Ty Dillon will join Spire Motorsports in 2023, piloting the No. 77 NASCAR Cup Series entry full time.
On Tuesday, Spire also announced Corey Lajoie’s extension, which will be his third consecutive season with the team aboard the No. 7 entry.
“I’m excited to return to Spire Motorsports for the 2023 season,” said LaJoie, now in his fourth year in the Cup Series. “With another year under our belts and a notebook on the new car, I know we can have a solid season and get that first win. It’s cool my buddy Ty (Dillon) is joining us as well. It will be nice to have a full-time teammate in the No. 77 to work with. We’ll all be headed to the Daytona 500 with the same goal in mind, to ‘Stack Pennies’.”
The team’s crew chief lineup has been set as well, keeping Ryan Sparks paired with LaJoie on the No. 7 team, and teaming Kevin Bellicourt with Dillon for the No. 77. Sparks will also fill the role of director of competition.
“There’s little doubt that we raised some eyebrows when we entered the sport as race-team owners,” said Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson. “We knew that we needed to learn how to crawl before we attempted to walk and eventually run. We’ve been quite fortunate to build a strong foundation for Spire Motorsports over the past several years. That’s a testament to the people of Spire Motorsports, and Corey LaJoie, Ryan Sparks and Kevin Bellicourt have been the bedrock of this organization.”
After introducing the No. 77 entry full-time in 2021 with eight different drivers behind the wheel in that timespan, it’ll be the first time the team has two full-time drivers.
Dillon will make the move from Petty GMS Motorsports following the 2022 season, where he drove the No. 42 entry full-time alongside Erik Jones.
“I’m thankful for this opportunity, a new beginning with a very hungry team that is excited for the future,” said Dillon. “Spire Motorsports has been growing year after year, when you look at the way that Corey (LaJoie) and the No. 7 team has developed to be competitive. The organization is heading in the right direction and I’m excited to be a part of bringing the No. 77 up to where Corey has been running. Hopefully we raise the whole level of competition together.”
2023 will be Dillon’s sixth full-time Cup Series season. The 30-year-old’s best season to date came in 2019 with Germain Racing, where he earned three top-10’s, one top-five, and a points finish of 24th.