CONCORD, N.C. — Daniel Suarez called it a "no-brainer" when asked why Spire Motorsports is the place he needs to be in 2026. He sees the foundation in place that he believes will lead to consistent success in the NASCAR Cup Series.
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But as Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson see it, this deal provides the opportunity for a redemption story.
"I think when it came down to it, it's just a thing where I think we need each other," Dickerson told media members on Wednesday. "I think all of us love a good story of redemption and giving people a platform to prove doubters wrong.
"So I think in this case, I think Daniel wants to show everybody that this year was an outlier and we wanted to show everybody that the No. 7 car's performance this year is an outlier, as well."
This season did not play out how Suarez and Trackhouse Racing expected. It certainly didn't play out how Justin Haley and Spire Motorsports expected.
Both teams and the respective drivers entered the season believing they would contend for numerous strong finishes and potentially wins. Suarez, in particular, expected to return to the playoffs for the third time.
Haley started the season with Rodney Childers as his crew chief. They soon parted ways after their personalities failed to gel. Haley continued with Ryan Sparks calling the shots, but he struggled through the season. He posted two top-10 finishes and an average finish of 22.6. He fell to 31st in the standings before Spire Motorsports announced Haley would not return in 2026.
"We kind of dragged this out some, because we're just kind of hoping, waiting for some spark with Justin," Dickerson said. "And we finally get to a place where we're just like, 'Man, I don't know that we're doing him any good, and I don't think we're doing ourselves any good.'"
Suarez struggled through his worst statistical season since 2021 as he posted an average finish of 20.9 and missed the playoffs. He fell to 28th in the Cup Series standings. He and Trackhouse Racing ultimately announced during the summer that they would part ways after the season.
Suarez told media members during the Chicago race weekend that the last several months leading up to that point had been difficult for him and that he was not happy. He compared the situation to an unhappy couple staying together simply because they bought a house.
Suarez provided more comments on Oct. 22 after revealing that he will join Spire Motorsports in 2026 — the deal includes options to extend beyond a single season. He expressed the opinion that Trackhouse Racing has regressed a bit since its breakout season. He added that Spire Motorsports, a team that he once overlooked, appears to be on the rise.
He joked that Spire Motorsports has been faster than him all season, which made him a little jealous.
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"The trajectory, if you see Spire in 2023, 2024, 2025, like you see steps in the right direction," Suarez said on Wednesday. "If you see where I am right now (at Trackhouse), we've been actually, if anything, going a little bit down.
"2022 was amazing, the first year with the Next Gen, and then after that, I feel like we went kind of like up and down (waves hand) and then it's been kind of like a stall, a little bit down this year."
Going from Spire Motorsports provides Suarez the opportunity to show that this lack of consistency this season was not a personal problem. He didn't suddenly forget how to drive and contend for wins.
The veteran driver believes that Spire Motorsports will give him the opportunity to prove this. In fact, he feels something special heading toward the offseason.
"Sometimes you just feel it, right," Suarez said. "Sometimes you just — when you have those butterflies inside your stomach and you're excited to get going again — this is not my first race team. So to get this excitement, that should tell you something."
Suarez is not the only one looking for redemption heading into 2026. Dickerson believes that Spire Motorsports falls into this category as well.
Sure, the team has shown significant growth with both Michael McDowell and Carson Hocevar contending for wins, top-10 finishes, and pole wins. It has also struggled with execution and consistency.
Sometimes, the respective drivers would put themselves in position for a win only to have a miscue on pit road or a parts failure disrupt their race. Other times, a crash would ruin what had been a promising afternoon at the track.
Spire Motorsports just did not deliver a strong performance from flag to flag this season.
"I do feel like we are two or three no mistake races away from having wins," Dickerson said.
Will Suarez, another veteran driver, be the one to push Spire Motorsports over the goal line? Dickerson certainly believes so. He called the Mexico native a steady hand who can go out and just win races. The team doesn't need Suarez to change in order for both sides to get redemption. They just need to put the pieces in place around him.
If everything plays out the way they plan, 2026 will be the start of a very fruitful relationship.
"I don't think six months ago either one of us thought that we would be sitting in this studio," Dickerson said. "But I think there's a real power here in showing everybody that, I guess in some ways, both of us are better than what we showed this year."
