December 2018 saw the rise of Spire Motorsports in NASCAR racing. The story for this organization started when Spire Sports + Entertainment bought a charter from Furniture Row Racing. That’s how the story of the famous No. 77 started for Spire Motorsports. Since then, there has been no looking back for the Concord-based team. They managed to secure another charter in the Cup series after they acquired the Leavine Family Racing assets in 2020.

Just when Spire Motorsports was cementing its position with a second charter, other racing teams emerged. The legendary basketball player Michael Jordan and NASCAR racer Denny Hamlin joined hands to create the 23XI race. Simultaneously, Justin Marks founded Trackhouse Racing in 2020. Fans started drawing parallels between the growth trajectories of the three teams founded around the same period. But it’s Spire Motorsports with some distinct development of late, and its boss has an interesting take on the comparisons after his team finally outshined Jordan’s 23XI Racing.

Spire Motorsports is finally out of Michael Jordan’s team’s shadow

In 2024, Spire Motorsports could do what Michael Jordan’s 23XI Racing failed to achieve in its four years of existence. The North Carolina-based team has managed to acquire a third charter for the team from Live Fast Motorsports. With this, Spire Motorsports joined the elite club of NASCAR teams, such as Richard Childress Racing and Front Row Motorsports, to have three charters in the Cup Series.

But the parallels between Spire Motorsports, Trackhouse Racing, and 23XI Racing continue. Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson is aware of these parallels within the racing community. Sharing his thoughts on the matter with NASCAR’s official YouTube channel, Dickerson said, “Justin did really good coming out of the blocks, like just firing right where we didn’t have that luxury or that opportunity, and nobody’s ever going to confuse us with Denny or with Michael Jordan, right? I would say maybe the last couple of years, you know, we would be like, ‘Hey, that’s stupid; don’t compare us to that.'” 

The comparison, it seems, made some sense to Dickerson until Spire Motorsports and the other two teams agreed. Now that they’ve achieved what’s desired by the other two teams, the comparison, according to Dickerson, is just not right. Highlighting his disapproval of the comparisons subtly, the co-owner of Spire Motorsports further added, “I would say now or even next year, like, yeah, we talked about growing this thing for so long where I don’t think it’s time to be like, ‘Hey guys, we’re here,’ you know.” 

Through his words, Jeff Dickerson was trying to imply that Spire Motorsports believes in continuing growth for their team without making a hue and cry about it. Highlighting the same in the interview, the co-owner of Spire Motorsports said the following: “You don’t do a deal like with Rodney, and you don’t like to bring in some guys that we’ve brought in to just keep saying we’re growing, we’re growing, we’re growing—obviously everybody’s growing, but nobody’s waiting for us; we got to keep rocking.”

23XI Racing, too, is on its way to catch up with Spire Motorsports. They are actively pursuing a third charter for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season. 23XI Racing is likely to get this charter from Stewart Hass Racing. The team is actively scouting several able drivers for their third car. Most notable among the names speculated to join 23XI racing are Corey Heim, Chandler Smith, and Ryan Truex.

Trackhouse Racing, too, is in talks with the same buyer, Stewart Hass Racing. The racing team is actively scouting the likes of Shane Van Gisbergen and Zane Smith, who have impressed during their loan spells at Spire Motorsports this season. While all three teams try to catch one another by acquiring new charters, the kind of changes Spire Motorsports is making for the upcoming season are remarkable in some regards.

A total change in the racing ranks

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Spire Motorsports has decided to aim for silverware from next season on. They are in the middle of a complete restructuring. To start with this, the North Carolina-based team first decided to get rid of their long-time leader on the racetrack, Corey LaJoie. Michael McDowell will replace him at the steering wheel of No. 7 for Spire Motorsports next season. Spire Motorsports can also place their bid for a driver on the transfer market if Zane Smith decides to return to his original team.

Apart from this, they’ve signed the legendary crew chief, Rodney Childers. He was the former crew chief of NASCAR legend Kevin Harvick. Childers will replace Ryan Sparks, the current crew chief for No. 7. Sparks will transition into a full-time role as the competition director of the team. Rodney Childers led Kevin Harvick’s extraordinary run in 2014 to win the NASCAR Cup Series Championship. Because of his experience at the highest level, Spire Motorsports hopes that he will repeat the wonders of 2014 with their new No. 7.

Do you think Spire Motorsports will achieve silverware next season? Are they comparable to 23XI Racing or Trackhouse Racing? Do let us know in the comments.