Spire Motorsports Food City 500 Race Advanc

• In 22 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, Spire Motorsports has logged one top-10 and eight top-20 finishes. Carson Hocevar owns the team’s best finish, a seventh-place effort earned in September 2025. Spire Motorsports fields the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1s in the Cup Series with Daniel Suarez, Michael McDowell and Hocevar, respectively.
• The Food City 500 will be televised live on FS1 Sunday, April 12 beginning at 3 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The eighth of 36 points-paying races on the 2026 Cup Series calendar will be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

Daniel Suárez – Driver, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

• Daniel Suárez will pilot Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 NationsGuard Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
• Suárez will pull double duty this weekend and also pilot Spire Motorsports’ No. 71 Freeway Insurance Silverado RST in Friday’s CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Tennessee Army National Guard 250.
• The Monterrey, Mexico native has made 15 Cup Series starts at Bristol, earning two top-10 and nine top-20 results with five laps led at the high-banked half-mile oval. His series/venue best came in 2019, where he finished eighth in both races held at the track that season.
• Suárez reunites with crew chief Kevin “Bono” Manion at Bristol for the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Tennessee Army National Guard 250, reviving the partnership that produced his first series victory, a milestone that came on November 11, 2016, at Phoenix Raceway. He drove the Kyle Busch Motorsports’ No. 51 to Victory Lane in the Lucas Oil 150.
• In the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series competition, the 34-year-old driver has a pair of starts at Bristol. In 2016, Suárez drove started second and led 77 laps, but finished 29th following an on-track incident. The year prior, he started 16th and finished 30th after encountering an overheating issue.
• Before the Easter break, Suárez finished 20th at Martinsville Speedway after sustaining damage in the Final Stage, but held on to secure his fifth top-20 finish of the season and seventh in 18 starts at the track.
• The two-time NASCAR Cup Series winner sits 16th in the driver standings after the first seven races of the season, the second highest of Spire Motorsports’ three NASCAR Cup Series entries, and has earned one top five, two top 10s and 15 laps led. Through seven races, Suárez is averaging a 16.9 finish, four positions better than his average at this point last season.
• NationsGuard is an innovator in the Automotive F&I space. Its programs are designed to maximize sales, profit, CSI and customer retention. NationsGuard delivers consistent, measurable results through disciplined monitoring and continuous improvement. The process measures every key element of a dealer’s program – from vehicle inspection efficiency to service advisor performance. NationsGuard targets and eliminates waste and inefficiency wherever it’s found, maintaining process improvements, making changes where necessary and relentlessly pursuing perfection.

Daniel Suárez Quote
Since 2014, winners at Bristol are awarded a sword, what would it mean to you to win this iconic trophy?
“It would be incredible to win the ceremonial Gladiator sword trophy—having one of my own would feel truly special. The level of detail in the design is amazing, and I’d love the opportunity to sit down with the person who created it and learn more about their process.”

Atop the No. 7 Box – Crew Chief Ryan Sparks

• Ryan Sparks has called 209 NASCAR Cup Series races, earning five top-five and 12 top-10 finishes since making his Cup Series debut atop the pit box in 2020.
• So far this season, the veteran crew chief has led Suárez to his second top-10 finish at Darlington, following a top-five result at Atlanta Motor Speedway earlier in the year.
• The Winston-Salem, N.C., native earned his best finish while calling a Cup Series race at Bristol last September, recording a 13th-place result with former Spire Motorsports driver Justin Haley.
• Sparks joined Spire Motorsports in 2021, where he served as both Crew Chief and Competition Director, leading the organization’s competitive and technical efforts. In 2026, Sparks serves in a singular role as crew chief for Daniel Suárez.
• Sparks brings more than a decade of experience across all three national series, highlighted by 13 seasons at Richard Childress Racing and contributions to title-winning campaigns in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (2011) and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (2013).

Michael McDowell – Driver, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

• Michael McDowell will pilot Spire Motorsports’ No. 71 Delaware Life Chevrolet ZL1 in Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
• Michael McDowell has 28 starts on the high banks of Bristol dating back to August 2010. He made 44 starts prior to his first run at “The World’s Fastest Half-Mile,” qualifying 35th and retiring just 16 laps into the 2010 Night Race due to an engine failure.
• Dating back to 2020, the Glendale, Ariz., native has two top 10s paired with three 11th-place results at “The Last Great Colosseum”, completing all but 12 of the 4,000 laps contested. In his nine most recent attempts, the Cup Series veteran holds an average finish of 14.8 with only one finish outside the top 25.
• In his limited time in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts series, McDowell has five starts at Bristol, including a series-best finish of 10th in 2009.
• After qualifying 20th at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway two weeks ago, the No. 71 team struggled with track position and pace early in the race. As the day progressed, the 41-year-old driver fought to move up the scoring pylon and went on to secure a workman-like 18th-place finish.
• Across the first seven races of season, McDowell currently sits 17th in points. He has earned one top five, two top 10s and led 15 laps with 28 races remaining on the 2026 calendar.
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Michael McDowell Quote
“Bristol is all about intensity and it’s a place where I’ve had some good success recently with a couple of near top-10 finishes in the NextGen car. We had a few issues last spring, but we have addressed them and feel good about those changes. We knew what needed to be fixed, and that gives me a lot of confidence going back. Spire had a ton of speed at the first Bristol race last year, so we have a strong notebook and feel like contenders. Bristol has a special energy and I always tell fans that if they’ve never been to a race or never been to Bristol, it’s a must. It’s one of the coolest events you can experience as both a fan and a driver. It’s a place that has been pretty good to me over the last few years, so it’s definitely a track we’ve circled to go back and capitalize on.”

Atop the No. 71 Box – Crew Chief Travis Peterson

• Travis Peterson is a graduate of the Williams States Lee College of Engineering at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. The West Bend, Wis., native earned his Mechanical Engineering Degree in 2012.
• Across five NASCAR Cup Series races in the crew chief role at Bristol, Peterson has parlayed an average start of 13.4 with an average finish of 15.0, all with McDowell at the controls.
• The duo of Peterson and McDowell secured a venue-best sixth-place finish in the 2023 Bristol Night Race after qualifying a career-high, fourth.
• As a race engineer at RFK Racing, the West Bend, Wis., native played a key role in Chris Buescher’s 2022 Bristol win. After qualifying 20th, the team led 169 of the 500 laps en route to Buescher’s second career victory.
• While working as a race engineer, Peterson collected four top-five results at Bristol Motor Speedway with drivers Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Alex Bowman and Ryan Newman.
• Across 120 starts serving in the crew chief role, Peterson has called one win, eight poles, eight top-five and 25 top-10 finishes.

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

• Carson Hocevar will race Spire Motorsports’ No. 77 Spectrum Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, marking his sixth start in NASCAR’s premier division at the half-mile oval.
• Hocevar will pull double duty on the weekend at Bristol, where he’ll also pilot Spire Motorsports’ No. 77 Delaware Life Chevrolet Silverado RST in Friday’s NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Tennessee Army National Guard 250.
• Through seven events, the No. 77 team is 15th in the series’ point standings, four points above The Chase cutline. Hocevar’s two top fives, two top 10s, 171 points scored and 16.6 average finish are all career highs through the first seven points-paying races of the season.
• Last spring at “The Last Great Colosseum”, the 2024 Cup Series Rookie of the Year spent the majority of the day racing in the top five. Unfortunately, challenges during their final pit stop with 110 laps remaining dropped the team to the 20th position. Hocevar embarked on a spirited drive as the event drew to a close, ultimately finishing 11th. Despite the setback, he still claimed the fifth-highest average running position (6.78) and fourth-best driver rating (107.1) in the field.
• In the series’ most recent visit to Bristol last September, Hocevar restarted in the top spot with four laps remaining but was unable to fend off competitors with fresher tires. Still, he held on to finish seventh, a career-high in 16 short track events in NASCAR’s premier division.
• Last time out at Martinsville Speedway, the 23-year-old driver qualified seventh, a career-best starting position at the half-mile paperclip-shaped track. Despite being involved in a Lap-325 incident that sent him to pit road for cosmetic repair, he recovered to finish 17th, matching his venue-best result from April 2024.
• In CRAFTSMAN Truck Series competition, Hocevar owns four previous starts at Bristol, earning a venue-best fourth-place finish in September 2023.
• The Spectrum colors will return to the No. 77 for the first time since February at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Spectrum is a suite of advanced communications services offered by Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR), a leading broadband connectivity company available to 58 million homes and small to large businesses across 41 states. Founded in 1993, Charter has evolved from providing cable TV to streaming, and from high-speed Internet to a converged broadband, WiFi and mobile experience. Over the Spectrum Fiber Broadband Network and supported by our 100 percent U.S.-based employees, the Company offers Seamless Connectivity and Entertainment with Spectrum Internet®, Mobile, TV and Voice products. More information can be found at corporate.charter.com.

Carson Hocevar Quotes
You have been fast at Bristol, but the finishes don’t reflect that. How do you remain optimistic?
“We’ve been fast at Bristol ever since my first Cup race there in 2023. We have just been very successful there. I really enjoy running there, and it is one of Luke’s (Lambert) favorite tracks. He has a lot of experience there and won races at every level. We are close, we just need everything to come together.”

What about Bristol fits your driving style?
“Bristol is super-fast and I think that suits me. You carry a lot of speed around there and you have to make decisions very quickly and pick between the top and bottom lanes depending on where the lap traffic is. It is almost like running on a dirt track.”

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 award, five top-five and 17 top-10 finishes in 87 races together.
• The 16-year veteran crew chief has called 26 NASCAR Cup Series events at Bristol, earning one top five and seven top 10s, highlighted by a fifth-place finish in April 2015 with Ryan Newman.
• As a race engineer at Richard Childress Racing, the Mount Airy, N.C., native led Jeff Burton to Bristol Victory Lane in March 2008. Burton inherited the top spot on a green-white-checkered restart after the leaders tangled, earning the win after leading just two laps and leading the charge on a one-two-three finish for RCR, proving being in the right place at the right time can pay dividends at the famed, high-banked oval.
• Lambert owns two wins in three NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series races at Bristol. His first win came on March 17, 2012 with Elliott Sadler, followed up by a victory with Noah Gragson in the regular season finale over a decade later on Sept. 16, 2022.

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.