Spire played the game right and got a NASCAR win
When Furniture Row Racing decided to fold, team owner Barney Visser enlisted an industry agency to help him sell off his assets.
Visser wanted Spire Sports and Entertainment to sell the charters he owned that guaranteed entry into the top racing series in the United States. Spire scoured the garage for a buyer, searched for prospects outside of racing and came up empty every time.
So Visser floated an idea past Spire co-owners Jeff Dickerson and T.J. Puchyr: Why didn’t the two of them buy a charter and start a race team?
“When he said it, we straight up told him we can’t afford it,” Dickerson told The Associated Press on Monday. “That was our hope he’d cut us a deal or give us some special financing
or something.”
Visser wanted $6 million — “sticker price,” Dickerson said — and he and Puchyr partnered on the bank loan that officially launched Spire Motorsports the day after last season’s final race. Now the team has a victory, a fluke win at Daytona International Speedway because 20-year-old Justin Haley just happened to have cycled into the lead before horrible weather stopped the race.
In the 2 hours, 12 minutes it took NASCAR to decide whether to call the race, drama and debate surrounded the Spire situation. Haley himself admitted had racing resumed, he would have been quickly passed and a rain storm was his only shot at collecting the checkered flag in his third career Cup start.
Beyond that, though, was another question: Did Spire deserve the trip to victory lane?
Some suggested Dickerson and Puchyr made a cash-grab when they bought Visser’s charter because it should pay for itself in two years. Others believe they are gaming the system, and aren’t really a true race team.