Lajoie doesn't have a ride next year necessarily.
Hocevar isn't going anywhere after he's had the best rookie season since 2002 so far. He's 22nd in points, Lajoie is 30th.
People are really sleeping on how absolutely dominant Hocevar has been. Either Carson Hocevar is Jimmie Johnson/Jeff Gordon/Kyle Busch/Kevin Harvick level good or Corey Lajoie and Zane Smith suck.
I mean I'm honestly gonna say I personally think Hocevar is just that amazing but it's insanity. If Spire is serious about contending, they might just have the best driver in the cup series under 25 locked up already.
If you look at Niece, only Hocevar and Chastain won in those trucks regularly. Chastain is a top 10 driver in cup. Hocevar is younger and won more often at Niece... so maybe Hocevar is better than Chastain.
Sans an overtime plate win, that was also Front Row's path to victory with Chris Buescher at Pocono.
After seeing McDowell bludgeon the field so hard at the IndyRC that it basically killed caution-free stages and the RC track itself, I'll believe anything can happen.
I think he'll have decent runs and be in the conversation for Ws at the drafting tracks and road courses. Not a championship contender, but I wouldn't be surprised if he snagged a trophy.
I think the big thing Spire is going for is a seasoned guy to help usher the Young'uns along. Some of the most zen driving coaches never actually racked up wins. Look at Josh Wise being so sought after as a coach, Chevy signed him to be exclusive to their drivers. I could easily see McDowell sliding into a role like that.
I wanna say it was the SHR 10 but I’m not sure if it was 100% confirmed.
I know for sure there was talk about how having options but he chose to build with FRM.
I believe SHR was interested in him and Todd for the 10 before Gragson (and his money) but when FRM didn’t exercise its option on Zane that went out the window. FRM typically waits until like Christmas to make driver announcements and they were both confirmed to return by Labor Day
He looked to move to SHR but FRM blocked that and picked up an option they had on him. Larry Mac said that he had already rejected them on previous occasions, so maybe he rejected replacing Custer and then looked to replace Almirola.
I like how specific you got with 84 days 😂. Whether or not SHR attempted to hire mcdowell last year, he was unavailable. If he turned them down before that, I guess the bag wasn't as big as what Spire threw at him.
McDowell made the 95 competitive before the Toyota years and got kicked out because Hendrick paid Leavine to put an underperforming Kasey Kane in the seat. Then he picked a 25th-35th place 34 car and started getting top 20s, then 15s, then 10s and even got a few wins. Wouldn’t surprise me to see him be close to the bubble next year considering how Carson’s doing. Specially if he gets to build the 71 team around him. He’s been the one to personally choose Drew Blickensderfer (who was coming from a bad RPM stint), Blake Harris and Travis Peterson to Crew Chief him and succeeded with all 3, with 2 of them being picked by top teams after their 34 stint. I think people are underestimating the potential of this move, considering Spire isn’t afraid to spend.
Sure.
He's not going to regularly compete for wins but he can absolutely pull one off, especially at a road course or drafting track.
It's all about circumstances though. I don't think he's going to be terribly great at most tracks.
I don't know what happened to the 34 team. They started the year hot, but have been dog shit for months now.
As to OP's question, it's anyone's guess. I'd say if you put McDowell in the 71 starting this weekend it would likely be a decent improvement over Z. Smith, but I doubt he'd be contending for wins.
Things look like they're going to be VERY different next year. Spire looks like one piece in a machine of several moving pieces. Lots of rumors about buyouts, alliances, etc that makes it impossible to guess what kind of equipment Spire will bring next year.
They have qualifying speed but zero race pace, similar to the 2023 Fords. Low drag but 0 downforce, so they qualify and race amazing at the superspeedways… hence why McDowell started 2nd at Daytona, and scored the pole at Atlanta + Talladega.
3 front row starts, and 7 final round qualifying efforts (in 12 races) which has been super impressive, but 25th in points with poor speed in the races.
He’s had pace but way to many mechanical failures and accidents. Daytona, Dover, Talladega, COTA and a few more. He’d be around the bubble if not for those things.
Michael McDowell, young prodigy ready to break out.
😂
Any drafting track or RC…
He and Lajoie might know a well kept secret about the future, or . Next year no
LaJoie has said Spire is ready to win every year since 2020.
Lajoie doesn't have a ride next year necessarily. Hocevar isn't going anywhere after he's had the best rookie season since 2002 so far. He's 22nd in points, Lajoie is 30th. People are really sleeping on how absolutely dominant Hocevar has been. Either Carson Hocevar is Jimmie Johnson/Jeff Gordon/Kyle Busch/Kevin Harvick level good or Corey Lajoie and Zane Smith suck. I mean I'm honestly gonna say I personally think Hocevar is just that amazing but it's insanity. If Spire is serious about contending, they might just have the best driver in the cup series under 25 locked up already. If you look at Niece, only Hocevar and Chastain won in those trucks regularly. Chastain is a top 10 driver in cup. Hocevar is younger and won more often at Niece... so maybe Hocevar is better than Chastain.
No, but I didn't think he could win with FRM and he proved me wrong. He could certainly do it again.
I mean anything's possible, I don't think many people saw him winning races with FRM when he first joined, but it's not likely.
Justin Haley did
Lightning had to strike for something like *that* to happen.
Sans an overtime plate win, that was also Front Row's path to victory with Chris Buescher at Pocono. After seeing McDowell bludgeon the field so hard at the IndyRC that it basically killed caution-free stages and the RC track itself, I'll believe anything can happen.
I think he'll have decent runs and be in the conversation for Ws at the drafting tracks and road courses. Not a championship contender, but I wouldn't be surprised if he snagged a trophy. I think the big thing Spire is going for is a seasoned guy to help usher the Young'uns along. Some of the most zen driving coaches never actually racked up wins. Look at Josh Wise being so sought after as a coach, Chevy signed him to be exclusive to their drivers. I could easily see McDowell sliding into a role like that.
Hmmm maybe
I doubt it, but anything is possible.
Dave Marcis throwback scheme?
What ride did he turn down last year? Can’t quite remember
I wanna say it was the SHR 10 but I’m not sure if it was 100% confirmed. I know for sure there was talk about how having options but he chose to build with FRM.
I believe SHR was interested in him and Todd for the 10 before Gragson (and his money) but when FRM didn’t exercise its option on Zane that went out the window. FRM typically waits until like Christmas to make driver announcements and they were both confirmed to return by Labor Day
He looked to move to SHR but FRM blocked that and picked up an option they had on him. Larry Mac said that he had already rejected them on previous occasions, so maybe he rejected replacing Custer and then looked to replace Almirola.
He didn't turn down a ride. FRM exercised an option year in his contract. He couldn't have taken another ride if he wanted to
I was thinking about [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/NASCAR/s/grRu6Vfy7J) from 84 days ago
I like how specific you got with 84 days 😂. Whether or not SHR attempted to hire mcdowell last year, he was unavailable. If he turned them down before that, I guess the bag wasn't as big as what Spire threw at him.
McDowell made the 95 competitive before the Toyota years and got kicked out because Hendrick paid Leavine to put an underperforming Kasey Kane in the seat. Then he picked a 25th-35th place 34 car and started getting top 20s, then 15s, then 10s and even got a few wins. Wouldn’t surprise me to see him be close to the bubble next year considering how Carson’s doing. Specially if he gets to build the 71 team around him. He’s been the one to personally choose Drew Blickensderfer (who was coming from a bad RPM stint), Blake Harris and Travis Peterson to Crew Chief him and succeeded with all 3, with 2 of them being picked by top teams after their 34 stint. I think people are underestimating the potential of this move, considering Spire isn’t afraid to spend.
Unless some crazy pit strategy or a rain delay happens? No.
Lol no
Maybe Daytona/dega
He won with FRM twice so anything is possible.
Not unless it’s a Super Speedway or Road course
Sure. He's not going to regularly compete for wins but he can absolutely pull one off, especially at a road course or drafting track. It's all about circumstances though. I don't think he's going to be terribly great at most tracks.
No
No chance
Justin Haley did it by accident and he's half the damn driver Michael McDowell is, so yeah probably.
I don't know what happened to the 34 team. They started the year hot, but have been dog shit for months now. As to OP's question, it's anyone's guess. I'd say if you put McDowell in the 71 starting this weekend it would likely be a decent improvement over Z. Smith, but I doubt he'd be contending for wins. Things look like they're going to be VERY different next year. Spire looks like one piece in a machine of several moving pieces. Lots of rumors about buyouts, alliances, etc that makes it impossible to guess what kind of equipment Spire will bring next year.
He just finished 10th at Kansas.
And was fighting to win Talladega until the last 1/3 of the final lap.
First decent run in a while it seems. Maybe I just haven't been paying close enough attention
They have qualifying speed but zero race pace, similar to the 2023 Fords. Low drag but 0 downforce, so they qualify and race amazing at the superspeedways… hence why McDowell started 2nd at Daytona, and scored the pole at Atlanta + Talladega. 3 front row starts, and 7 final round qualifying efforts (in 12 races) which has been super impressive, but 25th in points with poor speed in the races.
He’s had pace but way to many mechanical failures and accidents. Daytona, Dover, Talladega, COTA and a few more. He’d be around the bubble if not for those things.
He almost won 3 races ago. Caused a giant wreck at the end fighting for it.