Daniel Suárez – Driver, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
START: 4TH
FINISH: 30TH
POINTS: 17TH
Daniel Suárez, driver of the No. 7 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Spire Motorsports, sustained heavy front-end damage that ultimately ended his day early and resulted in a 30th-place finish at Phoenix Raceway. A strong start with a seventh-place showing in Stage 1 earned the NASCAR Cup Series veteran four bonus points.
After earning a venue-best starting spot of fourth in his 17th Cup Series start at Phoenix, Suárez ran inside the top 10 throughout Stage 1 and took the green-and-white checkered flag in seventh, lining up 13th for Stage 2 following pit stops. On Lap 104 while running in the 15th position, slight contact with a competitor sent Suárez spinning into the wall, prompting a caution and a pit stop for four tires, fuel, and repairs to the right-rear and splitter. He restarted at the tail of the field with a caution on Lap 133 allowing the team to pit again for adjustments and fresh tires. By Lap 157, the car was more secure on entry and exit, and Suárez was back inside the top 20 for the conclusion of the second stage.
Suárez made a scheduled pit stop at the stage break for additional adjustments and restarted 26th for the final segment. He narrowly avoided an incident on Lap 247 while making his way back into the top 20, but a multi-vehicle wreck just eight laps later ended Suarez’s day and dropped the No. 7 team to 17th in the driver championship point standings.
Daniel’s Post-Race Comments
“We had a very fast Freeway Insurance Chevrolet Camaro on Saturday. At the start of the race, the balance wasn’t quite what I wanted, and when we lost a bit of track position it became challenging. The car got a little loose as we ran which put us in a slightly compromised situation. Overall, though, I feel good about my No. 7 team. The car showed a lot of speed. There are a few things to clean up on the execution side, including my own performance, but we’ll be ready for next week at Las Vegas.”
Michael McDowell – Driver, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
START: 16TH
FINISH: 9TH
POINTS: 8TH
Michael McDowell. driver of Spire Motorsports’ No. 71 Delaware Life Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, secured his second-straight top-10 finish of the 2026 season in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix. The ninth-place result marked his first consecutive top-10 finishes since joining the organization at the start of the 2025 season.
After qualifying 16th for Sunday’s 312-mile contest at the “Diamond in the Desert”, the Glendale, Ariz., native nestled into the 18th position for the opening 60-lap frame. The Travis Peterson-led No. 71 team maintained their track position through a cautionless Stage 1, and a blazing fast full-service pit stop during the break resulted in an improvement of seven positions off pit road. McDowell lined up 11th for the start of Stage 2 and worked his way toward the top 10 with the help of fast pit stops as the field was slowed by three caution periods. While running inside the top 10, a Lap-159 incident littered the track with debris, puncturing the right front tire of the No. 71 Delaware Life Chevrolet. The team addressed the tire issue while pit road was closed, forcing McDowell to restart at the rear of the field with 20-laps remaining in the stage.
The second-year Spire Motorsports driver crossed the line 29th for the conclusion of Stage 2, but the break allowed the Delaware Life crew to make additional repairs to their car while maintaining position on the lead lap. A two-tire stop under caution on Lap 211 propelled the No. 71 machine back into the top 20 and McDowell settled into 15th before the next caution flag waved on Lap 246. Twenty-one laps later the yellow flag was displayed once again, and another two-tire stop allowed McDowell to restart sixth alongside stablemate Carson Hocevar with 20 remaining in the race. Traffic during the final restart prevented McDowell from moving forward into the top five, but the Arizona native was able to capture his second top 10 of the season at his home track.
Michael’s Post-Race Comments
“It was a good rally for this No. 71 Delaware Life Chevrolet team. We had that right-front tire go down when we were running eighth or ninth just before the end of Stage 2. That put us in the back, and once we were in the back, we just really struggled. But Travis Peterson (crew chief) and everyone on this No. 71 team made some big adjustments, which helped us get through traffic. That last restart didn’t go great. The No. 5 (Kyle Larson) kind of got loose and slid up into my lane, and unfortunately, we lost a few spots there. But overall, we rallied back to a top 10. It was a solid day. We’ll keep building momentum. I thought we were going to have a shot at the top-five there for a few laps, but it just kind of slipped away there at the end.”
Carson Hocevar – Driver, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
START: 7TH
FINISH: 20TH
POINTS: 14TH
Carson Hocevar, driver of Spire Motorsports’ No. 77 MINER Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, fought back from an unapproved adjustment penalty prior to Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series event at Phoenix Raceway to compete within the top 10 for the majority of the day. The driver lost the handle in the closing laps and was credited with a 20th-place finish.
After qualifying seventh, the No. 77 team found a fault in the alternator during final checks Sunday morning. After repairs, the team was forced to start from the tail of the field, but despite the unfortunate circumstances, Hocevar moved forward from the drop of the green flag to reach the 24th position prior to the conclusion of the opening segment.
The team visited pit road during the break and restarted 22nd on Lap 71. Content with the handle of his Chevrolet, the 23-year-old driver reached the 14th position in just four laps, where he would remain until a trio of cautions in the midst of Stage 2. Multiple fast pit stops by the MINER crew place the Portage, Mich., native eighth for a restart on Lap 168, 18 laps from the green-and-white checkered flag. His eventual seventh-place finish in the stage netted the team four stage points to continuing their streak of collecting stage points in each race this season, a feat only one other driver has achieved thus far.
Following another round of pit stops on the ensuing stage break, Hocevar restarted sixth. For the first time on the day, the driver reported a loss of handle and fought on the fringe of the top 10 for the majority of the Final Stage until a Lap-289 caution for incident brought the field to pit road. Most of the field, including Hocevar, took right-side tires only, and the No. 77 team restarted seventh with 18 laps remaining. The loss of handle and grip made the final run an uphill battle for Hocevar, ultimately resulting in the 20th position.
Carson’s Post-Race Comments
“Didn’t get the finish we deserved today. The No. 77 guys did a good job this morning finding the issue with the alternator and getting it swapped out before the race. We started in the back, but our MINER Camaro drove right into the top 10. We just lost the handle there at the end and didn’t get the finish we should have. Proud of the effort, and excited to get to Las Vegas next week. This team really excels at the 1.5-mile tracks, and we expect to compete up front.”
Up Next…
The NASCAR Cup Series season takes on Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 15. The Pennzoil 400 will be televised live on FS1 at 4 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT).
The fifth of 36 points-paying races on the Cup Series calendar will be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
To stay up-to-date on all the latest news and exclusive content, follow Spire Motorsports on Facebook, X and Instagram, and visit Spire-Motorsports.com.
About Spire Motorsports …
Spire Motorsports fields full-time entries in the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series and Interstate Batteries 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 Feb. 21, 2026, when Kyle Busch took the checkered flag in the Fr8 Racing 208 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
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 Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing competition.
