Spire Motorsports AdventHealth 400 Race Advance

• In 28 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Kansas Speedway, Spire Motorsports has logged one top-10 and five top-20 finishes. Zane Smith owns the team’s best finish, a 10th-place effort earned in September 2024. Spire Motorsports fields the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1s in the Cup Series with Daniel Suarez, Michael McDowell and Carson Hocevar, respectively.
• The AdventHealth 400 will be televised live on FOX Sunday, April 19 beginning at 2 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The ninth of 36 points-paying races on the 2026 Cup Series calendar will be broadcast live on the Motor 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 AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway.
• Suárez has made 18 Cup Series starts at Kansas, earning two top-10 and 10 top-20 results with 32 laps led. He carries an average starting position of 17.7 and a 20.9 finishing position at the 1.5 mile tri-oval. His series/venue-best effort came in 2017, where he finished seventh.
• Last spring at Kansas, the 34-year-old driver started eighth but was caught up in an on-track incident, bringing his race to an early end, ultimately leaving him 34th in the final rundown.
• Out of Suárez’s 330 Cup Series starts, 159 have come on intermediate tracks. Over those races, he earned one win at Atlanta (2024), 11 top-five and 38 top-10 finishes while leading 387 laps. This season, at venues generally considered as intermediate-style tracks, Suárez finished fifth at Atlanta, 30th at Phoenix, 18th at Las Vegas and seventh at Darlington.
• In NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series competition, Suárez has recorded a pair of starts at Kansas Speedway where he earned one top three and two top 10s, and led six laps. He finished third in the 2016 Kansas Lottery 300.
• The two-time NASCAR Cup Series winner sits 15th in the division’s driver point standings after the first eight races of the season, the second highest of Spire Motorsports’ three NASCAR Cup Series entries. The Monterrey, Mexico native has earned one top five, two top 10s and led 15 laps. Through the first eight races of the 2026 campaign, Suárez is averaging a 16.3 finish, four positions better than his average at this point last season.
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Daniel Suárez Quote
As you head into Kansas this weekend, what’s your outlook for the race?
“I really enjoy racing at Kansas. It’s a great track with multiple grooves, which gives you a lot of options during a run. You can run the bottom, middle, or top depending on how the car is handling. I’ve been watching the weather for qualifying and there’s a chance of rain. If that happens and qualifying gets washed out, we’d line up 13th for the race. Track position is important at Kansas, so that wouldn’t be a bad place to start.”

Atop the No. 7 Box – Crew Chief Ryan Sparks

• Ryan Sparks has called 210 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.
• The Winston-Salem, N.C., native’s best finish at Kansas came in September 2025, where he earned an 18th-place finish with driver Justin Haley. Sparks has called 12 races at Kansas and overall, has led the charge in 100 races on intermediate-style tracks, earning two top-five and four top-10 finishes.
• 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 of NASCAR’s national touring series, highlighted by 13 seasons at Richard Childress Racing and contributions to title-winning campaigns in the 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/Triad Partners Chevrolet ZL1 in Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway.
• In 29 NASCAR Cup Series starts at the 1.5-mile tri-oval, McDowell has posted an average starting position of 24.7 and an average finish of 26.3. Over his last five starts, he has a 13.6 average start, including two top-10 qualifying efforts, and a 20.4 average finish. He scored a top 10 in May 2024 and a top 15 last September.
• The No. 71 Chevrolet will return to its traditional Delaware Life livery for Sunday’s 400 miler, with the addition of Triad Partners, headquartered in Lawrence, Kan., being featured on the No. 71 Chevrolet’s hood.
• McDowell’s front tire changer, Max Marsh, spent his college years playing football at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. Marsh earned varsity letters in all four seasons, finding a home as the team’s backup safety and on special teams before shifting gears for his pit-road duties on NASCAR’s senior circuit.
• Last weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, McDowell qualified 19th and struggled to regain track position following two penalties and contact with another competitor during Sunday afternoon’s Food City 500 where he ultimately finished 24th.
• After eight races, the 41-year-old racer sits 19th in points, just seven points below the cutline following last Sunday’s race.
• McDowell qualified 21st for last September’s Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway and raced his way to a respectable 14th-place finish.
• The 19-year Cup Series veteran has made two NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series starts and one ARCA Menards Series start at Kansas Speedway, highlighted by an 11th-place finish in the fifth race of the 2007 ARCA season.
• The West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame announced McDowell has been listed as a first-time nominee where voting is scheduled to begin May 21.
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Michael McDowell Quote
What makes Kansas different from the other traditional mile-and-a-halves?
“I think a big part of it is that Kansas is one of the easiest tracks to get multiple lanes going right away. Even on the first lap of practice, you can run the top, where at places like Charlotte, Texas, or other 1.5-mile tracks, you really have to build up to that. Kansas has multiple lanes and grooves, and everything comes together fairly early in a run, which usually leads to a pretty good race because you’re able to move around. It’s always been a great track and everyone eventually migrates toward the wall, so it gets intense. The track changes a lot throughout the weekend. It typically starts out really fast, then by race time it drops off, forcing you to slide more and search for grip. It’s been a strong track for us in the past, but it can be tough to hit it just right. The speed we’ve shown at tracks like Vegas and Texas last year gives us a solid baseline, so I feel good with what we have and hopefully we can maximize our day in Kansas.”

Atop the No. 71 Box – Crew Chief Travis Peterson

• Across six Cup Series races at Kansas Speedway, McDowell’s crew chief, Travis Peterson, has led his driver to a 15.2 average start paired with a 21.3 average finish.
• As a race engineer at JR Motorsports, the West Bend, Wis., native played a key role in Regan Smith’s third-place result in 2013. After qualifying fifth, the team dominated the race and led 81 of the 200 laps en route to his seventh of eight top-five finishes during the 2013 season.
• Prior to his time as a crew chief, the 34-year-old worked as a race engineer for Dale Earnhardt, Jr., at Hendrick Motorsports where he recorded a third-place result at Kansas Speedway in 2015.

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

• Carson Hocevar will race Spire Motorsports’ No. 77 Chili’s Ride The ‘Dente Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway, marking his sixth start in NASCAR’s premier division at the 1.5-mile oval. Hocevar will Ride the ‘Dente Again’te in a rhinestone-studded livery and firesuit inspired by Nudie Cohn, the original “Rhinestone Cowboy.”
• Through eight races, the No. 77 team is 13th in the series’ point standings, 21 points out of 10th. Hocevar’s two top fives, three top 10s, 209 points scored, average starting position of 11.5 and 15.8 average finish are all career highs through the first eight points-paying races of the season. The team’s average starting position thus far is seven positions higher than this point in 2025, and its average finish is nine positions higher.
• Last week at Bristol Motor Speedway, the 23-year-old driver was in position to secure his third top-five finish of the season until a caution flag waved on Lap 478. While most of the drivers on the lead lap ducked to pit road for fresh Goodyear Racing Eagles, the No. 77 team made the decision to remain on the track and restart second. Unfortunately, Hocevar was unable to hold off his challengers on fresher tires but still managed to hang on for his third top 10 of the season.
• The Portage, Mich., native put on a statistical showcase last Sunday by converting the most quality passes in the field while tallying an average running position of 6.13. He was also one of four drivers to spend all 505 laps inside the top 15.
• The No. 77 pit crew backed up Hocevar’s performance with the third-fastest average four-tire pit stop time at Bristol (8.45 seconds).
• The 2024 Cup Series Rookie of the Year collected a venue-best 20th-place finish in Sept. 2023, his first of five starts at Kansas and third series appearance.
• Last May, Hocevar took the checkered flag in the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Heart of Health Care 200 at Kansas Speedway driving for the Brian Pattie-led No. 7 Spire Motorsports team. He led 75 of the event’s 134 laps and survived last-lap contact with another competitor to earn his fifth victory in the series and first aboard a Spire-prepared Chevy Silverado. Hocevar owns six CRAFTSMAN Truck starts at Kansas, tallying one win, two top fives and three top 10s. His 135 laps led at the venue are a career mark across all tracks.
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Carson Hocevar Quotes
What stands out about Kansas?
“It is a fun track. You can move around a lot for sure, but the top lane has by far been the fastest the last couple years, especially when it’s really warm. You want to get as close to the wall as you can without putting yourself in the fence, just like at Darlington and Homestead. The track has gotten abrasive, so managing your tires is important. Then to top it all off, the restarts are crazy with the runs you can build and the ability to run three wide through the corner.

“I really enjoy the mile-and-a-half tracks, and we have shown we can run up front at the intermediates over the past year. We’ve shown speed the last few weeks, and I know we can continue that this week.”

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 18 top-10 finishes in 88 races together.
• The 16-year veteran crew chief has called 24 NASCAR Cup Series races at Kansas, earning three top 10s and eight top 15s, highlighted by a sixth-place finish in Oct. 2014 with Ryan Newman. He also helped Daniel Hemric to his first-career pole position during his rookie campaign in 2019.
• The Mount Airy, N.C., native has called two NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series races in America’s heartland, securing a victory with Noah Gragson in 2022. While the event was paused just after Stage 2 and eventually called 103 laps prior to the scheduled distance due to inclement weather, the win marked the second of four consecutive series victories by the Lambert-Gragson duo (Darlington Raceway, Sept. 3; Kansas, Sept. 10; Bristol, Sept. 16; Texas Motor Speedway, Sept. 24).

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.