15 Days to Daytona: #7 Spire Motorsports

Do the days crawl by slower as the Days to Daytona countdown winds down? It certainly feels that way as there are only 15 days left until cars are on track at Daytona International Speedway. After 3 straight years of surprise winners, could the #7 Spire Motorsports team be the fourth to punch a shock playoff ticket immediately? Spire is one of the most interesting organizations to watch in 2024. With Corey LaJoie as their lead driver in the 7, his success (or struggles) will likely determine how 2024 goes for the organization.

#7 Spire Motorsports

Driver: Corey LaJoie

Crew Chief: Ryan Sparks

Sponsors: Celsius, Gainbridge, Chili’s, NationsGuard, Schluter Systems

2024 Season Preview

Continue the Progression

2023 was a season of great strides for the 7 Spire Motorsports team. Corey LaJoie had his career best season, where he enjoyed 2 Top-5s and 3 Top-10s. More impressive though was how often LaJoie would run Top-20. Especially early in the season, LaJoie would frequently run around the Top-15. For this team, that was remarkable progress. Although that speed faded later in the season, it is a promising sign for an organization that is aggressively growing. As the lead team, the 7 car needs to take the next step and aim for a Top-20 points finish.

Can They Win?

25 different Cup Series drivers have won a race in the NextGen era. It is a new world of parity in NASCAR’s top level. With this parity, can Spire Motorsports break through and claim their first win? It seems that the investment is there, especially financially. Of course, a superspeedway win is not out of the question. LaJoie has run at the head of the lead draft at Daytona and Atlanta before. Other drivers are willing to work with the Spire entry. However, a real breakthrough would be to pick off a win elsewhere. LaJoie flashed solid speed at Bristol before a wreck took him out.

Money Put in the Right Place

It is clear that Spire Motorsports has the financial backing to be a great team. Last year, Spire dropped roughly $55 million between purchasing Live Fast’s charter and acquiring Kyle Busch Motorsports. While that investment is great to see, one has to wonder why Spire is dropping that much money to expand while their second Cup car was a back marker all season. Would it not be wiser to put that money behind the teams? There is a fear that Spire is attempting to grow too fast, too quickly. Rather than focusing on quality, is quantity taking more importance?

Daytona 500 Chances

Since 2019, Corey LaJoie has 4 Top-10s in 10 starts at Daytona. In those 10 starts, LaJoie has finished inside the Top-20 in all but 2. Although most of those starts were in heavily subpar equipment, it is impressive that LaJoie has racked those finishes. However, LaJoie has been more frequent in the lead pack as Spire has improved their speed. Can LaJoie continue to keep his car clean when running in the main draft?

Speedweeks Outlook

Unless the 7 team unloads an unexpected rocket ship, any Corey LaJoie fans should skip watching Daytona 500 qualifying. The best LaJoie has qualified is 30^th. However, LaJoie ran well in his Bluegreen Vacations Duel race last year. He finished in fifth, which gave him a career best starting spot in the Daytona 500. There is a strong chance that the Great American Race will be LaJoie’s best finish on the year. If he can stay clean throughout the 200 laps, you could see LaJoie in the Top-10 cluster crossing the finish line.