When Spire Motorsports first signed Daniel Suarez to join Spire Motorsports, co-owner Jeff Dickerson called it a ‘redemption story’ in the waiting but no one could have expected it to go this well so early.
With his rain-shortened victory in the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday night, Suarez is 10th in the championship standings, which is incredible when considering this is already his best season despite previous stints at Joe Gibbs Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing and Trackhouse.
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There were times over the past three years with Suarez looking like he was racing for his life and career when both were only saved by a drafting track victory at Atlanta in 2024. He finished 29th in the standings last year so it didn’t make a lot of sense, on paper, for Spire to believe Suarez was their best bet.
How wrong that sentiment turned out to be …
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Now Suarez joins Carson Hocevar as Cup Series winning drivers this season inside of the top-10 with both drivers serving as building blocks for an organization that has as many wins this year as Hendrick Motorsports.
“I’m not going to say that to the boss,” Dickerson said on Sunday night in reference to Rick Hendrick, whom supplies Spire technical resources as part of an alliance.
“I mean, he was super happy for us too.”
Back to Suarez, it’s no secret that Suarez felt chippy towards Trackhouse when he was notified that he would not be back with them this season. Trackhouse, based on actions, felt like the combination of Connor Zilisch and Shane Van Gisbergen were better long-term fits.
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Suarez felt like Trackhouse let him down in terms of resources and commitment. He has taken several shots at them as he’s competed inside the top-10 this season, and Dickerson recognizes this win as a degree of validation.
“I mean, this is a big moment,” Dickerson said. “This is a crown jewel race. … It feels good. It feels good to win. I’m happy for Daniel. He’s had a chip on his shoulder but man, he’s really fit in with us. He’s been so good just being like the glue. He’s right in the middle.
“Got Carson way over here and (Michael) McDowell way over here, and he does a really good job just uplifting everybody, just asking the right questions. He also has a really big curiosity on everything.
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“How about the redemption story will be complete when we make the playoffs with that team?”
The biggest win of his career left Suarez feeling sentimental too.
“Listen, every driver, every crew chief, every single one of you guys have had a different journey, right,” Suarez said. “Different paths. And every single one of us were unique.
“For me, my journey into NASCAR hasn’t been easy, and I’m not saying that for some other drivers it’s been easy, but for me, hasn’t been easy — from learning the language, from not knowing anyone. … I had to struggle. I struggled a lot just to understand what I needed to do, how I needed to do it. I never felt that I had exactly the things that sometimes you need as a young driver to continue to grow and continue to learn.”
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Suarez thought his career might be over
Daniel Suarez wins, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Daniel Suarez wins, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Suarez thought his career was over when he wasn’t winning with teams where his teammates were.
“So it’s no secret I was bouncing a lot in between teams, and at one point I thought my career was going to be over,” he said. “But I never stopped believing in myself. I never stopped believing in the person and the driver that I can be. I will be forever thankful to Mr. Hendrick, to Jeff Dickerson, Chevrolet, Freeway Insurance, Coca-Cola — all these sponsors that have been with me for many years.
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“It’s been amazing. I wouldn’t change it for anything because right now I believe that I’m the most complete driver that we all have seen.
“But as we all know in the Cup Series, you can be the best driver in the world, and if you don’t have the rest of the pieces of the puzzle, it’s not going to work. You have to have pit crew, the engineers, manufacturer, everything. I believe that right now I’m in a good spot with Spire Motorsports, and I feel very blessed for that.”
His crew chief, Ryan Sparks has a chip on his shoulder too.
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“We’ve had a steady progression,” Sparks said. “As you’ve seen the results, we’ve been building this thing for five years. Nobody believed us, and Hocevar put us on the map there at Talladega and now Daniel at Charlotte. Eventually they’re going to take us seriously.”
It looks like, at least right now, that Spire and Suarez were the right fits at the right time. Spire has undergone heavy capital investment over the past several years. It’s now part of Group 1001 and Guggeinheim Partners as part of TWG Motorsports.
Spire is making a push to join the upper echelon of the discipline and what most expected to be a stop gap hiring looks like a foundational piece all of a sudden.
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Is Spire a top team now?
“I don’t know,” Dickerson said in a response to a question from Motorsport.com. “I think I said this to you at Talladega. I just don’t think we’ve hit our ceiling. I don’t think we’re hitting on all cylinders. I think we’ve still got a long ways to go to — I mean, you saw it. I thought, whether it was 1 through 5 or 1 through 6, I felt like most of the race was every Toyota in the field. So I don’t think we’re there yet.
“Daniel drove his ass off on those restarts. Ryan gave a great call. We knew that 7 was fast. But we’re not — I think we’re somewhere in the middle. I mean, we got 175 people that wake up every day and try to win these races.
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Obviously the help from Dan and Cassidy Towriss and Mark Walter doesn’t hurt. They also set a really high bar. Everything from them is just what do you guys need to win? …
“Man, it just feels like we’ve got a long ways to go still. It feels like we can still stretch out. I’m glad we’re getting trophies. Our goal was to put two in the playoffs and get three wins this year. Those guys 9th and 10th in points. Still a long ways to go. I don’t want to fumble it. But, man, it would be good to meet those goals.”
Watch: Dickerson traces Spire’s racing DNA to Kyle Busch
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