Releasing a driver and eliminating one entry is not a small thing to do in the middle of the season. Yet, Spire Motorsports chose to make these two moves in pursuit of better days.
Spire Motorsports kicked off Richmond week by releasing Andres Perez de Lara so he could pursue other opportunities. The rookie quickly signed a deal with fellow Chevrolet team Niece Motorsports.
The team then shifted the No. 07's owner points to the No. 77 and scaled back to only three entries. Spire Motorsports put Corey LaJoie in the No. 77 for the rest of the Truck Series races, starting with Richmond on Friday.
"The Truck Series is hard," Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio's Dave Moody. "Running four teams is hard. I don't think that we've reached our potential on the Truck side either this year, and I don't know if that's because we have four teams or not.
"All of those things were kind of percolating at the same time, so it kind of killed two birds with one stone, if you will. It let Andres pursue opportunities for the future and let us just kind of tidy it up a little bit around the shop and focus on three (teams) and see if that helps."
Spire Motorsports has flirted with championship-caliber performances during its time in the Truck Series. The organization has celebrated nine wins, but only two with a full-time Truck driver.
Photo credit: Nigel Kinrade Photography
Rajah Caruth has won two races in two seasons while securing his spot in the playoffs both times. He ended last season seventh in the championship standings, and he is 12th in the standings heading into the regular-season finale. He has not consistently contended for wins but has delivered some solid results.
The rest of the wins have featured Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, William Byron, and Carson Hocevar. Busch led the way with three wins while Larson won two races.
So what is next for Spire Motorsports? The Truck Series side of the organization has only existed since the 2022 season, and it has already delivered numerous wins.
Dickerson hasn't fully detailed plans for the future, only saying that Spire Motorsports will not exit the Truck Series. He noted that this third-tier series is part of the team's DNA. He just did not detail the number of teams that will compete under the Spire banner next season.
"I think all of us -- certainly the ones who have been around forever and certainly from our agency roots -- there is something really rewarding of taking these guys and moving them up and putting them in a position to move them up," Dickerson added.
"I don't want to necessarily lose that, that part. I feel like we would have grown up maybe too much if we do that."