Spire Motorsports to buy Live Fast Motorsports' charter for $40 million

Spire Motorsports is reportedly buying Live Fast Motorsports’ charter for $40 million, according to a report from Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic.

Upon Spire Motorsports and Live Fast Motorsports reaching the agreement, that would give Spire three NASCAR Cup Series charters for 2024. It will acquire the No. 78 car in the transaction. The team currently houses Cup Series drivers Corey LaJoie (No. 7) and Ty Dillon (No. 77), though Dillon likely won’t return next season.

Per the report, no driver has officially been announced to sit behind the wheel of the 78 car for next season. However, Truck Series driver Zane Smith is expected to be the leading candidate.

From The Athletic: “The approximately $40 million price point Live Fast is receiving represents the highest for a charter since the NASCAR equivalent of a franchise system was instituted prior to the 2016 season.”

NASCAR to inspect Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s firesuit

NASCAR plans to inspect Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s firesuit following the incident that occurred on Friday night at Bristol. FOX’s Bob Pockrass reported the news on Friday evening.

Earnhardt’s car filled with smoke with 30 laps remaining in the Food City 300 at Bristol in the Xfinity Series race. It ended the driver’s day, and resulted in some burns on the firesuit.

I sorta joked with some JRM folk on what were the plans for DaleJr's firesuit — like was it supposed to be auctioned off or something like that. They indicated that NASCAR actually wants to take a look at it to see how it held up.

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) September 16, 2023

Apparently, NASCAR wants to examine the protective wear to see how it held up during the fire.

Earnhardt was having a strong run in the Food City 300 until the incident. He led for 47 laps and appeared in line for a solid finish at the short track.

But once the NASCAR legend noticed the smoke, he pulled into pit road for assistance.

“We got a hole in my pants,” Earnhardt Jr. joked, showing off the suit. “Somehow the shift control caught on fire. Saw some smoke in the car. I smelt it, and I said, ‘I hope that’s not me,’ but that last lap, I saw a big fire ball down in the tunnel, in the car. I felt it, obviously. My uniform was burning up. I was like, I can’t keep going. I’ve got to stop. Usually when you stop, the fires get bigger. So I pulled over by the pit stall, and some of those guys are pretty alert, and they helped me out.

“I hate it. We were going to finish in the top ten, maybe top five. Had a shot at winning it, if the car was going to run good at the end. But trying not to mess nobody’s night up at the same time, it was hard. But I had fun.”

Hopefully, NASCAR can learn something after Earnhardt’s scary encounter on Friday.