TALLADEGA, Ala. — The two greatest gamers in the latest constitution sale spent Saturday at Talladega in numerous methods.

Jeff Dickerson, co-owner of Spire Motorsports, challenged questions concerning the group’s growth, whereas BJ McLeod, proprietor/driver of Live Fast Motorsports, contemplated the best way to make his automobile sooner.

In the final two weeks, Spire Motorsports purchased the charter from Live Fast Motorsports for a reported $40 million and bought Kyle Busch Motorsports and its store.

“I don’t know how many more of these deals we have to do before people know we are for real,” Dickerson mentioned throughout a press convention.

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McLeod, stress-free in a garden chair exterior his motorhome after qualifying, appears to at the moment’s race (2 p.m. ET on NBC) as an opportunity to attain a top-10 end and relishes the alternatives the constitution sale might present for his racing aspirations.

Neither McLeod nor Dickerson would affirm the $40 million sale worth. The most beforehand paid for a constitution was $13.5 million by 23XI Racing to StarCom racing in Nov. 2021.

Dickerson was befuddled concerning the response to the reported sale worth.

“We’re a major league sport,” he mentioned of NASCAR. “We’ve been around for 75 years. We portray ourselves to corporate America like we are major league and we are major league. That number that’s been, I guess, reported, I don’t know why it’s such a shock.”

Kyle Busch, seated subsequent to Dickerson, interjected by saying the deal was “great for the sport.”

“I think it’s great for the sport,” Dickerson mentioned. “We still have a ways to go.”

Spire’s buy of the Live Fast Motorsports constitution provides it three charters for subsequent season. That third constitution will probably be used for Zane Smith. He is signed with Trackhouse Racing however will drive for Spire since Trackhouse doesn’t have a constitution to run him.

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With a three-car operation and eager to broaden its Truck operation, Spire wanted a brand new store. It will get that by buying Kyle Busch Motorsports, Rowdy Manufacturing and the 77,000-square foot facility that homes each and is appraised by Iredell County at greater than $7 million.

The high-dollar quantities of the 2 current offers led to questions Saturday about if Dickerson and co-owner T.J. Puchyr had added any companions. Dickerson denied it Saturday.

“TJ and I’s names are on the check,” Dickerson mentioned.

In July, Spire announced a deal with Gainbridge to sponsor one of many workforce’s automobiles in 16 of the season’s ultimate 18 Cup races. Gainbridge has a big presence in IndyCar, partnering with Andretti Global and serving because the presenting sponsor of the Indianapolis 500. Gainbridge is a subsidiary of Group 1001. Dan Towriss, CEO and president of Group 1001, is a co-owner of Andretti Global.

“I don’t want to minimize Gainbridge’s involvement with us,” Dickerson mentioned. “Obviously, it’s a big deal for us. … To make it anything more than that, I get it, they’re certainly making moves and making waves over there, but this is TJ and mine’s and will continue to be.”

Dickerson and Puchyr have stunned many within the sport typically, beginning once they bought Furniture Row Racing’s constitution in Dec. 2018 for $6 million to start their operation.

The workforce gained a race in 2019 with Justin Haley. The group has 4 top-five finishes and 9 top-10 finishes in its profession. Three high occasions and 4 high 10s have come since final season.

“I think a lot of people, probably myself included … we didn’t take it all that serious, like they were just going to sell off it one day,” Kyle Larson mentioned of when Spire Motorsports debuted. “I just didn’t think they were going to run like a legit team and they’ve done a really good job to prove all that differently.

“We got to win a Truck race for them earlier this year (at North Wilkesboro). They’re trying really hard to have a legit organization, and I respect that a lot. Jeff and TJ, they’re both very smart individuals and scrappy hard workers.”

McLeod additionally has been savvy. He joined former Cup driver Matt Tifft in creating Live Fast Motorsports once they acquired the constitution from GoFas Racing after the 2020 season. The 3-year-old workforce has struggled to be aggressive. McLeod has scored the workforce’s two top-10 finishes, together with a career-best seventh in final 12 months’s regular-season finale.

While McLeod declined to reply questions on promoting the constitution or something associated to it, he mentioned he would proceed racing. He appears to run a part-time Cup schedule subsequent season that seemingly can have him compete within the superspeedway races and add one other driver for street programs or every other occasions.

McLeod additionally will proceed his Xfinity program and seeks to construct that operation.

“I envision our team in Xfinity being a stepping stone for somebody that’s competitive in Trucks, has done well in Trucks or done well in ARCA and has a sponsor that likes the Xfinity Series that we can put something together to give them a platform to be able to step up to an RCR, a Gibbs, a JR (Motorsports), something like that in the Xfinity Series and then we get to know that we were a part of helping that driver’s career along.

“Eventually, I would like to be as strong as one of those teams that I just mentioned. But it’s something that you don’t just write a check for, it takes a long time to make it happen. It’s something that we’re really dedicated to try to make that happen. There’s a lot of stuff you have to work do to be able to pull that off. That’s where our passion lies.”