Spire Motorsports heads to Bristol Motor Speedway aiming for a strong showing in the upcoming Bass Pro Shops Night Race, with their eyes set on making a statement at this pivotal event in the NASCAR Cup Series. This Spire Motorsports Bristol Night Race Preview examines the team’s prospects, recent results, and the drivers’ outlooks ahead of Saturday’s high-energy showdown in Tennessee.
Spire Motorsports’ Track Record and Current Lineup Entering Bristol
Since its debut in the NASCAR Cup Series, Spire Motorsports has steadily made progress at Bristol, one of the sport’s most demanding circuits. In 19 starts at the iconic short track, the team has posted three top-15 finishes and five in the top 20. Notably, Carson Hocevar delivered an 11th-place run—the team’s best result to date at Bristol—earlier this season. This weekend, the organization will field its three chevrolet/”>Chevrolet ZL1 entries: No. 7 for Justin Haley, No. 71 for Michael McDowell, and No. 77 for Hocevar, with all three drivers seeking to capitalize on their previous gains.
The much-anticipated Bass Pro Shops Night Race will be televised live on USA Network beginning at 7:30 p.m. EDT, with additional coverage provided by the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90). As the 29th event in a 36-race schedule, Saturday marks a crucial juncture as the season barrels toward its final stretch.
Justin Haley Approaches Bristol with Momentum and Experience
Justin Haley returns to Bristol with confidence, poised to drive the No. 7 NationsGuard Chevrolet ZL1 under the Saturday night lights. Across five prior Cup Series appearances at this venue, Haley recorded a personal best of 12th in September 2022. Earlier this year, he qualified 10th and finished 13th, demonstrating notable race pace and stage presence by running as high as second and maintaining a top-five position through the opening segments before placing eighth to start the final long stint.
Haley’s background at The Last Great Colosseum spans all three national series: in the Xfinity Series, he boasts two top-10s from five starts (including seventh in his debut and a recent sixth-place), averaging a 7.2 starting spot and 16th-place finishing position. He also logged three Truck Series races, highlighted by a sixth in August 2018, finishing with an average of 14.7 at the start and 10.3 at the finish in Craftsman Truck Series runs at Bristol.
The previous weekend, Haley faced adversity at World Wide Technology Raceway, starting from the rear following pre-race suspension repairs. Although he moved up to eighth position early, subsequent handling challenges and pit strategy issues resulted in a 28th-place finish. This coming Saturday, Haley is set for his 172nd Cup Series start and his 73rd with Spire Motorsports, a journey that began at Talladega Superspeedway in 2019 and has yielded one win, six top-five finishes, and 18 top-10s with 123 laps led in the series.
Reflecting on his prior Bristol performance and the approach for this weekend, Haley shares an optimistic assessment:
“Bristol is always a great atmosphere for the drivers and the fans. We had a super strong run in the spring in the No. 7 NationsGuard Chevrolet and we fully expect to be just as good Saturday night. We won’t have the best metric for qualifying but if we execute well and get good track position we will set ourselves up for a great weekend.”
—Justin Haley, Driver of the No. 7 Chevrolet ZL1
Asked about the primary challenges for this weekend’s race, Haley focuses on a crucial factor at Bristol:
“I think my biggest challenge is managing tires while navigating traffic. Tire wear might be a concern this weekend. I think it really depends on the weather and how it shows during practice and how the track takes rubber.”
—Justin Haley, Driver of the No. 7 Chevrolet ZL1
Ryan Sparks Leading the No. 7 Team into Bristol
This weekend will see Ryan Sparks step into a pivotal leadership role for Spire Motorsports, serving both as Competition Director and crew chief for Haley. Sparks began his Cup Series pit box experience at Bristol alongside Haley in September 2024. Over his career, Sparks has accumulated 194 career Cup Series starts as crew chief, including four top-five and ten top-10 finishes, and has overseen seven Bristol events, with 15th being his best finish there with Corey LaJoie in 2022.
Michael McDowell Brings Veteran Experience to the No. 71 Chevrolet
For the 27th time in his Cup Series career, Michael McDowell will take on Bristol, piloting the No. 71 Gainbridge Chevrolet ZL1. McDowell’s prior best at the half-mile came last fall with a sixth-place result. Over 27 starts, he has registered two top-10s and nine top-20 finishes, completing nearly all but 11 of 4,000 total laps in the last eight races at the track and consistently battling near the front. On the dirt configuration at Bristol, McDowell demonstrated tenacity, finishing 12th, ninth, and 11th from 2021-2023, including a noteworthy recovery from a three-wide incident in 2023 that saw him avoid contact and finish 11th.
Earlier this season at Bristol, McDowell’s run ended in a disappointing 30th-place after lagging five laps behind the leaders, though his teammates both finished within the top 15. Outside of Cup competition, McDowell’s five Xfinity Series starts at Bristol have yielded a top-10 finish, with three inside the top 20.
In the current 2025 season, McDowell has captured two top-five finishes, three in the top 10, and 16 top 20s across 28 events, posting an average start of 15.5 and a 19.5 average finish while running at the checkered flag in all but two races. Just last weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway, McDowell advanced from a 28th-place start to finish 14th.
The No. 71 crew has enjoyed highlights this season, including securing Spire Motorsports’ inaugural Busch Light Pole Award at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a record-setting lap for the current Cup Series car generation, as well as netting the organization’s first stage win at Chicago’s Grant Park 165 and capturing the Mechanix Wear Pit Crew Challenge title during the NASCAR All-Star Weekend with an outstanding pit stop time.
McDowell underscores the special atmosphere of Saturday night’s Bristol race:
“The Bristol Night Race is all about the intensity. It just pumps it up. Obviously, with it being a cutoff round of the playoffs and it being a night race, it is just an electric environment and such a fun atmosphere. It is always a cool and fun night. I’ve had good success there, a bunch of near top-10 finishes over the last few years. We had a few issues there in the spring, but we know what we needed to work on and know what we had to fix. It was a very evident issue for us, so I feel good about going back there. Justin (Haley) and Carson (Hocevar) had a ton of speed at that first Bristol race, so we have a good notebook. We feel like we will be contenders there.”
—Michael McDowell, Driver of the No. 71 Chevrolet ZL1
Travis Peterson’s Insights as Crew Chief on the No. 71 Team
Crew chief Travis Peterson came to Spire Motorsports after working with McDowell at Front Row Motorsports. In three Cup Series starts at Bristol, Peterson has averaged a 10.5 starting position and 14.5 at the finish, each time with McDowell at the wheel. Peterson’s tenure at RFK Racing included engineering duties during Chris Buescher’s landmark 2022 Bristol win, when the team surged from a 20th-place qualifying effort to lead 169 laps and capture victory.
Carson Hocevar and the No. 77 Team Set Their Sights Higher
Carson Hocevar approaches the night race at Bristol as an opportunity to surpass his previous best. After running inside the top five for much of April’s Food City 500, a late-race pit miscue dropped Hocevar as far as 20th with just over 100 laps left, before he clawed back to finish 11th. This matched his prior best at the half-mile, first posted in September 2023, but left both Hocevar and the team wanting more given their strong pace before the final pit sequence.
Hocevar’s experience at Bristol spans four Truck Series starts, including a sixth place in 2021 after leading six laps and a fourth-place finish in his most recent outing with Niece Motorsports. Across 13 Cup Series starts on short tracks, he has twice posted a best finish of eighth—at both Richmond in August 2024 and at Iowa Speedway earlier in the current season. Most recently, Hocevar finished 15th at World Wide Technology Raceway, securing his 11th top-15 result of the year. With eight races remaining, he holds two top-five and seven top-10s.
Hocevar recounts the unpredictability and optimism stemming from the team’s earlier Bristol performance:
“It’s tough because Bristol can be so unpredictable. If anything, the spring race shows that we are capable of running up front. We have that information to use to our advantage and try to find something that will be just as good for us under the lights. It adds a lot of confidence. We know we can do it, it’s just putting every piece together, which is what we’ve been working on all year. I think we’ll be good. With it being a cutoff race for the playoff guys it’ll be interesting to see how things play out, but we have our own race to run and know what we need to do over these last eight races.”
—Carson Hocevar, Driver of the No. 77 Chevrolet ZL1
Luke Lambert’s Depth of Experience Guides the No. 77 Crew
The Bristol event will be Luke Lambert’s 25th career Cup Series appearance as crew chief at this famous venue. He has guided drivers to one top-five and six top-10 finishes in 22 combined races on Bristol’s traditional surface. Lambert has also secured two Xfinity Series wins at the track, with Elliott Sadler in 2012 and Noah Gragson in 2022. Over 432 Cup Series races, Lambert’s leadership has contributed to 29 top-five and 99 top-10 results, reflecting his steady hand atop the pit box.
A Big Weekend for Spire Motorsports: Significance and Next Steps
This weekend’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race stands as a critical test and a showcase of Spire Motorsports’ progress in the NASCAR Cup Series. With drivers Justin Haley, Michael McDowell, and Carson Hocevar carrying recent momentum and a wealth of short-track experience, the team is positioned to challenge the established contenders and possibly earn their best collective showing at the famed Bristol Motor Speedway. Crew chiefs Ryan Sparks, Travis Peterson, and Luke Lambert add strategic depth, while prior results and lessons from the spring race set an optimistic tone.
As the 2025 season heads into its pivotal late-summer stretch, all eyes will be on Spire Motorsports to see if their upward trajectory continues under the Bristol night lights. Their performance on Saturday could mark an important step forward, offering valuable data, renewed confidence, and perhaps a breakout moment for the growing squad.
