In 10 attempts at NASCAR’s annual pre-season exhibition race, Spire Motorsports has made two appearances in the feature event. Carson Hocevar, driver of the team’s No. 77 Zeigler Automotive Group Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, finished 16th in last season’s installment of the Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium. The Mooresville, N.C., organization fields the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1s on NASCAR’s senior circuit with Daniel Suárez, Michael McDowell and Hocevar, respectively.
The NASCAR Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium will be televised live on FOX Sunday, Feb. 1 beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST). The 2025 pre-season exhibition race will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. NASCAR Raceday on FOX will take the green flag at 7:30 p.m. EST.
Daniel Suárez – Driver, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
- Daniel Suárez will pilot Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in Sunday’s Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C., as he embarks on his 10th full season in the NASCAR Cup Series and first with the team.
- Suárez has competed in five NASCAR Clash events dating back to 2017. Suárez competed in the 2017 and 2019 Clashes at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, earning eighth- and 10th-place results, respectively. When the Cup Series ventured cross-country for the 2023 Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Suárez picked up a top-five in the feature event. In last year’s inaugural Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium, the Mexico native raced his way into the main event where he finished 18th.
- The 34-year-old joins Spire Motorsports with 323 Cup Series starts where he’s notched two wins, 24 top fives and 75 top 10s in NASCAR’s premier division. Meanwhile, Suárez has led 907 laps and earned three poles since 2017.
- The Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation will make its first appearance of 2026 aboard Suárez’s Chevy this weekend. The Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation (CRSF) empowers communities with clean, safe places for underserved youth to play, learn, and grow. Since 2018, Group 1001 and the CRSF have combined efforts to build 17 youth development parks and install 20 STEM centers nationwide. Group 1001 employees have joined CRSF to host and volunteer for four Community Enhancement Projects. CRSF and Group 1001 have impacted over 100,000 youth in their joint effort to promote active lifestyles and educational opportunities. For more information, visit https://ripkenfoundation.org/.
DRIVER PERFORMANCE – BOWMAN GRAY STADIUM
Year NASCAR Cup Series Race Start Finish Laps
2/2/2025 NASCAR Clash 18 22 198/200
Daniel Suárez Quotes
A special partnership returns to the No. 7 Chevrolet for the Clash. What does it mean to you to represent the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation and its mission?
“Cal Ripken, Sr. had an amazing career and the legacy he left behind, especially the work the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation, is doing to support younger generations through their STEM programs and education, is truly remarkable. I am personally a very big believer in the younger generation and to see how they impact the youth is unbelievable. I’m thrilled to be a part of this partnership.”
What makes the Clash such a valuable race for you as you begin the season with your team?
“I’m really eager to get started this year. The first Clash is especially important because it’s our first race to focus on communication and how we talk through the car and whether it’s handling tight or loose. I’m looking forward to seeing where we stack up, how we can make progress throughout the weekend, and how this will set the tone for the 2026 season.”
Atop the No. 7 Box – Crew Chief Ryan Sparks
- Ryan Sparks returns to his role as crew chief of the No. 7 team for the 2026 season. Sparks has called the shots for 202 NASCAR Cup Series races, earning four top-five and 10 top-10 finishes over the course of his career.
- The Winston‑Salem, N.C., native has multiple Clash starts as a crew chief. He began his career as a Cup Series crew chief in 2020 with Corey LaJoie and later worked with Justin Haley, overseeing more than 200 starts through 2025.
Michael McDowell – Driver, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
- Michael McDowell will pilot Spire Motorsports’ No. 71 Workforce Operational Health and Safety Solutions Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in Sunday’s Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C.
- McDowell steps into his second season behind the wheel of the No. 71 following a 2025 campaign full of firsts for the organization. The driver collected two poles, which included the first in Spire Motorsports history at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March, and the team’s first stage win on the streets of Chicago.
- Overall, the 10-year Cup Series veteran holds eight poles, two wins, 14 top-five and 50 top-10 finishes.
- The father-of-five tallied three top-five, six top-10, 15 top-15, and 22 top-20 finishes during the 2025 season, all while earning the most points in team history (734).
- The 41-year-old driver looks to improve on his 2025 attempt at “The Madhouse” that saw the No. 71 finish fifth in the Last Chance Qualifier, falling three positions short of transferring to the main event.
- Prior to 2025, the Clash was held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum where McDowell successfully transferred to the main event each year (2022-2024) and collected a personal-best finish of 16th in 2022.
- Workforce Operational Health and Safety Solutions will serve as the primary partner for McDowell and the No. 71 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for this weekend’s Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium. The blue and white livery will return at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March and again for the Cup Series contest at Richmond Raceway in August.
- Sunday’s event marks the second year of the annual exhibition race being held at historic Bowman Gray Stadium. The 2025 event was the first Cup Series race held at Bowman Gray Stadium since 1971 and served as the first short track event of the year. Following his performance at the Clash, McDowell earned an average start of 14.5 and average finish of 21.1 on the short tracks of Bristol, Martinsville, Richmond, and Iowa.
- Workforce is an Occupational Health and Safety Solutions firm based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with partners throughout North America. For over thirty years, Workforce has provided support to clients through the operation of its three divisions – Work Injury Management, Medical Bill Repricing, and Employer Services. The Work Injury Management Division connects employees to telephonic physician services with expedited access to a nationwide network of medical providers, including specialty, imaging, and therapy services – and employer access to recordable injury investigation, injury impact mitigation services, preferred medical provider panel development, and more. The Medical Bill Repricing Division provides cost containment services by minimizing incident, experience, and injury frequency rates while reducing exposure to insurance premium increases. The Employer Services Division provides employee onboarding services, corporate safety committee oversight, required annual certification coordination, and integration of any required testing, licensing, or accreditation. Since 1995, Workforce remains focused on developing partnerships with employers that facilitate a positive impact on any health and safety issues encountered at the workplace.
DRIVER PERFORMANCE – BOWMAN GRAY STADIUM
Date NASCAR Cup Series Race Start Finish Laps
2/2/2025 NASCAR Clash – LCQ 4 5 75/75
Michael McDowell Quote
What is your perspective heading into Bowman Gray this weekend?
“It’s nice just get out to the track, go through the process, make sure everything is functioning, and working well. The heat races and last chance qualifier are pretty tricky. It was exciting, but hard to pass last year. I’m ready to get to Bowman Gray and have a shot at it, hopefully the weather works with us.”
Atop the No. 71 Box – Crew Chief Travis Peterson
- In 2025, the potent duo of Michael McDowell and crew chief Travis Peterson tallied two poles, three top-five, and six top-10 finishes.
- Peterson, 34, positioned his driver in the feature event each time the race was contested at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, twice with McDowell, and previously as an engineer for Chris Buescher at RFK Racing.
- The decorated engineer’s tenure at RFK Racing, Hendrick Motorsports and JR Motorsports is highlighted by a NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series title in 2014 and three Cup Series wins with Dale Earnhardt, Jr., 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.
Carson Hocevar – Driver, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
- Carson Hocevar will kick off his third NASCAR Cup Series season behind the wheel of Spire Motorsports’ No. 77 Zeigler Automotive Group Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in Sunday’s Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium.
- Hocevar, who celebrates his 23rd birthday Wednesday, earned a spot in last season’s inaugural Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium via a fourth-place finish his heat race. Despite racing his way to sixth, just past the event’s halfway point, contact from behind triggered a chain reaction sending him spinning in Turn 3. Hocevar recovered to finish 16th, racking up the third-most green-flag passes (31) and fifth-most quality passes (18) in the process.
- The former Late Model standout cut his teeth on short tracks across the Midwest. He secured a victory in CRA Super Series competition at Flat Rock (Mich.) Speedway, a flat quarter-mile oval, similar to Bowman Gray, in June 2021.
- The Portage, Mich., native rounded out the 2025 campaign with one pole, two top-five, nine top-10 and 14 top-15 finishes, including a pair of runners-up results at Atlanta Motor Speedway (Feb.) and Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway (June).
- Zeigler Automotive Group is one of the largest privately-owned dealer groups in the U.S. with 88 franchises across 41 locations in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. Vehicle brands represented include all the domestic and majority of the imported manufacturers. Besides its extensive automotive portfolio, the organization owns and operates Zeigler Motorsports, an 85,000-square-foot motorsports dealership and action park, offering 19 different powersports brands, plus its own onsite restaurant: Trak Houz Bar & Grill. Additionally, Zeigler Motorsports houses the Elevate Leadership & Team Building Academy, an executive training company. The Kalamazoo-based dealer group also owns three Byrider franchises, three finance companies, several insurance firms, and a leasing firm.
- The yellow and black Zeigler colors will return to Hocevar’s No. 77 Chevrolet 11 more times in 2026, beginning with the June 7 FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway. The automotive juggernaut will again be showcased throughout the summer at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, Chicagoland (Ill.) Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Iowa Speedway and Richmond (Va.) Raceway. Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway will jump start the fall schedule in September, while Kansas Speedway and Martinsville (Va.) Speedway will close out Zeigler Automotive Group’s 2026 campaign.
DRIVER PERFORMANCE – BOWMAN GRAY STADIUM
Date NASCAR Cup Series Race Start Finish Laps
2/2/2025 NASCAR Clash 15 16 199/200
Carson Hocevar Quotes
You qualified for the first Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium. Can replicate that this weekend?
“I’m excited for it. I don’t get around Martinsville very well, but for some reason, I’m not too bad at getting around Bowman Gray. We were running sixth last year before getting spun. I think we were something like the second-fastest car on lap times. I thought we realistically had a shot to run with Chase (Elliott), so hopefully we can unload with the same speed on Saturday. It would be interesting to win my first race in a non-points race, but it would be a great way to start the new year.”
What is it like competing in the wild environment ‘The Madhouse’ promotes?
“It’s a lot of fun. The place is packed. It reminds me of going to local short tracks as a kid, but with the nice, fancy Cup cars beating and banging around that little place. It’s cool because I just ran the Gateway Dirt Nationals in St. Louis and went to the Chili Bowl in Tulsa. Bowman Gray reminds me a lot of those places, you just don’t have a roof over your head.”
Atop the No. 77 Box – Crew Chief Luke Lambert
- Crew chief Luke Lambert enters his third season at Spire Motorsports and fourth with Carson Hocevar. The duo has logged one pole, three top-five and 15 top-10 finishes in 80 races together.
- Lambert, 43, is seeking his seventh Clash main event start.
- The 16-year veteran crew chief qualified for The Clash four times while it was held at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, all of which came during his time at Richard Childress Racing with driver Ryan Newman (2014-16, 2018). He earned an event-best eighth-place finish in 2014.
- The father-of-three earned a spot in the 2023 Clash held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum while calling the shots for Noah Gragson and the No. 42 Chevrolet where Gragson started 13th and finished 14th.
- Lambert, a native of nearby Mount Airy, N.C., grew up just 40 miles north of Bowman Gray Stadium on U.S. Route 52.
About Spire Motorsports …
Spire Motorsports fields full-time entries in the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series and High Limit Racing.
The team, co-owned by longtime NASCAR industry executive Jeff Dickerson and TWG Motorsports CEO Dan Towriss, 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 May 30, 2025, when Rajah Caruth took the checkered flag in the Rackley Roofing 200 at Nashville Superspeedway.
In 2026, Spire Motorsports will campaign the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1s in the NASCAR Cup Series and the Nos. 7 and 77 Chevrolet Silverado RSTs in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. The Mooresville, N.C., organization will also field the No. 77 410 sprint car in High Limit Racing competition.
