Friday 5th: Justin Haley's return increases excitement at Spire Motorsports

Six seasons into its existence, Spire Motorsports continues to evolve in the NASCAR Cup Series.

A team once derided by some for its poor performances has made significant progress this season. Co-owner Jeff Dickerson was proud when the organization placed all three cars in the top 10 for the first time last month at Watkins Glen, and that wasn't the big story.

The success was significant to Dickerson – because the cars improved from practice the day before through to the race – but he also viewed the results as a recognition of what the team has accomplished since the sport acquired Furniture Row Racing's charter 2018 season and suddenly became car owners.

“We don’t have a Spire path yet,” Dickerson told NBC Sports. “We don't have a 150-page manual of 'Here's how we do it.' We're still writing it. We are always looking for other ideas. We are always looking for different opinions.”

Spire Motorsports was inventive and proactive. Over the past year the organization has:

• Carson Hocevar has signed a multi-year contract.
• Bought Live Fast Motorsports' charter to expand into a three-car team and purchased Kyle Busch Motorsports to serve as the team's home base.
• Doug Duchardt was added as team president.
• He hired crew chief Luke Lambert for this season and champion crew chief Rodney Childers for next season.
• Michael McDowell signed to drive the No. 71 car next season.
• Traded Corey LaJoie for Justin Haley last month and signed Haley to a multi-year deal.

Heading into Sunday's race at Talladega Superspeedway (pre-race coverage begins at 1:30 p.m. ET on NBC), Hocevar sits 21st in the points and is on pace for the team's best finish in the season standings to reach. The best finish by a full-time driver in the points for Spire is LaJoie's 25th place finish last season.

Hocevar finished 11th or better in four of the last eight races, including a third-place finish at Watkins Glen. Zane Smith, on loan from Trackhouse Racing this season, has four top-10 finishes in the last 12 races, including a second-place finish in Nashville. In his return to the team, Haley finished 33rd at Kansas last week.

Haley drove 34 races for the organization between 2019-21 and scored the team's only win at the summer race at Daytona in 2019. He admits this is a very different Spire Motorsports team than the one he left three years ago .

“I knew it was something that would give me more long-term stability and a good path for the future,” Haley said of his return to the team.

While some may overlook Haley, AJ Allmendinger recommends not doing so. As a teammate at Kaulig Racing, Allmendinger experienced Haley's talent up close.

“He's getting opportunities that he deserves because I think he has the ability to go out and win races on a regular basis,” Allmendinger told NBC Sports. “We saw what he did with Rick Ware (Racing) this year and how well he did them, and just being able to consistently go to the front in a car that hasn't done that in the past, that's what he's showing .”

Allmendinger said, “Looking ahead to next year, (Haley) is going to be one of the guys that's going to be fighting for a playoff spot that we're going to have to consistently overtake.”

That is the challenge for Spire Motorsports. Although it has seen growth since its debut season in 2019, it faces the difficulty of competing against Hendrick Motorsports – with which Spire is affiliated – Joe Gibbs Racing, Team Penske and others. Hendrick, JGR and Penske took 11 of the 16 playoff spots this year.

“You just have to keep rocking,” Dickerson said of trying to grow while competing against the sport’s top teams. “They’re not waiting for you. We have to act almost twice as hard and take unconventional steps. We have to do things differently. … You have to put pressure on. You have to believe in what you believe in.”

Changes come after Michael McDowell blew up and Josh Berry fell on his head at Daytona and Corey LaJoie fell on his head at Michigan.

It's a daunting task, but Ross Chastain says the organization is up to the task.

“Never bet against Jeff Dickerson,” Chastain told NBC Sports. “It will work. If it’s a 50-50 tie, I tell our group that we always go for Jeff every chance we get.”

2. What happens?

Tyler Reddick has had his worst stretch of the season in the six races since his win at Michigan in August.

It confused the regular season champion.

“We just lacked power and a good-handling car,” Reddick said this week. “It’s definitely a headache at this point.

Reddick will start Sunday's race at Talladega below the cutline. He is four points behind Chase Elliott and Joey Logano, who hold the final two transfer spots, with two races remaining in this round. He won the last race at Talladega in April.

Two new drivers climb into the top 10 this week.

Reddick fell behind in the overall standings due to performance. Since finishing sixth in the playoff opener in Atlanta, he has not finished higher than 20th in the next three races.

“Once I got through the regular season, I felt no reason to change what I was doing,” Reddick said. “I don’t think anyone on this team did either. (But) we didn't put together any good races. We had no speed. We couldn't get any stage points. It was hard.”

Reddick noticed a change that didn't go well for the team.

NASCAR installed an air deflector on the right rear window at Daytona to prevent cars from becoming airborne. This happened after Corey LaJoie's car rolled over in Michigan.

The air deflector is used for higher speed routes. Kansas was the second race that teams contested with it. Reddick said he felt the device changed the way his car drove.

“Although I feel like a lot of people on the NASCAR side said it wouldn't change the handling characteristics of the car, it was a huge change in the way the car reacts to slides,” Reddick said. “I thought I would drive the Gen 6 car again last Sunday.

“You can push it a lot further than before. If you go sideways in a (next generation) car you will usually have an accident or spin. (But) you could just move it and move it further (in Kansas).

“So I don’t know if that’s part of it. I think on our side we knew it was going to be a decent change to the car. … For us it was really extreme. To be honest, there’s nothing we can really point the finger at.”

3. What happens to 23XI, Front Row at the track?

In connection with the antitrust lawsuit filed against NASCAR by 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, Wednesday's media session questioned how teams are expected to be treated by NASCAR officials when it comes to on-track inspections and rules enforcement.

Jeffrey Kessler, an attorney representing 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, responded by saying:

“I have spent my career representing plaintiffs who must continue to do business with or be employed by the people we sue. And I will tell you that there is usually an attorney on the other side who will warn the other side not to retaliate and not to treat the parties seemingly unfairly, because if that were to happen, it will be immediately addressed in the lawsuit.

“And as you can imagine, it’s not a good place for a defendant. So in most of my cases we don't see such behavior, and I don't think we will see it here. If it came, we would be prepared for it.”

23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports filed a lawsuit against NASCAR on Wednesday.

4. Bounce Back Race?

Justin Allgaier entered the Xfinity Playoffs as the No. 1 seed, but not everything went well.

He enters Saturday's race at Talladega – the middle race of the opening round – one point behind a transfer spot.

It was a tough time for Allgaier. He finished 30th or worse in three of the last four races. While he has won two races and 14 stages this season, he has also finished 28th or worse eight times this season.

“This year has been really strange,” he said before the playoffs began. “I would say, as far as the ending goes, it was one of the worst years we've ever had. It just seems like it went wrong when it could have gone wrong.”

Talladega didn't fare much better for him. He finished 28th or worse in six of his last nine starts there. He will try to change that on Saturday.

5. Numbers you should know

4 – Consecutive poles by Michael McDowell on draft routes, the longest streak since Bill Elliott won six straight in 1985-86.

8 – Different winners in the last eight races at Talladega Superspeedway. These winners are: Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain, Chase Elliott, Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney and Tyler Reddick.

9.9 – Average finish for Kyle Busch over the last 10 drafting track races, best in the series.

12 – Cup races ended in overtime this year, the most in a season.

22.8 – Average finish for Kyle Larson at Talladega, making it his worst track.