"We're ready to put on a show": NASCAR veteran BJ McLeod to take the wheel of Spire Motorsports at Charlotte

NASCAR veteran driver and team owner, BJ McLeod, is all set to take part in the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series North Carolina Education Lottery 200 race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 23. He will be driving the No. 7 truck for Spire Motorsports.

The veteran driver will be making his first Truck Series since 2021 and will have Pigeon Forge Racing Coaster as the primary sponsor for his truck.

BJ McLeod is a part-owner of the Pigeon Forge Racing Coaster in Tennessee, which is a new motorsports-themed attraction set to open later this year. He also co-owns the Live Fast Motorsports team that participated in the Cup Series from 2021 to 2023 before selling its charter to Spire Motorsports. The team still competes part-time in the Cup Series. He also founded B.J. McLeod Motorsports, which participated in the Xfinity Series.

"Getting to race again in the NASCAR truck series with an incredible team is an honor. It’s a perfect partnership with Pigeon Forge Racing Coaster — speed, adrenaline, and pure excitement, both on the track and in the mountains. We’re ready to put on a show for the fans and make this ride one to remember," BJ McLeod said in a press release via Spire.

McLeod has made two Cup Series starts in the 2025 season in his No. 78 Chevrolet at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. McLeod will look to make a strong comeback in the Truck Series, where he started his NASCAR career back in 2010.

BJ McLeod's gamble that redefined NASCAR history

BJ McLeod made a move that rewrote NASCAR's history and sparked debates all around the racing community in 2023. McLeod sold his Live Fast Motorsports charter for an exuberant reported prize of $40 million to Spire Motorsports. He executed what many called one of the shrewdest business plays in modern NASCAR history, per Motorcycle Sports.

The decision was tough for McLeod; trading the passion for full-time racing for a financial benefit was no less of a sacrifice. Though McLeod accepted that and he did not regret his decision even for a second.

"I’m happier now than I was a year ago. That decision is something I’ll always be thankful for and proud we went in that direction,” McLeod told Racer.com in 2023.

McLeod and his co-owner, Matt Tifft, understood that the timing was perfect. Their team had struggled to stay competitive in the sport, and they saw an opportunity to sell the charter at a cost that not many could have achieved.

At $40 million, Spire Motorsports paid what was then the highest price ever recorded for a charter in the sport’s history. Stewart-Haas Racing sold a charter in 2024 for an estimated $20–25 million, barely half of what Live Fast Motorsports secured.

The staggering price of the deal was fueled by NASCAR’s lucrative $7.7 billion media rights deal and showed the sport's rising viewership and fandom all around the world.