Spire Motorsports The Great American Getaway 400 Race Advance

In 12 NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) starts at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, Spire Motorsports has logged one top-20 and three top-25 finishes. Corey LaJoie, driver of the No. 7 Gainbridge Chevy Camaro, earned a team/venue-best 19th-place finish in the division’s 2022 visit to the “Tricky Triangle.” Spire Motorsports fields the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1s in the NCS with LaJoie, Zane Smith and Carson Hocevar, respectively.
The Great American Getaway 400 from Pocono Raceway will be televised live on USA Network, Sunday, July 14, beginning at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The 21st of 36 races on the 2024 NCS schedule will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

Corey LaJoie – Driver, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Corey LaJoie heads to Pocono Raceway behind the wheel of the No. 7 Parity in Paris Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.
Sunday’s Great American Getaway 400 will mark LaJoie’s 12th Cup Series start at Pocono Raceway and 257th career start. In 11 previous NCS starts at the uniquely-configured, three-turn racecourse, he has logged one top-20 and three top-25 finishes including a venue best 19th-place finish. Over those 11 starts, the Concord, N.C., native has led five laps, recorded a 27.7 average start, a 27.5 average finish and completed 1,493 of 1,667 laps contested (89.6 percent).
This weekend, the No. 7 Chevy will showcase a one-of-a-kind Parity in Paris paint scheme to highlight the 75-plus members of the Parity community who have qualified for the Olympics and Paralympics this summer, while also celebrating the fact that Paris will be the first summer Olympics to feature equal numbers of male and female athletes. Gainbridge®, a Group 1001 company, along with its sister company Parity, a brand sponsorship platform, are committed to closing the gender income and opportunity gap in professional sports.
The 32-year-old started 12th and finished 27th in the division’s lone 2023 stop at Pocono Raceway last July.
LaJoie started 20th and finished 27th in last weekend’s Grant Park 165 at the Chicago Street Course. The 32-year-old, father of three has led 38 laps in 2024 and is currently 31st in points.
Over 256 career NCS starts, LaJoie has earned four top-five and nine top-10 finishes and led 161 laps in NASCAR’s premier division.

Corey LaJoie Quotes
What are your thoughts heading to Pocono in the final push before the break?
“Pocono is one of the most unique tracks in the world and a great weekend on the schedule. We’ve had some good runs there in past years, but our results haven’t matched our speed the last few trips. We will change that this weekend. The next two weeks are very similar in character, so we’ll also use this weekend as an opportunity to tune in our Brickyard package.”

Zane Smith – Driver, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Zane Smith will make his first NASCAR Cup Series appearance at Pocono Raceway on Sunday, driving the No. 71 Focused Health Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports.
Smith arrives at Pocono after finishing 17th in Sunday’s Cup Series race on the streets of Downtown Chicago.
While he’s never raced at Pocono in a Cup car, the rookie driver owns four starts at “The Tricky Triangle” in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. His record includes a start from the pole position (2022), 44 laps led, and one top-10 finish.
Smith will drive the No. 91 Chevrolet Silverado in Friday afternoon’s truck series race. It marks the 2022 truck series champion’s fifth race this year with the McAnally-Hilgemann Racing team. He finished in the top-10 in all four races and led 38 laps.
Focused Health is a national health insurance agency that assists consumers and employers in navigating the myriad of health insurance options in the government programs space. The company partners with payors and employers to deliver health insurance solutions for individuals and families. For more information visit AtFocusedHealth.com.
Fans can visit Smith for a Q&A at the Chevrolet Fanzone Display on Sunday at 10:30 a.m.

Zane Smith Quotes
Back-to-back solid weekends for you and your team. Can you say that the momentum is building.
“I think the momentum is building. We have been competing up front the last two weeks, even leading a few laps last weekend in Chicago. It’s crazy how much cleaner the air is up front. My No. 71 Spire Motorsports team has been working hard every day in the shop and at the track, so it feels good to be able to show what we are capable of. Chicago was a super cool event but I’m looking forward to this weekend. I’ve never raced the cup car at Pocono but have had some success in the truck series there. It definitely fits its nickname, it’s a tricky track.”

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

Carson Hocevar will make his first NCS start at Pocono Raceway in Sunday’s Great American Getaway 400 behind the wheel of the No. 77 Delaware Life Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Spire Motorsports.
Hocevar started 13th and finished 24th in last Sunday’s Grant Park 165 on the streets of Downtown Chicago.
In three Truck Series starts at the 2.5-mile tri-oval, Hocevar has logged a 6.7 average start and a 9.7 average finish, all while completing 100 percent of the laps contested.
Delaware Life Insurance Company (“Delaware Life”) has made its mission to deliver pure value to its network of financial professionals with a set of tools and products that help them empower their clients to plan for retirement with confidence. Delaware Life’s focus is delivering a seamless experience that gives clients exactly what they’re looking for: the comfort of understanding, the confidence of transparency, and streamlined products without needless features. Learn more at www.delawarelife.com
The youngest NCS driver in the field is currently 25th in the division’s championship points. Over the course of the season’s first 20 races, Hocevar has notched two top-10s and five top-15 finishes.
Friday at 8:30 a.m., Hocevar joins the NASCAR Foundation’s Bike Build and Speediatrics Fun Day Festival. The event focuses on building bikes and promoting healthy living for children in local racing communities through interactive racing activities.
Peter Sospenzo, mechanic on the No. 77 team, was atop the box for Jeremy Mayfield’s victory in the 2000 Pocono 500. The race would be remembered for Mayfield’s “bump and run” move on Dale Earnhardt in Turn Three on the final lap.
Crew chief Luke Lambert has called five top-10 finishes at “The Tricky Triangle” in the NCS with drivers Ryan Newman, Daniel Hemric and Chris Buescher.

Carson Hocevar Quotes
You’ve performed well at Pocono in Truck Series competition, but it’s your first time at the track in a Cup car. How confident are you feeling heading into this weekend’s race given your previous experience at Pocono?
“Pocono is a very difficult racetrack. I’ve put in a lot of extra time with the team and will be getting in last minute simulator time right up until I fly out. It’s nice because we have similar set ups for Indianapolis, so the goal the next two weeks is to run really well. We can go into Pocono this weekend with a mindset to do well, but to also learn a lot for the following week.”
In the five races leading up to Chicago, you averaged a 14th-place finishing position. Racing is a momentum sport, and with the Olympic break coming up in a couple weeks, how do you look to ride that wave of momentum into the break?

“We’ve also had the opportunity to finish in the top-10 in the last two weeks. From getting caught behind someone running out of gas, to getting caught in the middle of and incident with nowhere to go, the results do not show how fast these cars are right now. My team is doing everything right, and I am excited for luck to finally go our way, show how well we’re running and how fast these cars are.”
From the Top of the Box

Ryan Sparks – Crew Chief, No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Ryan Sparks serves in a dual role as both Spire Motorsports competition director and crew chief for driver Corey LaJoie and the No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro in the NCS.
Sparks, a Winston-Salem, N.C., native, has been paired with LaJoie since 2020.
Combined, Sparks and LaJoie have earned four top-five and seven top-10 finishes, including a fourth-place finish in the 2024 Daytona 500.

Stephen Doran – Crew Chief, No. 71 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Stephen Doran begins his first full season as a Cup Series crew chief leading Zane Smith and the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet team during the 2024 season.
In 2006, Doran got his start in NASCAR at Petty Enterprises.
Prior to his arrival at Spire Motorsports, Doran worked at Stewart-Haas Racing as an engineer, most recently on the No. 4 car driven by Kevin Harvick.

Luke Lambert – Crew Chief, No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Luke Lambert is the crew chief for Spire Motorsports’ No. 77 team with 2024 NCS Rookie of the Year candidate Carson Hocevar.
The 2005 North Carolina State graduate has led the competition efforts for some of the sport’s most notable names including Jeff Burton, Ryan Newman, Elliott Sadler and Chris Buescher.
In 2014, Lambert led Newman to a berth in the Championship 4, and ultimately a runner-up finish in the NCS championship point standings.

About Spire Motorsports …
Spire Motorsports is a NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race team co-owned by long-time NASCAR industry executives Jeff Dickerson and Thaddeus “T.J.” Puchyr. In 2024, Spire Motorsports will campaign the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1s in the NASCAR Cup Series with drivers Corey LaJoie, Zane Smith and Carson Hocevar, respectively. The team will also field the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet Silverados full time in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. An all-star driver lineup will rotate throughout the 2024 season in the No. 7 Chevy. Rajah Caruth will drive the No. 71 entry and Chase Purdy rounds out the team’s fleet of Chevrolets in the No. 77.

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 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 Speedway. The team’s most recent win came on April 12, 2024, when Kyle Busch took the took the checkered flag in the SpeedyCash.com 250 at Texas Motor Speedway.