Pit Stop Radio News

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

• Justin Haley will pilot Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Gainbridge Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in Sunday’s YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Ala.
• Haley, a native of Winamac, Ind., made his NCS debut for Spire Motorsports on April 28, 2019 at Talladega Superspeedway on his 20th birthday. He picked up both his and the team’s first win – an upset of practically unprecedented proportions – less than three months later in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway behind the wheel of the No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro.
• In nine previous Cup Series starts at Talladega Superspeedway, Haley has earned one top-10 and four top top-15 finishes. He earned a series/venue-best sixth-place finish in last season’s YellaWood 500. In NASCAR Xfinity Series competition, the 25-year-old racer has logged five starts at the legendary Alabama oval where he recorded two wins, completed 100 percent of the laps contested and hasn’t finished worse than eighth. In two CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Talladega starts, Haley finished 16th and fourth (2017-2018).
• Haley’s first three Talladega Cup Series starts were behind the wheel of Spire Motorsports’ No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 where he finished 32nd, 11th and 30th, respectively.
• The Hoosier State native is a two-time Xfinity Series winner at Talladega where he swept both events in 2020. He also picked up the checkered flag in the 2017 ARCA Menards Series General Tire 200, giving him three total wins at the famed 2.66-mile racecourse.  
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• The veteran racer has collected four NASCAR Xfinity Series checkered flags and three NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series wins, making him one of just 41 drivers in history to have earned victories across all three of NASCAR’s National Touring Series.
• The 25-year-old is a veteran of 138 Cup Series starts and has notched one win, five top fives, 15 top 10s and led 98 laps in NASCAR’s premier division.
• Last weekend, Haley started 23rd and finished 33rd in the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway.
• In total, Haley has made 36 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.
• Haley has signed a multi-year agreement with Spire Motorsports and will pursue NASCAR Cup Series championship honors behind the wheel of the No. 7 Chevy in 2025. 
• Haley recorded top 10s at Darlington Raceway (May) and Worldwide Technology Raceway (June) this season. He has paced the field for 25 laps and completed 99.3 percent of the laps contested in 2024. 

Justin Haley Quotes
You made your first Cup start with Spire at Talladega in 2019 on your 20th birthday. What do you remember about that day, and what does it mean to return to the site of your Cup Series debut with Spire.
“I don’t remember too much about it to be honest. I remember it was my 20th birthday, so that was cool to get that experience. It is awesome to return to Talladega with Spire. I’m excited to get a plate race under our belts and figure out what we need to do to be successful on those tracks. They are so reliant on fuel mileage these days, so we need to execute on and off pit road. We’ll keep the nose clean and see where we end up at the finish.”
You have had a lot of success at Talladega in the Xfinity series. What about drafting races suits your style?
“First off, you have to have a fast race car, a good team around you and good teammates to work with. It takes everything to win a superspeedway race. With fuel mileage becoming the name of the game, it has come down to execution by the pit crew and the driver hitting his marks.”

Zane Smith – Driver, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

• Rookie driver Zane Smith will make his 31st start of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season Sunday driving the No. 71 Focused Health Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports on the high banks of Talladega Superspeedway.
• Smith arrives at the 2.66-mile, Alabama track after Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway where he led three laps and posted his fourth top-10 finish of the season.
• Sunday marks his third start at Talladega in a Cup Series race. Smith also owns four CRAFTSMAN Truck Series starts at Talladega.
• Smith will carry the orange and blue Focused Health livery for 500 miles on Sunday at Talladega. Focused Health is a National Health Insurance agency founded by industry veterans with over 60 years combined industry experience. Primarily focused on the government programs space, Focused Health partners with payors and employers to deliver health insurance solutions for individuals and families. For more information visit AtFocusedHealth.com.

Zane Smith Quotes 
After a top-10 finish at Kansas, what’s your mindset with Talladega looming? 
“Superspeedway racing is unpredictable. Anything can happen. If we can finish the race with a clean car, then we will probably have a great result and might even be in the best position at the end. We just have to execute at the highest level for all 500 miles of the race. I’m really proud of my Spire Motorsports team and the turnaround we have had in the second half of the season. We are going to build off our 10th-place finish last weekend and continue to show everyone what we are capable of.”

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

• Carson Hocevar will pilot the No. 77 Delaware Life Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Spire Motorsports in Sunday’s YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.
• In last week’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, Hocevar finished 10th and sixth in Stages 1 and 2, respectively. Trouble on pit road during the final green-flag pit sequence left him 32nd in the final rundown.
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• Hocevar will make his third Cup Series start at the Lincoln, Ala., tri-oval. He earned a venue-best 17th-place finish this spring in the Geico 500.
• In three CRAFTSMAN Truck Series starts at Talladega Superspeedway, Hocevar has logged a 5.3 average start and a 21.3 average finish. The 21-year-old racer led 17 laps and completed 91.5 percent of the laps contested across those three races.
• The youngest NCS driver in the field ranks 21st in the division’s championship point standings, leading the Sunoco Rookie of The Year standings by 66 points. Over the course of the season’s first 30 races, he’s notched one top-five, five top-10 and 10 top-15 finishes.
• Crew chief Luke Lambert called Noah Gragson’s 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series win at the high-banked, 2.66-mile track. The victory was the second win during his impressive eight-win season. Lambert has also called four top-five and eight top-10s in NASCAR’s premier division in his 22 starts atop the pit box at Talladega Superspeedway.

Carson Hocevar Quotes
This is your third career start at Talladega. You’ve achieved some impressive finishes at superspeedways this season. Do you have any goals for this weekend?
“My goal is a top 15. I think as long as we can finish and put together a solid day, then it’ll be a successful day. Talladega always seems to be less chaotic than other superspeedways because it’s wider and when things do happen, there’s a lot more escape routes. The whole idea of riding in the back and letting other people make mistakes doesn’t really apply here. As long as we have four tires on the ground rolling toward the finish line that’s a success to me.”

• In 19 NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) starts at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, Spire Motorsports has logged one top-five, five top-15 and eight top-20 finishes with nine different drivers. Corey LaJoie earned a team-best fourth-place finish in last October’s YellaWood 500. The Mooresville, N.C., team fields the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1s in the NCS with Justin Haley, Zane Smith and Carson Hocevar, respectively.
• The YellaWood 500 from Talladega Superspeedway will be televised live on NBC Sunday, Oct. 6 beginning at 2 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The 31st of 36 races on the 2024 NCS schedule will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. Countdown to Green on NBC will take the green flag at 1:30 p.m. EDT.

Spire Motorsports PR