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Crew chief Travis Peterson to follow Michael McDowell to Spire Motorsports

Brian Jones Profile Picby:Brian Jones•08/06/24•

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Michael McDowell
Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK

Spire Motorsports just made a big announcement about Michael McDowell’s crew chief Travis Peterson. With McDowell leaving Front Row Motorsports for Spire in 2025, Peterson will also join Spire to be the crew chief of the No. 71 Chevrolet.

“It is a very exciting opportunity,” Peterson said in a press release. “Michael (McDowell) and I had the opportunity to meet with Doug (Duchardt) and (Jeff) Dickerson and they really sold us on the vision of where Spire is going and how we could be big role players in building the organization. I think having that skin in the game was important to both of us.

“The opportunity in front of us has all the potential to be very rewarding. That was a huge part of it. I love the energy right now and the overall culture around Spire Motorsports. They’re investing in people and team ownership is highly engaged. The mindset is ‘We’re going to do what it takes to win and this is what we want to build. Here’s the vision, where we’re going, what we’re going to do to get there, and we want you to be part of it.’ That was the biggest selling point.” 

Travis Peterson and Michael McDowell work well together

Peterson has been paired with McDowell since 2023, and the two have been successful together. The duo has earned three pole positions, one win, four top-five and 14 top-10 finishes.

“It’s exciting to have Travis Peterson join Spire Motorsports,” Spire Motorsports president Doug Duchardt said. “The first time Travis and I worked together was when Greg Ives and Travis came to Hendrick Motorsports to be the crew chief and the engineer for the No. 88 car with Dale (Earnhardt) Jr. I got to spend time with Travis there as a young engineer and it’s exciting to see how he’s grown into a leader and a crew chief.”

Peterson has called 63 races in NASCAR’s Cup Series. Before joining McDowell and Front Row Motorsports, Peterson spent five seasons as a lead race engineer at Roush Fenway Racing. One reason Peterson likes working with McDowell is they know how to communicate with each other.

“There are times when you meet people and you are immediately able to naturally communicate on a real level,” Peterson explained. “I feel like we were that way from the start. We didn’t have to work at it. Our personalities, the way we openly communicate, and our honest nature helped us click from the start. We have no problem talking about hard stuff or easy stuff. We can be happy together when we win and be sad together when we lose. There is no red tape. We just work. It’s hard to recreate that. Staying together is a huge part in coming to Spire Motorsports for both of us. It’s hard to put a value on a driver/crew chief pairing, but there’s an intangible there.”