Full-Time Cup Drivers McDowell, Haley Running Daytona Truck Race for Spire
![Spire Motorsports will have full-time NASCAR Cup Series competitors Michael McDowell and Justin Haley behind the wheel of two of its trucks for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season-opening race at Daytona. Spire Motorsports will have full-time NASCAR Cup Series competitors Michael McDowell and Justin Haley behind the wheel of two of its trucks for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season-opening race at Daytona.](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_1599,h_899,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/voltaxMediaLibrary/mmsport/racing_america_on_si/01jjsg8ymp615c5db4a7.jpg)
Spire Motorsports, which will field four full-time entries in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series this season, previously announced that two of the team's four trucks will be comprised of a cast of rotating all-star drivers. On Wednesday, the team made the first of many all-star driver announcements for its No. 07 and 7 Chevrolet Silverado RSTs for the upcoming season.
Michael McDowell, who will pilot Spire Motorsports' No. 71 NASCAR Cup Series entry full-time, will drive the team's No. 07 NASCAR Truck Series entry in the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway. Justin Haley, who is the full-time driver of the team's No. 7 NASCAR Cup Series Chevrolet, will serve as the driver of the No. 7 NASCAR Truck Series entry in the Fresh From Florida 250 at Daytona on Friday, February 14.
The race team, which is conducting its yearly media day at its race shop in Mooresville, NC on Wednesday, slipped the Daytona International Speedway Truck Series driver lineup news via a social media post and graphic on Wednesday morning.
Just a couple Daytona winners going Truck racing.@Mc_Driver and @Justin_Haley_ will compete in the @NASCAR_Trucks race in Daytona in the Nos. 07 and 7, respectively. pic.twitter.com/FOhTJVeazE
— Spire Motorsports (@SpireMotorsport) January 29, 2025
The selection of McDowell and Haley makes sense for a number of reasons. Not only are they full-time NASCAR Cup Series drivers for Spire Motorsports, but each driver has shown a penchant for reaching victory lane at Daytona International Speedway throughout their respective careers.
McDowell, 39, won the 2021 Daytona 500 while driving for Front Row Motorsports, and seven of his 11 career top-five finishes in NASCAR Cup Series competition have come at Superspeedway-style tracks like Daytona.
Haley, 25, picked up his first career NASCAR Cup Series win driving the No. 77 Spire Motorsports entry in a rain-shortened event at Daytona International Speedway in 2019. Additionally, the Indiana native has recorded four NASCAR Xfinity Series race wins at Superspeedway-style tracks.
While both drivers are well-versed at racing on Superspeedway tracks, both drivers have had a lengthy layoff from competing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series ranks. Haley's last NASCAR Truck Series start came five years ago in a one-off start for GMS Racing at Texas Motor Speedway, where he finished seventh.
McDowell last competed in the NASCAR Truck Series 16 years ago, a race where he drove for ThorSport Racing at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and recorded what is to date his best career finish in Truck Series competition, 14th. McDowell, a native of Phoenix, AZ, only has two career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series starts, but he has amassed nearly 600 starts combined between the NASCAR Cup Series (501), and NASCAR Xfinity Series (94) over the years.
McDowell and Haley will serve as teammates for Spire Motorsports' two full-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series drivers -- Rajah Caruth and Andres Perez de Lara -- at Daytona.
Caruth, 22, nabbed his first career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win last season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, driving the No. 71 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports. Perez de Lara will compete for the 2025 NASCAR Truck Series Rookie of the Year Award a season after collecting the ARCA Menards Series Championship driving for REV Racing. Perez de Lara will pilot the No. 77 truck this season.