Car chief ejected after Justin Haley fails pre-race inspection twice

It’s been an eventful week off the track for the No. 7 Spire Motorsports, and things aren’t calming down after they arrived at Talladega Superspeedway for the tenth round of the 2025 season.

During pre-race technical inspection on Friday, the No. 7 Chevrolet failed twice before finally passing on the third attempt through. Per the NASCAR rule book, the team will lose their pit stall selection, so no matter where they qualify, the team will get whatever ends up being the last remaining stall.

Additionally, car chief Doug Powers has been ejected from the track. All other Cup Series entries made it through the inspection process without issue. Powers isn’t even the team’s original car chief as Robert ‘Cheddar Smith left Spire earlier this month to take over car chief duties for Ty Gibbs at Joe Gibbs Racing.

Haley was already dealing with a change atop the pit box this week as championship-winning crew chief Rodney Childers and the organization mutually agreed to part ways due to challenges in the team dynamic. Following the shocking split, the organization’s director of competition, Ryan Sparks, who previously worked as a crew chief for the team, will now carry both duties moving forward. 

Both Smith and Childers were among a group of individuals who came over to Spire after Stewart-Haas Racing closed its doors. Haley also lost four of his crew members to Kyle Larson and the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team earlier this year in a swap between the allied teams. They were Jafar Hall (front tire changer), Mike Moss (rear tire changer), Allen Stallings (tire carrier), and Eric Ludwig (jackman).

Haley, who currently sits 23rd in the championship standings, is surely looking for the team to find its balance and face no further shake-ups in the coming weeks.