Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Atlanta Midweek Media Availability | Tuesday, February 18, 2025

Cole Custer, driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Haas Factory Team in the NASCAR Cup Series, was battling for the win in Sunday’s Daytona 500 before getting involved in an accident coming to the checkered flag. The result was a 21st-place finish, which he spoke about to the media this afternoon.

COLE CUSTER, No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse – HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT GOING FROM ONE SPEEDWAY RACE IN DAYTONA TO ANOTHER ONE THIS WEEKEND IN ATLANTA? “It was a great start for our team at Haas Factory racing. It was a great way to start off the year having both Xfinity cars have a shot at the win and having a Cup car have a shot at the win. It doesn’t get much better than that. I can’t say enough about our people and how hard they’ve worked over the offseason and to see them get rewarded and have a shot to win races is a great way to start. Hopefully, we can just keep it going and have another shot at it at Atlanta.”

HAVE YOU HEARD ANY COMMENTS FROM DENNY HAMLIN’S PODCAST? “I have not. I’ve been trying this year to totally stay off social media for the most part, so I have not listened to Denny’s podcast. I’ve heard some rumors, I guess you could say about it, but I haven’t actually heard it.”

TO PARAPHRASE, HE FELT YOU COULD HAVE WAITED LONGER TO MAKE THE MOVE. LOOKING BACK, DO YOU HAVE ANY DIFFERENT THOUGHTS THAN YOUR INITIAL REACTION? “Even when we got out of the car and I saw Denny right after, I told him, ‘Yeah, I feel like I should have waited for the frontstretch.’ There were definitely things that made me want to take that run on the backstretch because I got such a big run from the 19 pushing me, and I was probably a couple car lengths back of Denny at the time. I just tried to take the run. It was the last lap. I tried to take it. I knew I probably should have waited for the frontstretch, but it’s one of those things that you learn for the next time, and then also having the 35 spin out on the frontstretch, it was kind of like, ‘Oh, man. These guys are all wrecking. You’ve got to get to the lead now.’ So, you just didn’t feel like you had a second to waste, but, looking back at it, I definitely would agree that I wish I had waited for the frontstretch to give myself a little better shot at it. With the wreck, I think at the end of the day it’s three or four guys trying to go for the same place at the same time. Us and the 11 sidedrafting and then the 19 ended up hitting me in the left-rear and turning me into Denny, but I don’t really fault anybody for that. I feel like everybody is just trying to side draft and push and trying to win the Daytona 500. I was happy we had a shot to win and hopefully we can keep it rolling.”

DO YOU FEEL YOU EARNED SOME RESPECT WHEN YOU’RE TRYING TO WIN THE DAYTONA 500? “At the end of the day we’re all competitors. We’re gonna go out there and race as hard as we can and these superspeedway races come down to pushing and shoving and side drafting, so I think you see wrecks every single speedway race and usually they’re on the last lap. At the end of the day, it’s everybody trying to go for the same spot at the same time. I wish I made the move on the frontstretch, but I’m not gonna regret anything.”

DO YOU THINK YOU EXPRESSED YOURSELF WELL WITH DENNY AND IT’S FINE? “Yeah, he was a little bit frustrated when he first came up, but I just told him I needed to see a replay. There are so many people that are hitting each other on those last laps and how it all comes together, so I made sure I saw a replay before I really had a great opinion on anything, but, yeah, I felt like we were both calm about it. I think we were both frustrated we didn’t win, but it was a calm conversation after.”

HOW DO YOU WALK OUT OF DAYTONA AND HEAD TO ATLANTA? WHAT’S YOUR MINDSET? “Hopefully have another shot at it. I feel like our team did a great job adjusting on our car throughout the day and communicating to try and make things better and that put us in a situation to have a shot to win at the end, so we just have to go there with the same mindset and try and be there at the front.”

DID YOU LOOK AT THE CHRISTOPHER BELL INCIDENT? “I looked back at that one, too, and Christopher actually texted me on Monday and he was like, ‘Yeah, my car just couldn’t really take a push that great all day.’ So, there weren’t really any hard feelings it seems like there. I mean, if I was gonna do it again, I wish I got just a tick more square on him. Maybe that would have helped it, but it sounded like he was kind of chasing his car a little bit all day, so it just wasn’t the best situation. When it’s five to go, you’re gonna have to push and shove. It is what it is. You try and help the guy as much as you can out front and there are definitely things I can learn from that to try and make it better, but I hated it because, honestly, I think that was the first time I ever wrecked anybody on a superspeedway off my bumper. I felt horrible after it happened, but when you look back at it, it sounds like he was kind of chasing his car a little bit.”

HOW HAS THE APPROACH CHANGED NOT HAVING TEAMMATES OUT THERE ANYMORE? “I think at the end of the day on the superspeedways the Fords work really well together, so that’s always been a plus for us, and then also having an alliance with RFK has been huge. It’s been great working with them, so I think just building off that and at the end of the day you just try and have a good handling car at Atlanta and try and have a car that you can be aggressive with and have some speed. Hopefully we can just get up there and try to control lanes.”

HOW HARD HAS IT BEEN TO ACCLIMATE BACK TO THE CUP CAR? “There’s definitely little things like trying to get used to the mirrors and just your whole surroundings in general, but it’s been pretty solid so far and nothing too crazy. I have a great team around me and just have to keep building it.”

HAVE YOU SEEN RACING AT DAYTONA OR SUPERSPEEDWAY RACING IN GENERAL CHANGE BETWEEN THE OLDER VERSION OF THE CAR AND THE NEXT GEN CAR TODAY? “For sure. Yeah. The second the Next Gen car came out it seemed like there was a lot more pushing, a lot more shoving. It’s very hard to get the third lane to work, so that leaves you with two lanes and everybody pushing and shoving in those two lanes because they can’t go anywhere else. It’s created more chaos, I would say, just from the pushing standpoint. I would say that’s the biggest thing.”

WHEN IT COMES TO SUCCESS AT DAYTONA, IS IT MORE LUCK BASED, PERFORMANCE BASED OR A COMBINATION? “It’s kind of a 50/50 if I was to guess a number. You have to be at the right place at the right time. You look at the 24 and he ended up winning the race and he wasn’t in the first two rows on that last lap, so you have to be at the right place at the right time, but, at the same time, you have to do everything right as the driver and as a team on your pit stops, how you work the draft, when to take risk and when to kind of save your car, so there’s a lot that goes into it, but being at the right place at the right time has a lot to do with it also.”

WHAT HAVE YOU SEEN CHANGE WITH THE TEAM AND WHAT HAVE YOU HAD TO GET USED TO AGAIN WITH THE TEAM AS A WHOLE GOING FROM XFINITY TO CUP? “I think the biggest thing for me is how much I’ve changed in the last couple of years, just knowing how much better to work with your team to try and fix problems and things like that because usually race weekends do not go perfect. Usually, there’s always something you’ve got to fix, something you’ve got to make better and the teams that can go in the right direction and fix those things tend to be better. The driver is a huge part of that and how they communicate with their team, so I think that’s one of the biggest things, and just having the confidence to know you can go out there and compete with the best of them.”

YOU HAVE BEEN IN RACES WHERE CAUTION HAS BEEN THROWN ON THE LAST LAP AND WHEN IT HASN’T. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THAT SCENARIO AS A COMPETITOR? “If I was to give my opinion, usually what they’ve said in the past is if there’s heavy impacts, they’re gonna throw the caution. Like Riley’s, when he kind of just spun or slid to the inside, I understand that not being a caution, but probably with how big that wreck was on the backstretch I would expect a caution because you never know if somebody is gonna get hurt or what’s gonna happen. Unfortunately, it’s kind of the world we live in on superspeedways that they’re probably more so gonna end under caution than anything because the pushing and shoving is so extreme, but at the end of the day you have to think about the safety first. When people make that big of an impact, the caution should probably come out.”

HOW BIG OF AN IMPACT WAS IT? “It was fairly big. When the 11, I think, came up the track and then maybe it was the 51 that came back up the track too. We all hit each other and you’re in the wall. It’s definitely a somewhat heavy impact and you just never know, so I think, at the end of the day, if you see guys hitting the wall and having pretty big impacts, yeah, I mean the caution should come out and you also don’t want people barreling through that wreck, too. When guys are just sliding across the track you could t-bone somebody or something, so that’s just my point of view from a driver.”

HOW IS IT WORKING WITH A CREW CHIEF YOU HAVEN’T WORKED BEFORE AT THESE TWO TRACKS? IS IT EASIER ON A NEW DRIVER/CREW CHIEF RELATIONSHIP OR HARDER? “I think it’s honestly a good way to ease into that kind of relationship just because you have a little bit bigger window on hitting your balance and how it all plays out with the handling of the cars. I think Aaron has done a great job and obviously giving me a shot to go win a race at the end of the Daytona 500. I can’t really ask for much more and they worked so hard this week. It was incredible the amount of work they did on that car because after the Duels, pretty much every single body panel had to be replaced, and the floor and the splitter. We had to take the engine out. It was a lot of work and for them to still give me a car that could go compete definitely shows what we can do.”

IS THE WAY YOU ADVANCE AT ATLANTA AND MANEUVER IN THE TRAFFIC DIFFERENT THAN DAYTONA OR NOT? “Yes and no. It seems like it can get that way, where you kind of just run double file and it’s hard to pass, but, at the same time, there’s a lot more handling involved in Atlanta, so one guy can be handling good and then you get a lot of pressure on them and you’re trying to make moves around them, so just the handling side of that really changes the racing at Atlanta a lot of the time, but it is still drafting. You’re gonna try and draft and try and make moves on other guys.”

DOES IT MAKE YOU HOLD YOUR BREATH FOR A SECOND WHEN YOU SEE A WRECK LIKE PREECE’S AT DAYTONA? DO YOU THINK MORE ABOUT IT? “I don’t know if you think about it as a driver, I guess, but it catches your attention for sure. After the race I didn’t even know he flipped until after when I saw it. I was like, ‘Oh, man. That was big. I hope he’s OK.’ Nobody wants to see cars flip over as a driver.”

America’s Largest Air Ambulance Membership Network Joins Rick Ware Racing

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Feb. 18, 2025) – AirMedCare Network, a division of Global Medical Response and America’s largest air ambulance membership network, has joined Rick Ware Racing (RWR) for this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The company will serve as the primary partner for driver Corey LaJoie and the No. 01 team in the Ambetter Health 400.

LaJoie and the No. 01 AirMedCare Network Ford Mustang Dark Horse will take to the track for the first time on Saturday when qualifying begins at 11 a.m. EST. After a fast lap around Atlanta’s 1.54-mile oval, LaJoie will slot in for Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400, which goes green at 3 p.m. with live coverage on FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

“We’ve been a partner of Corey’s for several years now, and we’re looking forward to seeing him carry the colors of AirMedCare Network this weekend at Atlanta,” said Matt Muse, vice president of membership sales, AirMedCare Network. “Corey has been a great advocate for AMCN’s air ambulance membership program, and this opportunity at Atlanta provides an excellent platform for us to tell our story and explain the membership benefits of AirMedCare Network.”

AirMedCare Network membership brings financial peace of mind. For $99 per year, an entire household can be protected. In the event of a serious medical emergency, AirMedCare Network’s air ambulance providers transport everyone in need of care, regardless of membership status or ability to pay. Members have the added benefit of no out-of-pocket costs associated with their transport when flown by a network provider. Another benefit of an air ambulance membership with AirMedCare Network is its expansive reach, with more than 320 locations across 38 states. To learn more about AirMedCare Network, please visit www.AirMedCareNetwork.com.

“AirMedCare Network has been a NASCAR partner for several years and we’ve been working with them to help grow their membership,” LaJoie said. “Atlanta marks AirMedCare Network’s first race as a primary partner, and we’re proud to be a part of their expanded marketing efforts in NASCAR.”

LaJoie has proven to be a good bet at Atlanta. The 33-year-old racer from Charlotte, North Carolina, has regularly placed himself among the leaders at Atlanta since the track was reconfigured ahead of the 2022 season. In the six races on the new layout, LaJoie has scored four top-15 finishes. Among them are two top-fives, including a fourth-place drive in the 2023 Ambetter Health 400 that earned LaJoie his career-best NASCAR Cup Series result.

“Atlanta is probably one of the most mentally and physically exhausting races because the track’s banked a lot, you’re pulling a lot of G’s in the middle of the corner, and it’s a chess match trying to position yourself in the right spot at the right time,” LaJoie said. “And the physical load on your body is one of the highest on the schedule, so it’s definitely a test of your mental and physical acuity.”

About AirMedCare Network:

AirMedCare Network is an alliance among Air Evac Lifeteam, Guardian Flight, Med-Trans Corporation and REACH Air Medical Services, creating America’s largest air ambulance membership network. Since 1985, AirMedCare has been selling memberships, with over 3 million members today. AirMedCare’s affiliate providers operate more than 350 aircraft (fixed wing and rotor) in over 320 locations in 38 states across the country. For more information about AirMedCare Network, please visit www.AirMedCareNetwork.com.

About Rick Ware Racing:

Rick Ware has been a motorsports mainstay for more than 40 years. It began at age 6 when the third-generation racer began his driving career and has since spanned four wheels and two wheels on both asphalt and dirt. Competing in the SCCA Trans Am Series and other road-racing divisions led Ware to NASCAR in the early 1980s, where he finished third in his NASCAR debut – the 1983 Warner W. Hodgdon 300 NASCAR Grand American race at Riverside (Calif.) International Raceway. More than a decade later, injuries would force Ware out of the driver’s seat and into fulltime team ownership. In 1995, Rick Ware Racing was formed, and with wife Lisa by his side, Ware has since built his eponymous organization into an entity that competes fulltime in the elite NASCAR Cup Series while simultaneously campaigning successful teams in the Top Fuel class of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, Progressive American Flat Track and FIM World Supercross Championship (WSX).

Zane Smith and the No. 38 City of Refuge Ford Mustang Dark Horse Team
Atlanta Motor Speedway Competition Notes

Ambetter Health 400
Date: Sunday, February 23, 2025
Event: Race 3 of 38
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Atlanta Motor Speedway (1.5-miles)
#of Laps: 260
Time/TV/Radio: 3:00 PM ET on FOX/PRN/SiriusXM channel 90

Zane Smith Notes

Zane Smith and the No. 38 team head to Hampton, Georgia for 260 laps at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. In the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series, Smith has one pole and three top-10’s at the 1.5-mile speedway, finishing fifth in both 2020 and 2022.

City of Refuge will join Smith as the primary partner of the No. 38 Ford Mustang Dark Horse team for the event. Additionally, City of Refuge will serve as a full season associate of Smith and the No. 38 team.

Since 1997, City of Refuge has worked with the goal in mind to transform the lives of individuals and communities in Atlanta and beyond. City of Refuge has become a leader in social transformation and continuously works to empower and equip individuals with the tools to succeed with several programs designed to impact housing, youth development, health & wellness, and vocation in the 30314 neighborhood, one of the poorest and most crime-ridden areas in the nation.

“As Zane Smith works tirelessly to push the boundaries of his racing performance, we are equally committed to helping individuals break through their challenges and create lives filled with purpose and independence,” said Bruce Deel, Founder and CEO of City of Refuge. “Our goal is to bring lasting transformation and hope to those in crisis, and we’re excited to have the chance to amplify that mission with a broader audience through our partnership with Zane.”

Smith and Crew Chief Ryan Bergenty will make an appearance at the City of Refuge in Atlanta this Friday, February 18th from 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM eastern standard time.

“I have always enjoyed racing at Atlanta,” said Smith. “We showed speed in Daytona, and I think with my past success in the Truck Series, we can leave Atlanta with a good result. Ryan (Bergenty) and the team have been fine tuning our Ford Mustang Dark Horse, so I expect to run upfront. It’s an honor to carry City of Refuge this weekend. They do so much for the Atlanta communities through their programs and it means a lot that they partnered with me to spread the word on their mission and brand. Hopefully, I can repay them with a trip to Victory Lane on Sunday.”

Road Crew

Driver: Zane Smith
Hometown: Huntington Beach, California

Crew Chief: Ryan Bergenty
Hometown: Plainville, Connecticut

Car Chief: Will Norris
Hometown: Bells, Tennessee

Engineer: Jacob Clamme
Hometown: Hartford City, Indiana

Engineer: Chris Yerges
Hometown: Green Bay, Wisconsin

Mechanic: Steve Godfrey
Hometown: West Haven, Connecticut

Mechanic / Engine Tuner: Tyler Podlaski
Hometown: Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania

Spotter: Ryan Blanchard
Hometown: Bethlehem, Connecticut

Transport Co-Driver: Ernest Mullins
Hometown: Fayetteville, North Carolina

Transport Co-Driver: Rick Grissom
Hometown: Bakersfield, California

Pit Crew

Front Tire Changer: Keiston France
Hometown: Amelia, Virginia

Rear Tire Changer: Austin Chrismon
Hometown: China Grove, North Carolina

Tire Carrier: Drew Baum
Hometown: Williamsport, Pennsylvania

Jackman: Kapil Fletcher
Hometown: Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Fueler: Chris Webb
Hometown: Concord, North Carolina

ABOUT CITY OF REFUGE

City of Refuge was founded in 1997 with the mission to transform the lives of individuals and

communities in Atlanta and beyond. Today the organization resides in a warehouse that was graciously donated in the 30314 neighborhood, one of the poorest and most crime-ridden areas in the nation. Since inhabiting the warehouse, City of Refuge has served over 35,000. The organization has created several programs designed to impact housing, youth development, health & wellness, and vocation. City of Refuge is a leader in social transformation and continuously works to empower and equip individuals with the tools to succeed.

ABOUT FRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS

Front Row Motorsports (FRM) is a winning organization in the NASCAR Cup and Craftsman Truck Series. The team is the 2021 Daytona 500 and 2022 Craftsman Truck Series champions. The team was founded in 2004 and is owned by successful entrepreneur, Bob Jenkins. FRM fields the No. 4, No. 34, and the No. 38 NASCAR Cup Series teams along with the No. 34 and No. 38 Craftsman Truck Series teams from its Mooresville, N.C. headquarters. Visit teamfrm.com and follow FRM on social media: Twitter at @Team_FRM, Instagram at @team_frm and Facebook at facebook.com/FrontRowMotorsports.

• In 20 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS), Spire Motorsports has logged two top-five and two top-10 finishes. Corey LaJoie earned consecutive top fives in the spiring edition (2022-2023) of the Cup Series annual visits to AMS in the team’s No. 7 Chevrolet. Spire Motorsports fields the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet ZL1s in the NCS with Justin Haley, Michael McDowell and Carson Hocevar, respectively.
• The Ambetter Health 400 from Atlanta Motor Speedway will be televised live on FOX Sunday, Feb. 23, beginning at 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The second of 36 points-paying races on the 2025 Cup Series schedule will be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

Justin Haley – Driver, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet ZL1

• Justin Haley will pilot Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Gainbridge Chevrolet ZL1 in Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400.
• The Winamac, Ind., racer has recorded eight Cup Series starts at AMS and owns two top 10s at the circuit.
• In six appearances in NASCAR Xfinity Series competition at AMS, Haley did not finish outside of the top 10, and recorded a trio of top-five finishes.
• Founded in 2018, Gainbridge® is an insurtech subsidiary of Group 1001 that empowers consumers to take control of their financial future with solutions that are accessible to everyone, no matter their budget or financial knowledge. Its platform provides access to financial products that are simple, intuitive, and backed by smart technology with no complexity or hidden fees. Gainbridge® is headquartered in Zionsville, Ind. For more information, visit www.gainbridge.io or follow and connect with us on X and LinkedIn.
• In 26 appearances on drafting tracks, Haley has completed 5,135 of the 5,197 laps contested, which converts to 98.807 percent of laps completed.
• Last September, Haley made his return to Spire Motorsports and participated in the final seven events of the year aboard the team’s No. 7 Chevrolet, earning a season-best finish of seventh at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
• The four-time NASCAR Xfinity Series race winner is a veteran of 145 Cup Series starts and has notched one win, five top fives, 16 top 10s and led 103 laps in NASCAR’s premier division.
• In total, Haley has made 42 Cup Series starts for Spire Motorsports, with the bulk of races coming during the 2021 season behind the wheel of the team’s No. 77 machine. He made his first Cup Series start at Talladega Superspeedway on his 20th birthday.

Justin Haley Quote
How has Atlanta’s track surface changed, and how important is handling with multiple grooves now?
“I enjoy Atlanta. The track is really starting to wear, and I feel like now there are three distinct grooves. You really have to put an emphasis on making sure your car is handling good. After getting our first race out of the way, we can only get better. I like where the No. 7 team is at, and we are ready to get back out on the track.”

Atop the No. 7 Box – Crew Chief Rodney Childers

Crew chief Rodney Childers comes to Spire Motorsports after spending the past 11 seasons at Stewart-Haas Racing, leading the organization’s No. 4 team. The first 10 of those campaigns were with 2014 NASCAR Cup Series Champion Kevin Harvick.
Childers has called 28 Cup Series events at Atlanta, including two wins, five top-fives and nine top 10s. He led Kevin Harvick and the No. 4 team to victories at the Hampton, Ga., oval in 2018 and 2020.
The veteran crew chief has participated in 678 NASCAR Cup Series races where he’s earned 34 poles, 40 wins, 178 top-five and 298 top-10 finishes. He also earned 2014 championship honors with Harvick.
Childers’ 40 wins at NASCAR’s premier level are second-most amongst all active crew chiefs in the Cup Series garage.

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

• Michael McDowell will pilot Spire Motorsports’ No. 71 Group 1001 Chevrolet ZL1 in the Ambetter Health 400.
• The 40-year-old driver will pull double duty on the weekend, competing in Saturday’s Fr8 208 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race. McDowell will drive the No. 07 Delaware Life Chevrolet Silverado with crew chief Allen Hart atop the pit box. He will be making his fourth-career CRAFTSMAN Truck Series start, and second in as many weeks.
• Group 1001 Insurance is a collective that empowers companies to create positive growth. Our insurance and annuities are easy to understand and accessible to all. Our online investing platform gives individuals control over their savings. Our technology and innovation help companies succeed. And our strategic partnerships bring people together through education and sports. As of September 30, 2024, Group 1001 Insurance had more than 1,500 employees and combined assets under management of $66.8 billion and provides over 496,000 active annuity contracts and life insurance policies. It comprises the following brands: Delaware Life, Gainbridge®, Clear Spring Life and Annuity Company, Clear Spring Property and Casualty Group, Clear Spring Health, and the RVI Group, among others.
• McDowell owns 18 Cup Series starts at AMS, highlighted by one top five and two top 10s. He earned back-to-back Busch Light Pole Awards at the track last season.
• In last week’s season-opener at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, the No. 71 team navigated a late-race melee to secure a solid 11th-place finish. The Go Bowling Chevrolet clocked the fastest lap of the race at 45.169 seconds (199.252 MPH), earning a championship bonus point via the Xfinity Fastest Lap.
• The veteran, now in his 18th Cup Series season, aims for his third career playoff appearance (2021, 2023). After the 67th running of the Daytona 500, McDowell sits 14th in the driver standings.
• Across his first five qualifying attempts during the 2024 season, McDowell held an average starting position of 6.2, which included two front-row starting positions, second at Daytona and a pole position at Atlanta. McDowell’s lowest starting position in his first five races last season was a 12th-place qualifying effort at Las Vegas.
• McDowell marked his 500th career start at Martinsville Speedway last fall, a milestone he celebrated at the site of his first Cup Series start in 2008. Now 40-years-old and a father of five, McDowell is set to complete his 17th season competing in NASCAR’s premier division. To date, he has 502 career Cup Series starts on his resume.

Michael McDowell Quotes
How does the aging of the surface change each stop the series makes at Atlanta? Furthermore, how will running the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race on Saturday help you on Sunday.
“Atlanta will be a similar style to Daytona, but handling will still be a big part of it, especially in how you take those runs. I will have a good opportunity to learn the track this weekend in the Truck race on Saturday afternoon, so I’ll have some data and video to review. I’m going to be studying up and getting ready for Atlanta throughout the week at the shop. This is a big opportunity for us. Last year in the Cup race, it was my first career pole, and we sat on both poles at Atlanta. It was a really solid race for us. So, I am hoping to build on that and carry some momentum into the weekend to try and get both the truck and the No. 71 into Victory Lane.”

Atop the No. 71 Box – Crew Chief Travis Peterson

• Crew chief Travis Peterson joins Spire Motorsports after spending the past two seasons at Front Row Motorsports. He made the move alongside driver Michael McDowell.
• The 33-year-old led McDowell to a pair of Busch Light Pole Awards at Atlanta Motor Speedway last season.
• Peterson and McDowell combined for five pole positions at the six events contested at drafting tracks during last season. Two of those poles came at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Additionally, McDowell led the field to the green flag at World Wide Technology Raceway (Ill.) in June, giving the team six total Busch Light Pole Awards on the season – the most of any team last season.
• Peterson contributed to several victories during his tenure at RFK Racing, Hendrick Motorsports and JR Motorsports, highlighted by clinching the NASCAR Xfinity Series title in 2014 and racking up three Cup Series wins with Dale Earnhardt, Jr., and the No. 88 team in 2015.
• Peterson is a mechanical engineering graduate of the Williams States Lee College of Engineering at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. The West Bend, Wis., native earned his degree in 2012.

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

• Delaware Life returns to Carson Hocevar’s No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet ZL1 for the Ambetter Health 400 at AMS.
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• In two Cup Series starts at Atlanta, Hocevar has finished no worse than 19th. The 25-year-old racer finished 16th in the series’ most recent visit to the 1.54-mile drafting track last September.
• Hocevar also owns three NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series starts at Atlanta with a best finish of 16th coming in 2021, before the track was reconfigured to produce superspeedway-style racing.
• Last Sunday, the NASCAR Cup Series kicked off the 2025 season with the 67th running of the Daytona 500. Hocevar qualified 33rd but was dealt a tough hand early on with fuel pump issues on Lap 5. The No. 77 team adjusted strategy and fought to stay in the race, but Hocevar’s race ended with just five laps remaining, leaving him 30th in the final rundown.

Carson Hocevar Quotes
What is the craziness factor going from somewhere like Daytona to Atlanta the following week?
“I think Daytona is more unpredictable in my mind because the wrecks don’t happen from bad blocks anymore, they happen from bad pushes. At Atlanta, it’s more chaotic, and you can see the wrecks happening or that aggression starting to build up, so you can try to move around a little and avoid it. At Daytona you are just sitting a sitting duck. At Atlanta, you can kind of see things starting to form even if things are still happening quickly in the draft.”

Atop the No. 77 Box – Crew Chief Luke Lambert

• Luke Lambert has served in the crew chief role for 15 races at Atlanta. He led his driver to a top-10 finish three times – twice with Ryan Newman in 2014 and 2015 and once with Chris Buescher in March 2021.
• Lambert has collected 413 starts as a crew chief in the NASCAR Cup Series with a total of 28 top-five and 92 top-10 finishes, highlighted by a win with Ryan Newman at Phoenix in 2017.
• Lambert also led Newman to a second-place finish in the 2014 Championship standings on the strength of five top-five and 16 top-10 finishes.

About Spire Motorsports …
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 (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 April 12, 2024, when Kyle Busch took the checkered flag in the SpeedyCash.com 250 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.

In 2025, Spire Motorsports will campaign the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolets in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team will also field the Nos. 07, 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet Silverados in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series and the No. 77 Chevrolet in the ARCA Menards Series in select events.