NASCAR is a sport going through a period of evolution. That evolution has proved challenging for some of the sport’s smaller teams. Live Fast Motorsports, one of NASCAR’s smaller teams co-owned by BJ McLeod, Matt Tifft and Joe Falk, announced in September that they were selling their NASCAR Cup Series charter to Spire Motorsports.
While Live Fast had no intention of selling their charter when the 2023 season began, their dynamics shifted throughout the year.
"We started out the year definitely sticking to hoping we'd be here 20 years as Cup owners," McLeod said Tuesday. "That definitely took a little bit of a turn, probably around Bristol. I think somewhere around there, it definitely changed the direction of what we were planning on doing."
McLeod went on to explain that the Cup Series has become more competitive than he’s ever seen before. “From first to 36, it is the tightest field I’ve ever seen in Cup in my life,” said McLeod, who has been involved in the sport for 20 years. “I, unfortunately, live that 35th to 36th spot a lot. What caught me by surprise was the speed at which the sport advanced around Matt [Tifft] and I and team Live Fast. That’s the part I didn’t anticipate and [we] simply [weren’t] in a strong enough position financially to be able to keep up with our surroundings. That happens in other businesses too, but I didn’t see that we were gonna end up getting pushed to 36th on speed.”
However, this doesn’t mean the end of Live Fast Motorsports for good.
“I'm definitely not ready to quit driving a Cup car," McLeod said. "I love the Next Gen car. I love the feeling of driving them. I love the people, the sport, the series, the competition level.”
"I like being challenged. I just want to be in a competitive car when I go and actually have a shot to see what I'm capable of."
It was also announced that Matt Tifft will be departing the ownership group to pursue other opportunities.
“Live Fast will operate just as it has,” McLeod said. “Matt is going to move on and pursue other opportunities that he has on his side, so it will just be myself, Jessica and Joe [Falk] on the Live Fast side. Everything on the appearance side will remain the same.”
For now, the team will focus on getting ready for Daytona. They plan to compete part-time next season and have specific goals in mind as far as where they think they can be competitive. They will focus on superspeedways and potentially road courses in 2024
“We’re still going to be in Cup part time,” McLeod said. “I’m looking to run the [superspeedways] because we’re competitive there and then if we can put a driver in for the road courses. We showed great speed at the road courses this year with Josh Bilicki. He ran exceptionally well and that’s something that we’re looking forward to trying to put together.” (Cover Photo Source Twitter.com/teamlivefast)