CONCORD, N.C. — Spire Motorsports will pay tribute to 1992 NASCAR Cup Series Champion and 2019 NASCAR Hall of Fame Inductee Alan Kulwicki with a special throwback paint scheme aboard Corey LaJoie’s No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro during the throwback-themed Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway Sunday afternoon.
LaJoie’s Spire Motorsports entry will replicate the No. 7 Zerex-sponsored machine Kulwicki raced from 1987-’90. Kulwicki logged 207 Cup starts from 1985-1993, earning five wins, 24 poles, 38 top-five and 75 top-10 finishes. His final start in NASCAR’s premier series came at the 1993 TranSouth 500 at Darlington Raceway where he finished sixth.
Kulwicki collected victories while representing the Zerex brand at the 1988 Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix (Ariz.) Raceway and the 1990 AC-Delco 500 at North Carolina Motor Speedway in Rockingham, N.C.
“We at Valvoline were thrilled to hear that Spire Motorsports was honoring Alan Kulwicki with this Zerex paint scheme,” said Patrick Daugherty, associate brand manager, sponsorships, Valvoline. “Alan had an incredible career with us back in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. We’re excited to see Corey LaJoie wheel this Zerex hotrod at Darlington.”
Spire Motorsports purchased the assets of Leavine Family Racing last October, which included Kulwicki’s former race shop and serves as the headquarters of its two-car team.
LaJoie has six previous Cup Series starts at the “Track Too Tough To Tame” dating back to 2017 and has completed just over 90 percent of the laps contested over that span. He is currently 30th in points 11 races into the current season.
“I’m really excited to get to Darlington Raceway this weekend with our Zerex Chevy Camaro and honor Alan Kulwicki,” said LaJoie. “Darlington is one of the staples on our schedule. It’s really cool to go back there on Mother’s Day for the throwback weekend. We’re going there with a low-downforce, high-horsepower package so we’ll be slipping and sliding around like we did back in 2017. We should put on a good show for the fans. I’m excited to continue showing what we’re capable of. Hopefully, we can start putting some results on the board for Spire Motorsports.
“We’ve run a lot better than our results show and we’ll continue building on that at Darlington this weekend.”