TRUCKS: Andres Pérez De Lara Latest Driver to Be Moved Mid-Season

Nigel Cook/News-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Andres Pérez de Lara is on the move for the remainder of the 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season, as the latest mid-season NASCAR National Series driver change was announced on Monday morning.

The 20-year-old driver, who turned the Xfinity Fastest Lap in last Friday's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Mission 147 at The Glen, was granted permission by Spire Motorsports to explore other opportunities for the final eight races of the NASCAR Truck Series season and beyond.

"Andres has made meaningful progress this season, and we remain confident in his future,” said Spire Motorsports President Bill Anthony in a press release. “While we haven’t finalized our 2026 plans for the No. 77 team, we wanted to give him the opportunity to look ahead and pursue other options for the remainder of this year and beyond.

"He’s a hard worker, carries himself with humility, and brings a consistently positive attitude to the garage. He comes from a great family, and we fully expect him to continue making strides as part of Chevrolet’s driver development program. We’re proud to have been part of his journey and will continue cheering him on.”

Spire Motorsports will pare down its four-truck NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series organization down to three trucks for the remainder of the season, and Corey LaJoie will pilot the No. 77 Chevrolet Silverado for the team beginning at Richmond Raceway.

The No. 77 truck will receive the owner points from the Spire Motorsports No. 07 truck, which will no longer compete this season.

Moments after the announcement from Spire Motorsports, Niece Motorsports, which parted ways with Kaden Honeycutt a week ago, announced the acquisition of Pérez de Lara as the driver of its No. 44 Chevrolet Silverado for the remainder of the 2025 season.

While Niece Motorsports isn't elated that the acquisition of the talented young racer came due to another team shaving one of its trucks from its stable, the team feels Pérez de Lara can bring a lot to the table as the team continues building for its future in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

"We are preparing for a bright future ahead of us at Niece Motorsports," said Cody Efaw, CEO of the organization. "Adding Andrés to our talent arsenal is an enticing addition as we look to finish out the year strong. While it is difficult to hear of another team scaling back their program, we saw this as an opportunity for our team to grow our footprint in the Truck Series. We have more exciting news coming out in the near future, and I look forward to seeing our team unload four fast Chevrolet Silverados in Richmond."

Pérez de Lara knows there will be difficulties transitioning to a new team mid-season, but is ready for the challenge, and is excited to see what he can do with Niece Motorsports.

"Overall, I'm really excited about the upcoming races with Niece Motorsports," said Pérez de Lara. "Making a change mid-season always has its challenges, but the team and I are working hard to be 100% by the time Richmond comes. I'm really focusing on having a good race there and feel very motivated with how the team has treated me. I feel the team is also motivated with having me there as well."

Pérez de Lara's sponsorship partners, Telcel, Claro, and Infinitum, will move along with the driver to Niece Motorsports to fill the primary sponsorship of the No. 44 truck for the remainder of the season.

Wally Rogers will remain the crew chief of the No. 44 team with Pérez de Lara joining the organization.

Outside of the No. 44 truck, Niece Motorsports will shuffle the deck in its crew chief lineup heading into this weekend's event at Richmond Raceway. Landon Polinski, who has served as a race engineer, will now serve as the crew chief for Matt Mills and the No. 42 Niece Motorsports team.

Mike Shiplett will serve as the head of the No. 41 part-time Niece Motorsports truck, which will make its first start of the 2025 season at Richmond.

The mid-season change, which led to Pérez de Lara swapping from Spire Motorsports to Niece Motorsports comes on the heels of Josh Williams being released from his NASCAR Xfinity Series contract at Kaulig Racing a couple of weeks ago, and the announcement that Kaden Honeycutt would be released from Niece Motorsports as the driver of the No. 45 Chevrolet a week ago.