Rajah Caruth’s first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win on Friday night (Mar. 1) was a statement for 2024’s new-look Spire Motorsports team. Its performance in Sunday’s (Mar. 3) NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was icing on top on the cake.
Both Corey LaJoie and Carson Hocevar ran in the top 15 for much of the afternoon and LaJoie passed cars inside the top five during the first stage.
But of course, the finishing order doesn’t reflect the speed that the duo had.
Hocevar finished 15th while LaJoie finished a lap down in 32nd after a late crash. We never even got to see what Zane Smith had in store this weekend, as he finished in 36th, 13 laps down after early contact with the wall damaged the toe link of the No. 71 car.
If finishing order was all that mattered, Spire’s Sunday in Las Vegas wouldn’t even be a blip on the radar. In 297 Cup entries since the team’s inception in 2019, Spire has recorded 24 finishes inside the top 14 and 24 finishes that bested its latest showing in Sin City.
Race/Date | Driver | Finish |
2019 Daytona 2 | Justin Haley | 1st |
2020 Talladega 2 | Justin Haley | 11th |
2021 Daytona 1 | Jamie McMurray | 8th |
2021 Daytona 1 | Corey LaJoie | 9th |
2021 Indianapolis RC | Justin Haley | 8th |
2021 Daytona 2 | Justin Haley | 6th |
2022 Daytona 1 | Corey LaJoie | 14th |
2022 Atlanta 1 | Corey LaJoie | 5th |
2022 Talladega 1 | Corey LaJoie | 14th |
2022 Daytona 2 | Landon Cassill | 4th |
2022 Texas | Corey LaJoie | 14th |
2022 Talladega 2 | Landon Cassill | 11th |
2022 Charlotte Roval | Corey LaJoie | 12th |
2023 Fontana | Corey LaJoie | 14th |
2023 Atlanta 1 | Corey LaJoie | 4th |
2023 COTA | Corey LaJoie | 11th |
2023 Talladega 1 | Ty Dillon | 14th |
2023 Dover | Corey LaJoie | 14th |
2023 Chicago Street | Corey LaJoie | 14th |
2023 Daytona 2 | Corey LaJoie | 10th |
2023 Daytona 2 | Ty Dillon | 11th |
2023 Talladega 2 | Corey LaJoie | 4th |
2024 Daytona 1 | Corey LaJoie | 4th |
2024 Atlanta 1 | Corey LaJoie | 14th |
However, upon closer examination of the team’s best finishes, there’s a noticeable trend: a prevalence of superspeedways.
Of Spire’s 24 finishes inside the top 14, 17 of them came between Daytona International Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway’s new configuration. Just seven of the team’s top-14 finishes came at the rest of the tracks on the schedule and superspeedways also account for 10 of the team’s 11 top 10s.
It’s clear that Spire and LaJoie in particular have figured out superspeedway racing, but running well on those tracks doesn’t correlate to the remaining 30 events on the schedule.
Of the seven top 14s that didn’t come on superspeedways, four were on road courses. This means that in Spire’s entire history, it has only recorded three top-14 finishes on unrestricted ovals: LaJoie at Texas Motor Speedway in 2022 (14th), LaJoie at Auto Club Speedway in 2023 (14th) and LaJoie at Dover Motor Speedway in 2023 (14th).
By finishing 15th on Sunday as a rookie, Hocevar was just one spot short of tying Spire’s best mark on tracks that make up nearly 70% of the Cup Series schedule. And if LaJoie hadn’t crashed late, he would’ve been up there too.
Spire’s performance at Las Vegas holds up even when looking at advanced data, as LaJoie and Hocevar spent 71.2% and 64.4%, respectively, of their laps inside the top 15 on Sunday.
Those values are a long way from the speed and equipment that Spire had at the start of its Cup operations. From 2019 to 2022, there was only one race on a non-superspeedway where a Spire car spent more than 45% of the laps inside the top 15: LaJoie in the 2021 Southern 500.
Race/Date | Driver | Finish | Average Running Position | % T15 Laps | Notes |
2021 Darlington 2 | Corey LaJoie | 15th | 13 | 76.8 | Scored 1 stage point |
2023 Fontana | Corey LaJoie | 14th | 14 | 68.0 | Scored 1 stage point |
2023 Dover | Corey LaJoie | 14th | 16 | 72.0 | |
2023 Chicago Street | Corey LaJoie | 14th | 21 | 55.1 | |
2023 Bristol Pavement | Corey LaJoie | 25th | 17 | 46.0 | Led 48 laps, scored 9 stage points |
2023 Homestead | Corey LaJoie | 20th | 15 | 55.4 | |
2024 Las Vegas 1 | Corey LaJoie | 32nd | 13 | 71.2 | Scored 4 stage points |
2024 Las Vegas 1 | Carson Hocevar | 15th | 15 | 64.4 |
Flash forward to 2023 and LaJoie had five races on non-superspeedways where he spent at least 45% of the laps inside the top 15. That speed was reflected in the finishing order last season, as LaJoie recorded a career-best average finish of 20.8 and a career-best points finish of 25th. Both of those marked significant improvements from 2022, where LaJoie had an average finish of 24.3 and finished 31st in points.
The first non-superspeedway of the 2024 Cup season is now in the books, and Spire had both of its cars inside the top 15 for over 60% of the day, the first time in its history that it has done so on a non-superspeedway. LaJoie also tied his best average running position on a non-superspeedway in 13th, and if it wasn’t for a flat tire under green and a late miscue on pit road, Hocevar could’ve challenged for a top 10.
Whether it’s increased support from Trackhouse Racing via Smith, Hendrick Motorsports support through its Truck team or an inflow of cash from its partnership with Group 1001 (the parent company of Gainbridge), the improvement in Spire’s Cup performance is already on display.
Look for more of the same in the rest of the 2024 season.
About the author
Stephen Stumpf is the NASCAR Content Director for Frontstretch and is a three-year veteran of the site. His weekly columns include “Stat Sheet” and “4 Burning Questions.” He also writes commentary, contributes to podcasts, edits articles and is frequently at the track for on-site coverage.
Can find on Twitter @stephen_stumpf.
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Carson is my pick for ROY