Spire Motorsports Window World 450 Race Report 2026

Spire Motorsports driver Daniel Suárez earned a ninth-place showing in the NASCAR Cup Series’ first points-paying race at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway in 30 years. Carson Hocevar was close behind in 13th and Michael McDowell took the checkered flag in 24th. With five races remaining in the regular season Hocevar advanced to seventh in points, just 18 points out of sixth. Suárez is 11th and McDowell moves into 20th.

Suárez drove the No. 7 Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to a 10th-place finish in Stage 2 and briefly took the lead before a green-flag pit stop on Lap 385 dropped him one lap down. He rebounded to earn a ninth-place finish and scored his sixth top-10 finish of the season. Hocevar started from the fourth position in the No. 77 Spectrum Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and managed his track position to finish fifth in Stage 1 and sixth in Stage 2. The Portage, Mich., native fell outside the top 10 while fighting a lack of grip and tight-handling condition prior to his final green-flag stop of the night on Lap 360. He maintained his position in the closing laps to earn his 11th top-15 finish of the season. McDowell started 15th and briefly entered the top 10 following the pit stops during the first stage, but fell a lap down to the leaders early in Stage 2 due to a lack of grip. The No. 71 Delaware Life team continued to make adjustments throughout the remainder of the race but were unable to advance through the field.

Next up, the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, July 26. The Brickyard 400 will be broadcast live on TNT beginning at 2 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The 22nd of 36 points-paying races on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule will be broadcast live on the IMS Radio Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

“It was a grind type of day. The car was never perfect, but you had to get the most out of it that you could. A ninth-place finish, that’s not what we’re here for, but the No. 7 Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation Chevrolet team did a good job and executed all night. We didn’t have a car to win or run top five, but we had a top-10 car and that’s where we ended up. Proud of the effort by the whole team. Ryan (Sparks, crew chief) did a good job on the strategy and they made good calls on adjustments. We just have to keep pushing.”

“A long day in North Wilkesboro, but it was fun to be back here for a points race. We had a few bright spots in our No. 71 Delaware Life Chevrolet Camaro, but track position is so important here and there weren’t enough cautions to get back what we had lost. These races just get more important as The Chase gets closer, so Indy is going to be important to us to maximize points.”

“We were really good in the short run early on tonight, but would lose the handle on the long run. We kept working on it, but got really tight there towards the end. It still ended up being a good points night for us. Indy is one of my favorite tracks, so I’m excited to get there next week.” 

About Spire Motorsports …

Spire Motorsports fields full-time entries in the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series and Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing.

The team, co-owned by longtime NASCAR industry executive Jeff Dickerson and TWG Motorsports CEO Dan Towriss, earned its inaugural NASCAR Cup Series victory in its first full season of competition when Justin Haley took the checkered flag in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway July 7, 2019. Less than three years later, William Byron drove Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado its first NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series win April 7, 2022, at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The team’s most recent win came on May 24, 2026, when Daniel Suárez took the checkered flag in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway.

In 2026, Spire Motorsports campaigns the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1s in the NASCAR Cup Series and the Nos. 7 and 77 Chevrolet Silverado RSTs in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. The Mooresville, N.C., organization will also field the No. 77 410 sprint car in Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing competition.

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