Dickerson believes a validated Spire Motorsports is now 'going to be dangerous'

Spire Motorsports is rightly feeling pretty good about itself after Talladega Superspeedway.

Carson Hocevar picked up his first career win on Sunday, which is the second win in the series for the organization. But it’s the first for them to come on merit after eight years of competition.

“I didn’t question it,” co-owner Jeff Dickerson said. “We were able to fumble so many that I was super happy when we won, but I’m also incredibly relieved. I thank everyone for pointing out when we were improving, but it’s like, we had to cash in.”

The triumph was not a fluke. Hocevar has been a consistent top 10 contender this season and sat 12th in points going into Sunday’s race. He was leading at the white flag in the Daytona 500 and he was battling for the lead at the white flag at EchoPark Speedway. The team also challenged at Bristol Motor Speedway and led laps at Kansas Speedway.

But most importantly, all three teams from the organization have been relevant to start the season. All three drivers have earned multiple top-10 finishes.

“I can say that when we first started this deal, and there were tons of questions on what the hell we were doing and why,” Dickerson continued, “and last time I was in this press center everyone was like, ‘What the hell are you doing? What’s happening? You guys are buying Kyle Busch (Motorsports)? Like I’ve said before, I think some skepticism is obviously healthy, but I know I can stand in front of this whole group in here and this sport and everybody and say, ‘We did and have done everything that we said we were going to do when we first bought that Furniture Row charter,’ and that’s just the facts.

“And we’re not done. We’re not done. We want to put a couple in the playoffs this year, or hope we do, and go from there. I think we can take these guys on.”

Spire Motorsports was heavily criticized in its infancy for being a marketing and entertainment company turned race team. It was viewed as an unserious operation in terms of resources, and after winning its first race in the summer of 2019, taking advantage of a weather-shortened Daytona event, it was deemed an unfair victor.

But the last few years have proven that the organization is not content with only being on the Cup Series grid. There has been an addition to the ownership group with Dan Towriss of TWG Motorsports. Multiple drivers have come and gone, as have different personnel.

Along the way, there have been flashes of success but not wins, and it’s been something Spire Motorsports has faced questions about and even put on themselves that they had to make happen.

So, Dickerson’s relief is going to be matched by the validation the company feels after finally putting one on the board in the midst of their strong season start. Validation that is going to go a long way as the season continues.

“I think we’re going to be dangerous,” he said. “I can’t tell you enough about the conversations we have in our shop, how we’ve been building to this moment, how we’ve been believing in each other, and kind of like our way, if you will, is now validated. There are 175 people in that building now that see what it looks like, and I don’t know if you saw, but our whole company was in victory lane. Everybody had a touch of that.

“I thought Daniel [Suarez] was happier than Carson for a minute. It’s a force multiplier (having all three teams run well), and you already have Carson’s irrational confidence. I mean, he’s going to show up in a fur coat on Monday. It’s crazy, but confidence is contagious. … I really think we’re going to be dangerous. I really don’t think it’s hyperbole with the help we get from Hendrick and the Hendrick engine shop. We’ve got a really good group.”

Hocevar and Suarez are both sitting in Chase positions. Michael McDowell dropped to 23rd in points after finishing 32nd at Talladega.