Raceway by earning top-10 results at Phoenix Raceway (10th) and Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway (seventh). He will contest his fourth and final event aboard the team’s No. 77 Chevrolet at Kansas Speedway Sept. 26.
• The 19-year-old will round out his nine-race CRAFTSMAN Truck Series schedule in two weeks at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
• The open-wheel phenom is coming off a $100,071 payday at last weekend’s Gold Cup Race of Champions at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Calif. He started from the pole after collecting the most points and earning an additional $10,000 for winning Thursday’s preliminary event.
• HENDRICKCARS.COM is the online home for everything Hendrick Automotive Group. Visitors can shop more than 30,000 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 protection programs, and explore how the company gives back to the community.
• Day will race Spire Manufacturing chassis SMT-083 Saturday afternoon. Day raced the same truck earlier this season at Nashville and Las Vegas, collecting a fifth-place result and a Kennametal Pole Award, respectively.

Corey Day Quote
What are your thoughts heading to Darlington Raceway, another new track for you?
“I am definitely excited to get to Darlington [Raceway] coming off a couple pretty good runs in the Truck. I hope to continue the momentum at a place that seems to lend itself for dirt guys to be successful there. Definitely excited about that. I know Spire Motorsports will prepare a solid HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevy Silverado for this weekend. One of the key factors will be how quick I can get up to speed at and adapt.”

Atop the No. 7 Box – Crew Chief Brian Pattie

• Brian Pattie stands atop of the No. 7 pit box, an entry that has seen an abundance of all-star caliber drivers behind the wheel throughout the 2025 season.
• The No. 7 team qualified for the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series owner’s playoffs and sit seventh on the grid, two points ahead of the Round of 8 cutoff. Through the 18-race regular season, the crew tallied two wins, six top fives and eight top 10s.
• The Zephyrhills, Fla., native has called two CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races at Darlington, highlighted by a fourth-place finish with William Byron in 2023.
• In a combined 25 races atop the pit box in NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series competition at Darlington, the 50-year-old has collected a pair of top fives. He led both Joe Nemechek (Xfinity, 1999) and Juan Pablo Montoya (Cup, 2010) to fifth-place finishes.
• In May, the team and driver Carson Hocevar claimed victory in the Heart of Health Care 200 at Kansas Speedway. Hocevar led 75 of the event’s 134 laps and survived last-lap contact en route to his fifth victory in the series and first aboard a Spire Motorsports- prepared Chevy Silverado.
• The No. 7 team defended its 2024 victory in the Fr8 208 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in February with Kyle Busch behind the wheel. The Las Vegas driver spent all 135 laps in the top 15 while leading a race-high 80 laps and recording a field-leading average running position (3.2) and driver rating (124.6).
• The 24-year industry veteran spent 14 seasons in NASCAR’s premier division. As a crew chief, he’s amassed six wins in Cup Series competition, 11 in the Xfinity Series and seven in the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. He stands as one of 11 crew chiefs to win races across all three of NASCAR’s national touring series.

Rajah Caruth – Driver, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado

• Rajah Caruth will handle the driving chores for Spire Motorsports’ No. 71 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet Silverado in Saturday’s Sober or Slammer 200 at Darlington Raceway.
• This weekend, Spire Motorsports will be participating in the Martin Truex, Jr., Foundation and NASCAR Foundation’s Honor a Cancer Hero Campaign. Susan Mummert and Fannie Prince will ride on the driver’s- and passenger’s-side name rails, respectively, of Caruth’s HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevy Silverado.
• Susan Memmert was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2017, months after their family had moved to South Carolina from Pennsylvania. The exciting new chapter of their lives filled with palm trees and salt air was brought to a halt by the grim reality of an uncertain future. Surgery was nearly immediately scheduled at Johns Hopkins, then months and months of recovery and chemotherapy followed. With her treatment happening in Maryland and the family remaining in South Carolina, they were apart for the remainder of 2017 and most of 2018. Many would have succumbed to such an immense physical and emotional toll, but thanks to the exceptional care by the folks at Hopkins, she survived and has been cancer free for over seven years. She’s now thriving and enjoying her new home. She’s become a tireless advocate for ovarian cancer awareness, while helping teach nursing students about the needs of ovarian cancer patients.
• Fannie Prince was diagnosed with breast cancer and went through surgery to remove the cancerous tumors and radiation to prevent further spread. Throughout, she remained optimistic and prayerful for a good outcome. Her family was by her side throughout the surgery and treatment processes, and when she finally rang the bell.
• The 23-year-old secured his second CRAFTSMAN Truck Series playoff appearance after claiming victory at Nashville Superspeedway in May. He sits eighth on the playoff grid two points above the Round of 8 cutline.
• Caruth has two prior CRAFTSMAN Truck Series starts at the 1.366-mile egg-shaped oval and secured a venue-best sixth-place result in his first Darlington appearance in 2023. Last season, he was competing for position in the top 10 until he was swept up in a multi-truck incident. The Winston-Salem (N.C.) State University graduate also owns one NASCAR Xfinity Series start at the track in August 2023 where he earned a 16th-place finish.
• Through the 18-race CRAFTSMAN Truck Series regular season, the Washington, D.C., native registered one win, three top fives and nine top 10s. He has led 189 laps, tripling his 57 career laps led entering the year.
• In the No. 71 team’s first playoff appearance in 2024, Caruth and Co. advanced to the Round of 8, but mechanical issues stalled their Championship 4 hopes in the season’s penultimate event at Martinsville Speedway.
• With his first career CRAFTSMAN Truck Series win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last season, Caruth became the third African-American driver to win a NASCAR National Touring Series race, joining 2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Wendell Scott and current Cup Series star Bubba Wallace.
• HENDRICKCARS.COM is the online home for everything Hendrick Automotive Group. Visitors can shop more than 30,000 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 protection programs, and explore how the company gives back to the community.
• The blue and white HENDRICKCARS.COM colors will wrap Spire Manufacturing chassis SMT-080. The truck has seen action six times, including a chassis-best third-place finish with Caruth in May at Texas Motor Speedway.

Rajah Caruth Quotes
What are you feeling as the playoffs kick off this weekend and how do you believe the intensity will ramp up?
“I like the excitement. It is cool to kick things off at Darlington and be in sync with the Cup guys. I’m just excited for the opportunity to be able to perform, and do so when it matters most. I’ve learned a lot over the last couple years, and I think it builds up to this opportunity and this final stretch of seven races. I’ve been close at Darlington the last two years, specifically in 2023. I don’t expect anything different. If anything, I expect to be running up front instead of third. Hopefully we have a good practice and qualifying session on Friday to help us start fast Saturday.”

You have talked about how you enjoy racing at Darlington and it suits your driving style, despite being one of the toughest tracks on the schedule. Why is Darlington a favorite for you?
“I think Darlington is a place that suits my driving style for how worn out it is and reflects the high speeds of a mile-and-a-half. The pavement reflects places like Myrtle Beach (Speedway), Florence (Motor Speedway), Richmond (Raceway) and Southern National (Motorsports Park). Those are places I raced early in my career. Darlington just clicked for me the first time I raced there. I’m excited to get out there this weekend and hopefully we can lock our No. 71 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet Silverado into the Round of 8.”

Atop the No. 71 Box – Crew Chief Kevin “Bono” Manion

• Veteran crew chief Kevin “Bono” Manion has called five CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races at Darlington Raceway. Last season, he led Nick Sanchez to the pole position and a runner-up finish.
• The Boylston, Mass., native has stood atop the box for four NASCAR Xfinity Series events at “The Lady in Black,” collecting three top fives and four top 10s. Most recently, he called Carson Hocevar’s sixth-place result in May 2023. It marked the first of four appearances for Spire Motorsports’ part-time Xfinity Series entry.
• Manion, a 31-year veteran of the sport, founded Spire Motorsports’ CRAFTSMAN Truck Series program alongside industry veteran Mike Greci in 2022. The team claimed victory in its second outing with driver William Byron at Martinsville Speedway.
• The 53-year-old has racked up six Cup Series victories – including the 2010 Daytona 500 – 17 NASCAR Xfinity Series triumphs and 12 CRAFTSMAN Truck series wins. Manion is also one of 11 crew chiefs to have called wins across all three of NASCAR’s national touring series.
• In 2023, Manion became one of few to call a race in all three of NASCAR’s national series in a single season, all of which came under the Spire Motorsports umbrella. He led the part-time effort on the No. 7 Silverado in the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series, helped in limited starts for Carson Hocevar in the Xfinity Series and took the reigns during the second half of the Cup Series season for Ty Dillon and the No. 77 team.

Corey LaJoie – Driver, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado

• Corey LaJoie will drive Spire Motorsports’ No. 77 Gainbridge Chevrolet Silverado in the Sober or Slammer 200 at Darlington Raceway.
• Friday’s 147-lap event will mark LaJoie’s eighth career CRAFTSMAN Truck Series start and third of the season with Spire Motorsports. The 33-year-old has snagged two fifth-place finishes in as many 2025 starts.
• The Concord, N.C., native has one prior CRAFTSMAN Truck Series start at Darlington. LaJoie started 29th and finished 16th in the May 2023 event with Spire Motorsports’ upstart CRAFTSMAN Truck Series program. Crew chief “Bono” Manion was atop the pit box for the No. 7 effort.
• Last time out at Richmond (Va.) Raceway, LaJoie drove the No. 77 Gainbridge Silverado to a fifth-place finish from the 26th starting position. Crew chief Chad Walter decided to stay out as long as possible during the green-flag pit cycle in the Final Stage in hopes of catching a caution flag and gaining valuable track position. To the team’s credit, the yellow flag was displayed on Lap 200 while the No. 77 team was running fourth. LaJoie hit pit road during the caution period for four fresh tires and fuel and lined up fifth for the 35-lap sprint to the finish. He survived a physical restart to secure his second top-five result of the year.
• The former Spire Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series driver owns 14 series starts at the 1.366-mile oval. Last September, LaJoie secured a venue-best ninth-place result in the prestigious Southern 500 at the wheel of the No. 7 Chili’s Chevrolet.
• LaJoie is familiar with Victory Lane in the “Palmetto State.” In 2012, he powered his family-owned No. 07 to an ARCA Menards Series East victory at Greenville-Pickens Speedway. In four series starts at the famed half-mile, “Supershoe” collected one pole, one win, and two top fives.
• The short-track stalwart finished fourth in a UARA STARS Late Model Series event at South Carolina’s Myrtle Beach Speedway in 2009. He bested current Cup Series star Bubba Wallace and Spire Motorsports Director of Vehicle Performance Matt McCall during the 150 lapper.
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• LaJoie will pilot Spire Manufacturing chassis SMT-088 on Saturday. In the truck’s most recent of two appearances, Andres Perez de Lara earned a chassis-best ninth-place result at Michigan International Speedway in June.

Corey LaJoie Quote
Coming off of your second top five in two starts, what is your outlook for the remainder of the season, including Darlington this Saturday?
“It is really cool to be two-for-two in top fives in my Spire Motorsports reunion, including my least favorite track, Richmond. We looked really good preparing in the simulator for Darlington, and Chad (Walter, crew chief) and the whole No. 77 team has been working really hard to build us a fast Gainbridge Silverado. I really enjoy racing at Darlington with how much history it holds. I have so many great memories there as a kid watching my dad race. As we finish off the year, I would hate to think we can’t go win a couple of these last seven races.”

Atop the No. 77 Box – Crew Chief Chad Walter

• Chad Walter has called five CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races at Darlington Raceway. He secured a venue-best sixth-place finish at “The Lady in Black” with Rajah Caruth in 2023.
• In NASCAR Xfinity Series competition, Walter has tallied two top-five and four top-10 finishes, highlighted by a fourth-place result in 2012 with Sam Hornish, Jr., at the controls.
• Early in his career, the Albion, N.Y., native served as a pit crew member for fellow northeasterner Steve Park, including the March 2001 NASCAR Cup Series event at Darlington. Park led 164 laps and looked to be headed for the win until a late-race caution erased his three-plus-second lead. He was ultimately passed by Dale Jarrett and forced to settle for a runner-up finish. Fellow Spire Motorsports crew chief “Bono” Manion also served as the car chief on the No. 1 team that weekend.
• Between NASCAR’s Xfinity Series and CRAFTSMAN Truck Series, the Cornell University graduate has racked up six wins, 53 top fives and 132 top 10s.

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 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series win came on May 30, 2025, when Rajah Caruth took the checkered flag in the Rackley Roofing 200 at Nashville Superspeedway.

In 2025, Spire Motorsports campaigns the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolets in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team also fields the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet Silverados in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series and an ARCA Menards Series Chevrolet in select events.