In his first season at Spire Motorsports in the NASCAR Cup Series, a car run with support from Trackhouse Racing, Zane Smith will run a No. 71.
In a tweet posted by Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports, the number of the third full-time Spire car was revealed but a crew chief had not been announced yet. Smith will pair with returning veteran Corey Lajoie and rookie Carson Hocevar next season.
Spire reportedly purchased the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports charter for $40 million dollars while also spending $25 million to acquire the assets, including the race shop, of Kyle Busch Motorsports. The team will continue to field trucks for Chase Purdy, Nick Sanchez and a third entry for a variety of drivers including Kyle Busch.
Smith has nine NASCAR Cup Series starts to date with a career-best finish of 10th in May at the Coca-Cola 600 with Front Row Motorsports. He also claimed the 2022 Truck Series championship for the organization. He was signed by Trackhouse to a multiyear Cup Series agreement but loaned out to Spire as the team only has two charters and fields cars for Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez.
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.