
<p>Once enemies, <strong>Daniel Suárez</strong> and <strong>Michael McDowell</strong> are now teammates. McDowell joined Spire Motorsports ahead of the 2025 season and Suárez is set to make his team debut next month at Daytona International Speedway. </p>



<p>The Daytona 500 is a race where teammates must work together. Suárez and McDowell, in spite of past differences, have to become best friends on the racetrack. Seven years ago, that would have seemed like an unlikely happening.</p>



<p>But before we get there on Sunday, Feb. 15, Spire gave both Suárez and McDowell a <a href="https://x.com/SpireMotorsport/status/2013353171754549362?s=20">set of boxing gloves</a> — perhaps to settle the feud for good. They had a sparring match, one that was a lot more friendly than the last time they made physical contact with each other. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Boys, have at it. <a href="https://t.co/RVlE0P5wPu">pic.twitter.com/RVlE0P5wPu</a></p>— Spire Motorsports (@SpireMotorsport) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpireMotorsport/status/2013353171754549362?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 19, 2026</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



<p>Suárez and McDowell brawled on pit road during qualifying at Phoenix Raceway in 2019. Punches were thrown, McDowell was thrown to the ground by Suárez and the two were separated. </p>



<p>“I’m the kind of driver that I’m going to give a lot of respect to you, always, if you give me respect back. If you don’t give me respect, I’m going to go kick your ass,” Suárez said of the incident at the time. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true"><p lang="ro" dir="ltr">Punches thrown in Phoenix. Daniel Suárez vs. Michael McDowell. <a href="https://t.co/lIIfu9bFXE">pic.twitter.com/lIIfu9bFXE</a></p>— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) <a href="https://twitter.com/NASCARONFOX/status/1104167312997834752?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 8, 2019</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-daniel-suarez-michael-mcdowell-are-now-on-the-same-team">Daniel Suárez, Michael McDowell are now on the same team</h2>



<p>Suárez and McDowell actually became friendly in the years after the fight. When Suárez signed with Trackhouse in October, McDowell called him and gave him the lay of the land. </p>



<p>Together, they serve as the faces of Spire’s <strong><a href="https://www.on3.com/pro/category/nascar/news/">NASCAR</a></strong> Cup Series operation alongside <strong>Carson Hocevar</strong>. Spire made significant gains in 2025 and is looking for even more in 2026. </p>



<p>“To me, to be quite honest with you, it was a no-brainer,” Suárez said after signing. “How Spire Motorsports has grown the last three years — I mentioned this to Jeff — three years ago, I probably wasn’t looking at Spire Motorsports as an option. Right now, I believe that this is the fastest-growing team in NASCAR, and I want to be part of that. I know that they are not even close to being done. They’re just getting started.”</p>


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Spire teammates Daniel Suárez, Michael McDowell reignite rivalry with friendly sparring match

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