Spire Motorsports Black’s Tire 200 Race Advance

• The NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series returns to Rockingham (N.C.) Speedway for the series’ second visit to the high-banked oval since 2013. In four Rockingham starts, Spire Motorsports has earned one top-five and three top-20 finishes, highlighted by Rajah Caruth’s fourth-place effort in April 2025.
• The Black’s Tire 200 will be televised live on FS1 Friday, April 3 beginning at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The fifth of 25 points-paying races on the 2026 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series schedule will be broadcast live on the NASCAR Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

Sammy Smith – Driver, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado RST

• Sammy Smith will pilot Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Allstate Peterbilt Group Chevrolet Silverado RST in Friday’s Black’s Tire 200 at Rockingham Speedway.
• The Johnston, Iowa, native will pull double duty this weekend, also driving JR Motorsports’ No. 8 TruckClub Chevrolet in Saturday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series North Carolina Education Lottery 250 presented by Black’s Tire.
• Smith is no stranger to Victory Lane at Rockingham Speedway, albeit a late visit. He charged from 13th to second in the 2025 North Carolina Education Lottery 250 last April in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and was named the winner after the disqualification of Jesse Love following post-race technical inspection.
• Smith was nine-years-old when the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series made its last trip to Rockingham Speedway in April 2013, prior to the series return last year. He was not yet born when the NASCAR Cup Series made its final stop at the historic oval in February 2004.
• The 21-year-old made eight CRAFTSMAN Truck Series appearances aboard Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado during the 2024 and 2025 seasons. He collected two top-five and six top-10 finishes while maintaining a ninth-place average finish. Smith’s eight starts were highlighted by a fourth-place result at Richmond (Va.) Raceway where he led 15 laps before falling to fourth, ultimately propelling the No. 7 team to clinch a spot in the 2025 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoffs.
• In 114 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series starts, Smith has earned 26 top fives and 58 top 10s, claiming victories at Phoenix Raceway (March 2023), Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway (Oct. 2024) and Rockingham (April 2025).
• Allstate Peterbilt Group celebrates 55 years of excellent service in 2026, along with continued recognition from Peterbilt, including another Dealer of the Year award in 2025, as well as honors like Service Dealer of the Year and Best-in-Class Dealer Group of the Year. Today, with 20+ locations across the Upper Midwest, Allstate Peterbilt Group is one of the fastest-growing and most successful truck dealer groups in the nation. At Allstate Peterbilt, we never lose sight of what made all of this possible. We focus on giving our customers everything they need to run their businesses successfully: new and used trucks for every application, a deep parts inventory for all makes and models, rental and finance options, and mobile and in-store service solutions. Simply put, we aim to be a one-stop solution for any trucking need.
• Smith will drive Spire Manufacturing chassis SMT-086 Friday in its fourth start. The truck was last on track with Carson Hocevar last June at Michigan International Speedway. Hocevar led 59 laps and was well on his way to a solid finish until late-race contact with another competitor forced him to pit road with a flat left-rear tire. Hocevar still managed a field-leading average running position of 4.4 despite an 11th-place finish.

Sammy Smith Quotes
Having experience with Spire Motorsports over the last two seasons and getting some laps under your belt at the Rockingham truck test in January, how does that influence your approach this weekend?
“I feel good about going back to Rockingham Speedway. Obviously, I felt like I had a decent truck race last year, and I thought we learned a lot at the test in January. Being able to run double duty I think helps a lot in the O’Reilly’s car, but also being back in the truck is always a great time. I appreciate Spire Motorsports for having me back.”

Atop the No. 7 Box – Crew Chief Brian Pattie

• Brian Pattie returns to the top of the No. 7 pit box, an entry that will see a host of all-star caliber drivers behind the wheel throughout the 2026 season.
• The veteran crew chief led Kyle Busch to his 68th-career NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series victory in February’s Fr8 Racing 208 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The No. 7 Silverado led a total of 37 laps, including the final seven, to secure Spire Motorsports’ 10th all-time series win.
• The Zephyrhills, Fla., native called one event at the historic Richmond County oval prior to last season’s Black’s Tire 200, a 15th-place finish in November 2002 with David Reutimann in O’Reilly Auto Parts Series action.
• In the opening four CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races of the 2026 season, Pattie has tallied one win, two top-five and two top-10 finishes. The No. 7 team currently sits third in the series’ owner’s championship standings.
• The 25-year industry veteran spent 14 seasons in NASCAR’s premier division. As a crew chief, he’s amassed six wins in NASCAR Cup Series competition, 11 in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and eight 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.

Carson Hocevar – Driver, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado RST

• Carson Hocevar will pilot Spire Motorsports’ No. 77 Delaware Life Chevrolet Silverado RST in Friday’s Black’s Tire 200 at Rockingham Speedway.
• The five-time NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race winner will make his first appearance at the legendary Richmond County oval, but owns limited experience at Dover Motor Speedway, a venue that is also a high-banked one-mile oval, comparable to Rockingham.
• The 23-year-old driver, a veteran of 84 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races, has logged one pole, five wins, 23 top fives and 35 top 10s, while leading 767 laps. He made the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series playoffs in all his three full-time seasons and earned a spot in the 2023 Championship 4.
• Last time out with the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series at Darlington Raceway, Hocevar put on a driving masterclass. After starting the Final Stage 26th in the running order, he made the pass for the lead on Lap 128. Hocevar led the next 16 circuits and looked to challenge for the win, until a right-front tire issue sent him into the outside retaining wall with four laps remaining. The team was ultimately credited with a 22nd-place finish despite an average running position of fifth.
• Hocevar, driver of Spire Motorsports’ No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in the NASCAR Cup Series, currently sits 15th in the division’s championship point standings. His two top fives, two top 10s, 171 points scored and 16.6 average finish are all career highs for the Michigan native through the first seven points-paying races of he season.
• While the majority of Friday’s CRAFTSMAN Truck Series field participated in February’s organizational test at Rockingham, Hocevar was not in attendance. Friday’s practice session will mark his first laps turned at the historic facility.
• The Portage, Mich., native registered a victory in one of four CRAFTSMAN Truck Series starts in 2025, guiding the Brian Pattie-led No. 7 team to Victory Lane in the Heart of America 200 at Kansas Speedway. He led 75 of the event’s 134 laps en route to his most recent victory and first aboard a Spire Motorsports-prepared Chevy Silverado.
• Hocevar will drive Spire Manufacturing chassis SMT-090 Friday afternoon, marking the truck’s third start.
• Delaware Life is an insurance and annuity company that empowers financial professionals with a wide array of customizable solutions. A subsidiary of Group 1001 Insurance Holdings LLC, Delaware Life focuses on delivering a seamless experience for advisors. The company understands how important it is to find the right fit for every client, every situation and every individual need. Delaware Life is passionate about equipping advisors with annuities that give their customers peace of mind and a successful future, allowing them to plan with confidence for whatever’s next.

Carson Hocevar Quote
While a lot of Cup Series drivers will be enjoying a weekend off, you will be in the truck at Rockingham. What are you looking forward to most about competing in the event?
”I am just excited to go do it and run laps around there. It’s a really cool track that I’ve always wanted to race at. It will be fun to have a whole weekend where I just get the opportunity to run the truck and don’t have to worry about juggling it with my responsibilities in the Cup Series. I can just go out there, have fun and hopefully, have a good day.”

You haven’t turned any laps at Rockingham before. What prior experience are you pulling from to help you get up to speed to the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series regulars who already have a 200-lap race under their belt?
“I’ve shown up and run good at a lot of places I’ve never been before. I feel good about it. I really have a good feel for the trucks. “The Rock” seems like it is kind of its own animal but I can kind of see some similarities to Dover. But even then, I haven’t run a truck at Dover since 2020, and it was like my fourth ever truck race. It will be cool to get out there, learn the place and ultimately just enjoy the experience.”

Atop the No. 77 Box – Crew Chief Chad Walter

• Chad Walter calls the shots from the top of the No. 77 pit box, an entry that will see multiple all-star caliber drivers behind the wheel throughout the 2026 season.
• Early in his career, the Albion, N.Y., native served as a pit crew member for Dale Earnhardt, Incorporated’s No. 1 team and driver Steve Park, a fellow northeasterner. Walter served as the rear-tire carrier for the driver’s victory in the Feb. 2001 NASCAR Cup Series event at Rockingham, one-week removed from the tragic passing of team-owner Dale Earnhardt, Sr. Park led 167 laps on the day, including the final 55 circuits after surpassing eventual series champion Jeff Gordon on pit road. He held off a hard-charging Bobby Labonte, the defending Cup Series champion, to secure the emotional victory. Kevin “Bono” Manion, Spire Motorsports’ CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Competition Director, was Park’s car chief that weekend.
• Through four races, the No. 77 team sits 12th in the series’ owner’s championship point standings, a mere six points behind the Owners’ Chase cutline. The team has racked up 33 stage points, the sixth-most in the series and just five points behind the leading team in the category.
• Between NASCAR’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and CRAFTSMAN Truck Series, the 54-year-old has racked up six wins, 55 top fives and 140 top 10s.
• Walter earned a mechanical engineering degree from the Cornell University College of Engineering. During his studies, he played defensive end for the Big Red football team.

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.