Spire Motorsports Hopes ROVAL Adds To Season Accolades

Justin Haley (7) and Zane Smith have helped lift the performance of Spire Motorsports in the NASCAR Cup Series in recent weeks. (Rusty Jarrett/Nigel Kinrade Photography)

CONCORD, N.C. – Spire Motorsports could be seen as one of the more underrated, yet overachieving teams in the NASCAR Cup Series garage.

Entering the weekend at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL, the organization has a strong chance to embody that theme once again.

Rookies Carson Hocevar and Zane Smith have carried the banner for the Spire team through the early portion of October, and now with Justin Haley back on board after returning to the team starting at Kansas Speedway, the group is continuing to seek new heights.

Four of the team’s nine career top fives at the Cup Series level, as well as 13 of its 23 top-10 finishes, have come this season alone. That includes the organization’s first triple top-10 effort at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International on Sept. 15.

Continuing that level of performance is slowly becoming the norm rather than the exception, particularly with another road course race this weekend at CMS’ 2.28-mile, 17-turn infield layout.

"We feel good heading into the ROVAL. I get excited because I love road courses, and it is a lot of fun to race at them,” said Haley, who will run his third race since swapping teams in-season with Corey LaJoie this weekend. “The Spire cars had a lot of speed at Watkins Glen, with all three cars finishing in the top 10, so I’m curious to see where we end up.

“I feel like their road course stuff is really good and the team is confident about it. I have a background [in road racing] myself and have run well at the ROVAL throughout my career. There’s nothing as special as the Charlotte ROVAL.”

After inconsistencies to start the season, since June the organization has climbed the ranks. Zane Smith hasn’t finished worse than 23rd since Pennsylvania’s Pocono Raceway in July, and in five of the last eight races, his teammate Carson Hocevar has found a way to lead at least one lap.

Haley, who rejoined the organization for the first time since 2021, finished seventh at Talladega last Sunday in a strong superspeedway effort. He also boasts Spire’s lone Cup Series victory, which came in a rain-shortened summer race at Daytona (Fla.) Int’l Speedway back in 2019.

With a piece of recent organizational success to go around for each driver, the team is focused on the next task at hand, which is the new configuration for the Charlotte ROVAL. Headed into practice and qualifying, Hocevar pointed to an opportunity for the organization.

Zane Smith (71) and Carson Hocevar (77) are the two NASCAR Cup Series rookies who have raced with Spire Motorsports this season. (Matthew Thacker/NKP photo)

With no one having on-track time with the course’s recent reconfiguration at turns six and 16, every team in the garage has to figure out the track on the fly, something Hocevar hopes will lead to a more balanced playing field.

"The reconfiguration and layout change has taken a little bit away from the guys who have experience there. It allows us to approach it with an open mind and no preconceived notion on how the track should be,” Hocevar tipped.

“The guys who have run there before have a couple major areas of the track in which they have to change their approach. Hopefully it takes them a little bit to forget the old and figure out the new, while I am catching up on the other areas of the track.”

As Haley mentioned, prior to rejoining the Spire brand, all three team cars finished inside the top 10 during the last road course race at Watkins Glen. Hocevar ran a career-best third, Smith was fifth and Corey LaJoie, now with Rick Ware Racing as part of the driver swap with Haley, ran eighth that day.

On the next and final road course on the Cup Series schedule this year, Spire hopes to be able to repeat – if not better – that performance from the Finger Lakes.

“I enjoy racing road courses, and I know this isn’t a typical road course, but it’s still a pretty fun track. My Spire Motorsports team has had solid runs on road courses this season, and I’m confident heading into this weekend,” said Smith. “Excited to see how my Ambetter Health Chevrolet stacks up with the rest of the field on Sunday.”

Coverage of the Bank of America ROVAL 400 begins Sunday, Oct. 13 at 2 p.m. ET, live on NBC, the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.