On a heavy and somber weekend for everyone in the NASCAR community with the death of Kyle Busch, drivers from all three series somehow managed to strap in and race in memory of a peer, mentor and friend.
With Daniel Suarez, one of Busch’s proteges claiming the Coca-Cola 600 win, it provided a temporary sense of solitude amidst what had a been a brutal week for industry members, media and fans alike. As a result of the win, Suarez vaulted up to 10th in the regular season points standings, putting two Spire Motorsports cars high up in The Chase running with Carson Hocevar in ninth.
As Michael McDowell currently sits 20th in points, it now begs the question: will Spire Motorsports gets all three of its cars into the Chase? Thomas Dunn and Christopher Hansen break it down on this week’s 2-Headed Monster.
Spire’s Ready to Shine
It’s been a breakout season for Spire Motorsports, and I think 2026 is going to show no signs of slowing down.
In terms of keeping Hocevar and Suarez within The Chase, both drivers head to tracks they have good histories with in Nashville Superspeedway, Michigan International Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Sonoma Raceway.
Consistency had been one of the only problems in recent years, with stellar performances from drivers like Hocevar followed up by races where they were missing in action. This year is the first multi-win season for Spire, and it has included several great runs for McDowell at COTA, Phoenix Raceway and Watkins Glen International.
What does the schedule have coming up? The rest of the road course calendar including Naval Base Coronado and Sonoma Raceway, where McDowell has historically been strong. When including the wild card nature of the summer race at EchoPark Speedway, I don’t see a reason why McDowell can’t move up and make something happen in the coming weeks.
Now, while the opportunities are important for Spire itself, they’ll face some stiff competition across the board. William Byron and Chase Briscoe are among the championship favorites that sit behind Hocevar and Suarez, who on reputation have been contenders year in and year out.
In McDowell’s case, the veteran is surrounded by Joey Logano and the ever-persistent Ross Chastain in the points standings, so it’s not a total shoe-in for the No. 71 car to move forward.
But I think the proof is in the 2026 pudding. Spire Motorsports has abundantly made it clear that it’s taken those next steps, putting its drivers in positions to win and ultimately executing when the moment counts. Sign me up for all three of its cars making The Chase with the way the rest of the regular season schedule shakes out. – Thomas Dunn
Let’s Slow the Roll
Spire Motorsports was on top of the NASCAR world after a strategy call from crew chief Ryan Sparks gave Suarez the biggest win of his NASCAR Cup Series career to date, winning the rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 after NASCAR called the race 27 laps shy of the scheduled 400 laps.
The organization has now scored two victories in the last four races, with Hocevar breaking through for his first career Cup victory at Talladega Superspeedway in April. Suarez’s win at Charlotte gives Spire its first multi-win season in Cup Series history. Prior to the start of the 2026 season, Justin Haley’s rain-shortened victory in the 2019 summer race at Daytona was the lone Cup win Spire had in the organization’s seven full-time seasons.
Thirteen races into 2026, both Hocevar and Suarez have reached victory lane and comfortably sit ninth and 10th respectively in the Cup Series standings at the halfway mark of the regular season. Statistically, Suarez is in the midst of one of his best seasons in the Cup Series with an average starting and finishing position of 13th through 13 starts. Hocevar has also shown improvement, running up front on a more consistent basis. The driver of the No. 77 has already shown at times that he can run up front on any given weekend, granted no on-track mistakes mask the speed Hocevar shows up to the racetrack with.
Those two drivers, Hocevar and Suarez, seem like locks to be a part of The Chase field in 2026 given their strong starts through the opening part of the regular season. Then there’s McDowell, currently 20th in the Cup Series standings, the lowest of Spire’s three Cup Series drivers. With the success both Hocevar and Suarez have had to begin 2026, McDowell seems a step behind his Spire teammates most weekends.
Aside from a pair of top-five finishes at Circuit of the Americas and at Watkins Glen
International, McDowell hasn’t shown race-winning speed compared to his two teammates. In a seven-race stretch from Las Vegas Motor Speedway through Texas Motor Speedway, McDowell’s best finish in that stretch of races was an 18th-place finish at Martinsville. During those same seven races, Hocevar and Suarez compiled a total of five top-five finishes.
While it’s no secret that McDowell’s strengths throughout his Cup Series career have been on superspeedways and road courses, in order to make The Chase, he has to be in contention to score stage points and run up front on the intermediate and short tracks, something both Hocevar and Suarez have already accomplished thus far in 2026.
To me, the only way McDowell is going to gain enough points to have a chance at qualifying for The Chase is for him to string together more consistent results like teammates Hocevar and Suarez. Otherwise, McDowell will remain on the outside looking in while his teammates compete for a Cup Series championship. –Christopher Hansen
Thomas is in his second year covering NASCAR at Frontstretch. A Bay Area NASCAR fan for over 15+ years, he found his love for the sport through Jeff Gordon. He helps manage the 2-Headed Monster Column.
Thomas has enjoyed several trips to Sonoma Raceway in his time and currently covers college athletics in the Bay Area, writing about the California Golden Bears and doing play by play broadcasting.
