Daniel Suarez will drive the No. 7 for Spire Motorsports in the Cup Series next season, the team announced Wednesday.
Suarez will replace Justin Haley, who will depart the team after this season. Freeway Insurance will serve as the team’s anchor partner and will be showcased on the No. 7 car beginning with the 2026 Daytona 500.
“I think his resume, obviously, speaks for itself,” said Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson during Wednesday’s announcement.
“He’s been a mainstay in the garage for several years. When it came down to it, it’s just a thing where I think we need each other. I think all of us love a good story of redemption and giving people a platform to prove doubters wrong.
“Daniel needs to show everybody that this year was an outlier, and we want to show everybody that the 7 car’s performance this year was an outlier as well.”
The 2027 Daytona 500 will be on Feb. 21, avoiding a conflict with the Super Bowl that year.
The 33-year-old Suarez was in need of a ride because he will be replaced by 19-year-old Connor Zilisch next season at Trackhouse Racing.
Suarez was the first driver for Trackhouse and has been with the team since 2021. Suarez scored both of his Cup victories with the organization and finished a career-best 10th with the team in 2022.
NASCAR’s top three national series will set the fields for their championship finales.
Suarez enters Sunday’s race at Martinsville Speedway (2 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock) 28th in the points. He has two top-five finishes and seven top-10 finishes this year.
Spire Motorsports has three Cup cars, fielding entries this season for Michael McDowell, Carson Hocevar and Haley. McDowell is 21st in points, Hocevar is 23rd and Haley is 31st.
Spire Motorsports has won three poles, scored six top fives, 16 top 10s and led 233 laps — all season highs for an organization that began racing full-time in 2019.
“If you look at the last three years at how Spire Motorsports has grown, I mentioned this to Jeff,” Suarez said, “three years ago, I probably wasn’t looking at Spire Motorsports as an option. Right now, I believe this is the fastest growing team in NASCAR, and I want to be part of that. I know they’re not even close to be done. They’re just getting started.”
