On any given weekend, Jeff Dickerson might be juggling his NASCAR operation, minor league hockey teams, race track management and two teenage daughters.

The former USAC-midget-racer-turned-co-owner of Spire Motorsports and CEO and co-founder of Spire Holdings is adding an Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing team to his portfolio—and his marketing staffers couldn’t be happier.

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Mention 410 winged sprint cars and their eyes light up. While many of the public relations team’s responsibilities center on stock cars, they are giddily anticipating time at the dirt track. Most would pay for pit passes—and did until now.

On Dec. 10, Dickerson officially launched the Spire Motorsports ASCENT Program to focus on racing outside of NASCAR. The initiative features Carson Hocevar, Tristan McKee, and Gio Scelzi, who will compete full-time in the No. 77 Chili’s sprinter in High Limit with support from Clauson Marshall Racing (CMR).

“I’ve always stayed close,” Dickerson said of dirt track racing. “All of us, we sit there on Saturday, Friday nights in the motor home lot, and we’re all watching dirt track stuff. Obviously, being close to the Clausons, representing Bryan for so many years, Spire already had a presence there with CMR. 

“I was just looking for the right opportunity and Tim (Clauson) was able to locate this charter pretty quick so we could get on it before anybody else could. And here we are. Man, we're going to go full season High Limit—and mix in some of the big Outlaw shows. Chili's hops on board and we're here.”

Spire’s presence in High Limit is more than a full-circle moment. When Dickerson worked for Cary Agajanian at Motorsports Management, he repped many of the dirt racing drivers transitioning to stock cars, including Clauson, Kevin Swindell, Jason Leffler, Josh Wise and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Kasey Kahne and Brad Sweet were also once under the MMI banner. 

When Spire initially spun off from MMI, Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell were two of Dickerson’s clients.

In 2018, before they even owned a race shop, Dickerson and his former partner, T.J. Puchyr, had the vision to acquire a NASCAR charter. In just their third race, Spire won at Daytona with Justin Haley. 

Since then, that initial $6 million investment has blossomed into three NASCAR Cup teams, two Craftsman Truck Series teams and an occasional Menard’s ARCA Series entry when necessary to develop drivers such as Corey Day and McKee, who won in his first start last year at Watkins Glen.

Not surprisingly, Dickerson’s love of dirt racing led to purchasing a High Roller Club membership (charter) after last season, which guarantees participation and payout from races.

“When we had that opportunity to buy the Furniture Row Charter, we hopped on it,” Dickerson said of his first purchase of a NASCAR charter. “It's kind of funny when I'm talking about the High Limit stuff too, right? When we bought that first charter, everybody told us how crazy we were and how stupid we were, and it seems to work out OK. 

“We buy that High Limit charter and everybody's just like, what the hell are you guys doing? It's the dumbest thing we've ever seen. We'll let history judge if that was the right call or not. 

“But certainly when sanctioning bodies like High Limit and NASCAR give you an opportunity to have a long-term seat at the table and growth, you have to take that lead.”

And with NASCAR charters now starting at more than $50 million, Dickerson appears prescient. But timing also matters. The ability to pair Scelzi with seven-time national sprint car champion crew chief Eric Prutzman and acquire a charter has worked in his favor.

“When Sunshine (Tyler Courtney) got hurt last year at Eldora (Speedway, July 17), Gio had just come out of that 18 car— like legit, either that day or the next day,” Dickerson said. “Obviously, Tim and Richard Marshall thought that he was the right guy to take over for Sunshine.

“And I'm kind of weird. I wasn't necessarily looking at the results that they were having. I was looking into how Gio was able to hop into a situation like that, and he handled it just perfectly. Obviously, Gio has been doing this for a while. If I told you he was 34, you'd probably believe it, right? But he's 24, with just a ton of years of experience in him.”

Dickerson believes Scelzi is a top-10 talent in Sprint cars. At six, the second-generation driver began racing junior micro sprints and became the youngest Tulsa Shootout champion seven years later. In 2018, Scelzi made World of Outlaws history as the youngest tour winner with his Williams Grove victory. He entered the All-Star Circuit of Champions record book as the youngest victor at Knoxville Raceway in 2019.

After winning WoO Rookie-of-the-Year honors in 2023, Scelzi has scored 12 wins, 88 top fives and 232 top 10s in 410 Sprint Car competition. 

“Spire was already a sponsor on the 7BC (CMR) car and it all just came together in August,” Scelzi said. “I think the resources are endless, really. With their NASCAR teams and tie-in with IndyCar and Formula 1 now, the possibilities are endless for data and testing. 

“Obviously, sprint car is nowhere near as limited with testing time and that kind of stuff as NASCAR and IndyCar. If we can use those resources to our benefit, the sky’s the limit.”

Scelzi has known Prutzman since he was an aspiring racer. The veteran crew chief observed Scelzi’s performance in the No. 7BC last year, and the two knocked the rust off at the WoO Dega Duel at the Talladega Short Track on March 6.

“Whenever Eric worked with Donny Schatz, the team stayed at my Dad’s shop in Fresno from 2010 to about 2020,” Scelzi said. “So I’ve spent a lot of time with him. I wouldn’t say we were really close, but I’ve known him a long time. We joked that it would be cool if we could work with each other one day.

“When Tim Clauson said, ‘We have the possibility to get Eric Prutzman,’ I about fell out of my chair. I said, ‘Whatever you need to do to get this guy, it would be awesome.’ We were able to race together once, at Talladega, but it’s all pretty new to us.”

Scelzi has taken up residence in North Carolina near Spire’s shop in Mooresville, where Dickerson has seen his driver “a lot.” Dickerson is already impressed by Scelzi’s progress and maturity.

“He knows the rhythm of being on the road and when to take chances and when not to take chances,” Dickerson said. “And sometimes it's just not your night, let’s just get to the next race. But he's got so much speed, and we've really just enjoyed getting to know him.

“The NASCAR guys really love them (Scelzi and Prutzman). The Chili's guys love them. So a lot of those things kind of came together. But look, when Tim Clauson says we can get the Jason Myers charter and Eric Prutzman is sitting there and Gio's sitting there, I think half the battle is just don't screw that up, right? 

“Just do it. Don't overthink it. And it's just another moment in my life where I'm just at the right place at the right time.”