Friday night at North Wilkesboro Speedway delivered a big surprise, and it didn’t come from behind the wheel. Michael McDowell’s No. 71 Spire Motorsports crew took top honors in the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Pit Crew Challenge, clocking in a blistering 12.587-second pit stop to take home the $100,000 grand prize.
The winning team featured Brandon Chapman fueling the car, Dax Hollifield III on the jack, Luke Bussel handling tire carrying duties, Max Marsh up front changing tires, and Ty Boeck in the rear. Together, they outperformed two of the most respected pit units in the garage—Trackhouse Racing’s No. 99 crew (12.600 seconds) and Front Row Motorsports’ No. 4 crew (12.669 seconds).
“Honestly, I’m still trying to pinch myself. I think this is a dream,” said Hollifield after the win. “We’re all rookies. We have half our team, this is our 12th race. So we’ve been working hard for the past year, just doing the little things right, and once you do enough of those, things are going to turn out right, you know? We just work on getting better each and every day, and it showed today.”
This victory serves as a major milestone for one of the Cup Series’ newer and youngest pit crews. In a competitive landscape dominated by powerhouse organizations, this breakout performance proved that dedication and daily improvement can lead to major results—especially under pressure.
Their crew chief, Travis Peterson, couldn’t hide his excitement. “It’s super awesome. I mean, these guys have been growing and developing,” Peterson said. “They’re one of the youngest crews at Hendrick this year and we got them. At the beginning of the year, we had to keep getting better, and these guys get better every week, and we’ve started to see the fruits on the race track, too.”
Peterson also detailed how much planning went into the team’s pit road strategy for the challenge. “We put a lot of effort into this, whether it was our setup and these guys coming to the shop to check it, and all we said was we wanted to repeat what they did in practice, because it was an eight-three (8.3-second stop), and that’s what they did. Awesome on them. So badass for these guys.”
Joe Gibbs Racing, a dominant force in pit road performance, saw its No. 19 team post a time of 12.695 seconds, with the No. 20 crew just behind at 12.709. The No. 20 team, supporting Christopher Bell, had won the event the past two years but had to settle for fifth this time around.
The margin of victory showed just how close the competition was. To separate first and third place by only 0.082 seconds is a testament to how refined and high-pressure these pit stops truly are. A minor slip, a half-step late on a jack, or a slight fuel can delay could be the difference between six figures and nothing.
For the No. 71 crew, this result doesn’t just bring a paycheck—it’s validation. Spire Motorsports has been building steadily in recent seasons, and while McDowell’s driving experience brings leadership, Friday’s win is all about the team on the ground. This young, mostly rookie unit earned its moment, not by accident, but through effort and repetition.
With Cup Series action picking back up on Saturday evening for the All-Star Heat Races, many fans will shift their focus back to the on-track battles. But in garages and haulers throughout the infield, one story will stick: a crew that started the year trying to keep up just blew past the competition.
