By AMANDA VINCENT
Spire Motorsports has named Ryan Sparks and Kevin Bellicourt its crew chiefs for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season. Sparks will be crew chief on Spire’s new No. 7 team for driver Corey LaJoie, while Bellicourt will hold the position on the No. 77 team. A driver for the No. 77 has not yet been announced.
“Ryan Sparks and Kevin Bellicourt are talented young crew chiefs with the ability to innovate and lead by example,” Spire Motorsports co-owner T.J. Puchyr said. “Both Ryan and Kevin will play key roles in building Spire Motorsports and helping our organization reach its full potential. We don’t expect Rome to be built in a day, but we know those guys are going to surround themselves with people who can elevate our program and take the performance factor to the next level. Jeff (Dickerson) and I have a very high degree of confidence in both of these individuals, their work ethic and ability to lead.”
Sparks follows LaJoie to Spire, as he was LaJoie’s crew chief on the No. 32 team at Go FAS Racing in 2020. Together, they notched one top-10, an eighth-place finish in the season-opening Daytona 500, and finished 30th in the points standings. Last season was Sparks’ first as a Cup Series crew chief. Prior to 2020, he was a race engineer on the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing team of Austin Dillon.
“Ryan Sparks is the right guy to build this program,” LaJoie said. “We had some great cars last year, so I’m excited to see what he can do at Spire Motorsports with even more tools at his fingertips.”
The 2021 season will be Bellicourt’s first as a crew chief at the Cup level, but he has 95 races of experience as a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series crew chief. He has three wins in the Truck Series, all coming with Justin Haley and GMS Racing in 2018. He was crew chief fore Derek Kraus at Bill McAnally Racing for four races in 2019 and the full 2020 season. With Bellicourt calling the shots, Kraus posted three top-fives and 13 top-10 finishes en route to a 11th-place points finish last season.
Bellicourt also was Haley’s crew chief for two NASCAR Xfinity Series races in 2018, resulting in a best finish of 18th at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.
“I’m extremely thankful for the opportunity to lead the No. 77 team here at Spire Motorsports,” Bellicourt said. “We are building something exciting, and to be part of it from the very beginning is going to be really rewarding. NASCAR Cup Series racing is some of the most difficult competition in the world, but I’m confident in my abilities and ready for the challenge of competing at this level.”
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