Pit Stop Radio News

Connor Zilisch – Driver, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado

• Connor Zilisch will make his fourth appearance aboard a Spire Motorsports entry,piloting the No. 7 Austin Hatcher Foundation Chevrolet Silverado in Friday’s Love’s RV Stop 225 at Talladega Superspeedway.
• The racing prodigy will pull double duty for the fourth-consecutive weekend, climbing behind the wheel of a Silver Hare Racing Chevrolet Camaro in the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series at Virginia International Raceway (VIR). He will make the trip to Alton, Va. from following Friday’s action at Talladega.
• In last season’s trip to VIR, Zilisch took the checkered flag from pole-position in the TA division on Saturday and doubled-up on the feat in the TA2 division on Sunday afternoon.
• In his most recent CRAFTSMAN Truck Series appearance at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, the Mooresville, N.C., native claimed his second Cometic Gasket Pole Award of his career and led the race’s first 41 circuits. Contact with another truck on Lap 109 sent the No. 7 Silverado for a spin, but the team rebounded to finish 19th.
• Zilisch will return to the seat of Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Chevy Silverado in the division’s penultimate race of the season at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in November.
• The Austin Hatcher Foundation for Pediatric Cancer, through the generosity and support of Hixon Motor Sports, will serve as Zilisch’s primary sponsor. The Austin Hatcher Foundation is a leading nonprofit organization committed to helping families impacted by childhood cancer at no cost, for the entire family’s entire lifetime. The Foundation provides comprehensive, coordinated care through evidence-based therapies, counseling, family programs, grief groups, educational resources and more, fostering resilience and hope for families. The Foundation’s focus not only assists families coping in the present, but helps them thrive in the future following a childhood cancer diagnosis.
• The road-course ace made his NASCAR debut in the No. 7 Austin Hatcher Foundation Silverado at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas in March. He set a track record while claiming the Cometic Gasket Pole Award by 0.714 seconds. Despite a pair of early-race miscues, Zilisch battled through the field twice to earn a spirited fourth-place finish.
• The accomplished karting and road racer made his first CRAFTSMAN Truck Series start on an oval at Richmond Raceway (Aug. 10). After starting 27th, he led all drivers with 72 green-flag passes and ranked within the top 10 in quality passes (30). An on-track incident ended his night with 14 laps remaining and was credited with a 29th-place finish.
• Less than a month after turning 18, Zilisch led 39 laps en route to victory in his first speedway race in ARCA Menards Series competition at Michigan International Speedway (Aug. 16). He held off a hard charging Andres Perez, the series points leader, in the closing laps to secure the win. Last week, in what was his second ARCA start on a speedway, he started at the tail of the field and went on to claim a runner-up finish at Kansas Speedway (Sept. 27).
• Zilisch closed the year second in points in the eight-race ARCA Menards Series East championship. He led 408 of the 1,310 laps contested (31.1 percent), claimed seven top-five finishes, owned an average finish of 2.9 and collected victories at Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway (April 26), Flat Rock (Mich.) Speedway (May 18), Iowa Speedway (June 14) and Indianapolis Raceway Park (July 19).
• Through 19 races, the No. 7 has compiled two wins with an average starting position of 9.9 and an average finish of 13.1 thus far this season. Kyle Busch led 33 laps en route the team’s first victory of 2024 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in February and a led a dominant 112 laps in the team’s most recent triumph at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. In its most recent outing, Connor Mosack qualified second, a career-best qualifying effort, and earned his second top-10 finish. 
• In his first season at Spire Motorsports, crew chief Brian Pattie led the No. 7 team to two victories across the first seven events this season, both with Kyle Busch (Atlanta Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway). The duo also won twice across five races last year with Kyle Busch Motorsports.
• Brian Pattie has called one prior CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at Talladega. Jack Wood qualified sixth and finished 14th in last year’s event with Pattie atop the box. Pattie has visited Talladega Victory Lane twice, guiding Joe Nemechek to a NASCAR Xfinity Series victory in 2000 and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to his first-career NASCAR Cup Series win in 2017.
• Spire Manufacturing chassis SMT-040 will be driven by Zilisch on Friday afternoon. In the truck’s most recent of eight starts, Corey LaJoie started third and was running in the fifth position at Daytona International Speedway until a last-lap incident ended his night half a lap from the finish. He recorded the race’s highest average running position (7.83), third-most quality passes (101), fourth-most green flag passes (129) and ran more laps in the top 15 than anyone in the field (86 of 101).

Connor Zilisch Quotes
You will be making your first start on a drafting-style race track. What have you done to prepare for the new challenge?
“I have a lot of guys around me I can ask for help who have raced at Talladega. My teammates at Spire have been helpful all year, including Rajah (Caruth), Nick (Sanchez) and Chase (Purdy). Their advice and opinion is very valuable and it means a lot. It will be a new experience for me, but I am excited for it and ready to learn as much as I can. This weekend will help get me prepared to hit the ground running at Daytona in February.”
You’ve shown speed in all your truck starts, but circumstances regulated you from the finish you deserved. What do you need to do to seal the deal and park the No. 7 Silverado in victory lane?
“We just need to have a clean day and keep the Austin Hatcher Foundation Silverado up front. I am sure the team will bring a fast truck to the track, but we can’t make mistakes. It’s crucial for the team and I to execute at the highest level so we can bring home best result.”

Rajah Caruth – Driver, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado

• Rajah Caruth will pilot Spire Motorsports’ No. 71 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado in Friday afternoon’s Love’s RV Stop 225 at Talladega Superspeedway.
• Caruth and the No. 71 team qualified for the NCTS playoffs via their win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and ending the regular season fifth in the series’ championship point standings. Caruth and Co. advanced from the Round of 10 following last weekend’s performance at Kansas Speedway. Heading into the first race of the Round of 8, the team is seeded fifth on the playoff grid, eight points below the Championship 4 cutline. The Round of 8 continues at Homestead-Miami Speedway (Oct. 26) and Martinsville Speedway (Nov. 1).
• In the third and final race of the Round of 10 last Friday at Kansas Speedway, the Washington D.C. native started 16th and battled forward throughout the night to earn a solid seventh-place finish.
• In the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series’ pair of races on drafting tracks in 2024, Caruth finished third at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway (Feb. 16) and eighth at Atlanta Motor Speedway (Feb. 23). He is one of three drivers to earn a top-10 finish in both events.
• HendrickCars.com is the online home for everything Hendrick Automotive Group. Visitors can shop thousands of new or pre-owned vehicles, locate centers for service and collision repair, receive a value to sell or trade their car, chat online with customer service, discover career opportunities, learn more about vehicle protections programs, and explore how the company gives back to the community.
• The 22-year-old started 14th and finished 12th in last season’s trip to Talladega in CRAFTSMAN Truck Series competition.
• In his lone ARCA Menards Series start at Talladega, Caruth led six laps en route to a sixth-place finish. 
• The 2024 season has marked a career year for Caruth. He’s totaled one win, a pair of Cometic Gasket Pole Awards and four top-five finishes, all of which are the first of his young career. His 10 top-10 finishes exceed his total of four in 2023. His average start of 10.5 is over four positions better than last season and his 11.1 average finish is an impressive seven positions higher.
• With his first career CRAFTSMAN Truck Series win and pole position earlier this season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Caruth became the third African American driver, alongside NASCAR Hall of Famer, Wendell Scott and current NASCAR Cup Series regular Bubba Wallace, to win a NASCAR National Touring Series race.
• Caruth raced his first full CRAFTSMAN Truck Series season in 2023, earning four top-10 finishes and closing the year 16th in points.
• Crew chief Chad Walter secured back-to-back third-place finishes atop the box in NASCAR Xfinity Series competition at the Alabama oval in 2006 and 2007 with Kyle Busch and Casey Mears in the cockpit, respectively.
• The No. 71 Silverado racing at Talladega is identified as Spire Manufacturing chassis SMT-027. Caruth secured the best finish in the truck’s four prior starts with a fourth-place finish at Daytona in February.

Rajah Caruth Quotes
Talladega kicks off the Round of 8. Do you feel it is a great opportunity to lock into the Championship 4, or a place you can fall way behind?
“I believe Talladega is an amazing opportunity. Some go into drafting tracks and try to avoid the crash or anticipate when the wreck is going to happen. If you have that hesitant and nervous mentality, it is all over before you get off the plane. I think it is a great opportunity to qualify well and grab some valuable stage points. We will see how it shakes out at the end. Talladega is an awesome race track, I enjoy pack racing and hopefully it goes our way this time.”
If you win this weekend, what would your next two races look like for your team?
“I wouldn’t be thinking about any racetrack except Phoenix Raceway (laughs). Realistically, we do the same things we’ve been doing. As a whole, I’d be more excited to have the opportunity to race for a championship. I think the main goal coming into the year was for to be competing for the championship in Phoenix. It doesn’t matter how you get there. If it’s in our stars and in the plans of the man upstairs to win Talladega, then Homestead and Martinsville will be even more enjoyable.”

Chase Purdy – Driver, No.77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado

• Chase Purdy will drive Spire Motorsports’ No. 77 Bama Buggies Chevrolet Silveradoin Friday’s Love’s RV Stop 225.
• In last season’s visit to Talladega, Purdy collected his second Cometic Gasket Pole Award in as many weeks and second of his career. He led 11 laps, converted the fourth-most quality passes in the field (129) and was leading the pack when his Silverado shut off on a restart with 19 laps remaining. Thankfully, a quick caution flag kept him from losing touch with the main pack. His day came to an end with an incident in the tri-oval with 10 laps to go.
• The 24-year-old owns four CRAFTSMAN Truck Series starts at Talladega. He’s collected a pair of top 10s, led 21 laps and sat on the pole last season.
• In his lone ARCA Menards Series start at the Alabama oval, the Meridian, Miss., native earned a career-best second-place qualifying effort. He was collected in an incident on the final lap and made heavy contact with the outside retaining wall.
• The Love’s RV Stop 225 will mark Purdy’s 95th CRAFTSMAN Truck Series start and 20th behind the wheel of the No. 77 Bama Buggies Chevrolet Silverado for Spire Motorsports.
• While racing for Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2023, Purdy had the best statistical season of his career. He earned three top-five, 11 top-10 and 14 top-15 finishes while notching a career-best finish of second at Texas Motor Speedway (April 1) and claiming his first career Truck Series pole at Kansas Speedway (Sept. 8). He would snag his second career pole two races later at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway (Sept. 30), a race in which he led a career-high 11 laps.
• Crew chief Jason Trinchere has a pair of top fives atop the box in NASCAR Xfinity Series competition during his time at Kaulig Racing at the 2.66-mile tri-oval. He guided A.J. Allmendinger to a third-place finish in 2021 and Landon Cassill to a fifth-place finish in 2022.
• Purdy will be behind the wheel of Spire Manufacturing chassis SMT-006 on Friday. The truck has one prior start under the Spire Motorsports banner, raced by Corey LaJoie at Daytona in 2023.

Chase Purdy Quotes 
You’ve led laps and had multiple great performances at Talladega. How do you plan to seal the deal and get your first career win? 
“To win the race you have to survive the chaos and be there at the end. I’ve always believed the best way to avoid the mess is to be ahead of it. That is what we plan to do on Friday. Keep it up front and be there at the end to make a move.”
Talladega is your home track. What would it mean to get your first-career win there?
“I grew up a few hours west in Meridian, Mississippi and my mom’s side of the family is a couple hours away in Tuscaloosa. I grew up coming to this track as a kid. Hopefully we can put on a good performance in my home state.”

• The Love’s RV Stop 225 will mark the first time Spire Motorsports has fielded a NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) entry at Talladega Superspeedway. Spire Motorsports fields the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolets full time in the NCTS. An all-star driver lineup will rotate throughout the 2024 season in the No. 7 Chevy. Rajah Caruth drives the No. 71 entry and Chase Purdy rounds out the team’s fleet of Chevrolet Silverados in the No. 77.
• The Love’s RV Stop 225 from Talladega Superspeedway will be televised live on FS1 Friday, Oct. 4, beginning at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The 20th of 23 NCTS races on the 2024 schedule will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

Spire Motorsports PR