By Alex Nieten
CONCORD, NC (December 18, 2025) – An important phone call for Spencer Bayston followed the 2025 Knoxville Nationals.
Uncertainty loomed as he’d parted ways with Jason Meyers Racing. The two linked at the end of 2024 with plans of a full year together, but the partnership didn’t go as they’d hoped. Struggles led to an eventual separation.
Without a ride in mid-August with plenty of big events still ahead is an unnerving position for any Sprint Car driver, especially one accustomed to touring nationally in top-tier cars.
But Bayston didn’t want to jump into any open seat. He needed the right opportunity. The chance to prove himself and rebuild confidence. One of the best crew chiefs in the sport opted to give him that shot.
“Fortunately, my phone rang pretty quick,” Bayston recalled. “(Paul) Silva called me. I think it was Sunday or Monday after (Knoxville) Nationals. With Gold Cup obviously being the following week, I needed to get that put together pretty quick. I lined that up with a conversation or two with Kevin (Kozlowski) and Paul and got my flights booked.”
The result was a revitalizing roll along the west coast. Bayston jumped in Kozlowski’s Works Limited Sprint Car for a six-race stretch with Silva on the wrenches. The tone was set with a runner-up at Thunderbowl Raceway. He only missed the top five twice over the run.
Then came a reunion with Tarlton Motorsports. Bayston drove for the team in 2020 and climbed back aboard for the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series swing through California. The Lebanon, IN native closed out the few races by nearly winning $83,000 at the Dennis Roth Classic, finishing second just inches behind David Gravel.
“It was crucial for me,” Bayston admitted of the time out west. “I don’t know if I ever, throughout the season, doubted my ability, but maybe there were some questions there. ‘Am I the reason? Is it something I’m doing?’ Obviously, having a teammate (Corey Day) that was able to compete and go out and win races, and then look at our program and see that we’re struggling caused a little bit of questioning there, probably on everyone’s mind. But then, immediately going out quick time and running top five almost every night we were at a racetrack, it quickly took that doubt out of everyone’s head, my head included. I was like I’m still capable. I just need to utilize the right tools and be with the right people.”
Shortly after California, 2026 plans began to materialize. Stenhouse Jr./Marshall Racing (SJMR), co-owned by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Richard and Jennifer Marshall, was on the hunt for a new driver. Sheldon Haudenschild and SJMR would be going different directions at the conclusion of their eighth season together.
The team’s list of candidates included Bayston, and they began to have conversations around the time he was on the “left coast.” Stenhouse Jr. scouted Bayston’s drives in the “Golden State,” and he didn’t disappoint.
“Any time when you start talking to people about driving your car and your equipment, if it’s something that they’re looking forward to doing, like in Spencer’s case, I feel like he probably had a decent amount of pressure on him to go out and perform, to show what he could do,” Stenhouse Jr. said. “I felt like as soon as we talked to him, he goes out there and steps up to the plate and knocks it out of the park. I thought that under pressure and under those circumstances, he did a really good job.”
But the recruitment talks were far from the first time Bayston and Stenhouse Jr. had chatted. Their connection dates back a decade to when the two were teammates in Bryan Clauson’s Midget stable for the 2015 Chili Bowl Nationals. It was Bayston’s debut in the prestigious event, and Stenhouse Jr. watched him lock in to the Championship Feature on his first try. The then 16-year-old Bayston impressed Stenhouse Jr. long before he’d ever considered having him drive his Sprint Car.
“We go way back, being teammates,” Stenhouse Jr. said. “My initial thoughts of Spencer when I first was around him, obviously I was already racing Cup back then, were just the respect he had for everybody that had hands on the race car and the team and his whole family. You could tell he was raised that way just based off his parents and sister and everybody that was around. I had a lot of respect for him and what he was able to do, and he was fast right off the bat, always ready to gas it up and get the job done.”
Ultimately, the team selected Bayston for a 2026 campaign with The Greatest Show on Dirt aboard the NOS Energy Drink No. 17, a new beginning he couldn’t be more appreciative of Stenhouse Jr. and the Marshalls providing.
“It’s very special for myself and my family,” Bayston said of his new home. “To align with Richard and Jennifer Marshall, people that have put so much into the sport of Sprint Car racing, is special. I worked with them when I was younger. They sponsored the team that I raced for in my Midget days. To get realigned with them now and continue that relationship is really special. Obviously, I think very highly of both of them and all they’ve accomplished in their world but also giving back to the sport of Sprint Cars.
“Then, obviously, with Ricky (Stenhouse Jr.) being involved with the program as well, a former Chili Bowl teammate of mine. I’ve known him for 10 years now. Obviously, he’s gone on to have success in NASCAR but still be involved in what he came from. The dynamic within the team is a really, really healthy workspace.”
On the ownership side, 2026 may signal the start of a new chapter for SJMR with Bayston coming aboard, but it’s also a milestone of longevity for Stenhouse Jr. It’ll mark the NASCAR Cup Series competitor’s 10th consecutive season of fielding a Sprint Car at the sport’s highest level. It’s a commitment that remains important to the 38-year-old who hasn’t forgotten his own path in motorsports.
“I didn’t think it had been that long. That’s wild,” Stenhouse Jr. said with a laugh. “Obviously, I raced for Tony (Stewart). I bugged him forever to let me race for him, and he finally let me race his USAC car. I always wanted to run his Outlaw car because I felt like I wanted to be a World of Outlaws driver. I grew up racing winged cars. That’s what I wanted to do for a living. Then things start all of a sudden opening up, and his USAC car became available. At the end of that season, all of a sudden, I’m signing with Roush Fenway Racing to go stock car racing. I’m racing the Nationwide series, and we’re winning championships. Then, I get to Cup in 2013, and I think it was always if I made it to Cup and I was in the right spot, I want to give back to the sport because if it wasn’t for Tony giving me that USAC ride, I don’t know if I would’ve ever made it to this point.”
November’s World Finals allowed Bayston and the SJMR crew to get acquainted. They fielded a second entry for Bayston to wheel around The Dirt Track at Charlotte and begin working with new crew chief Kyle Pruitt. They found speed out of the gate, finishing the three nights of racing with a pair of top fives against one of the toughest rosters of the year.
“It was very important for us to get Spencer in the car with Kyle working together going into the off-season to see what we have together and what we need to fix,” Stenhouse Jr. said. “That can go one way or the other. You could go to Charlotte against a really stout field and struggle, and then you’re kind of bummed the whole off-season. Or it can go really well. Spencer was very comfortable in the car. The speed was there with it.”
“It just felt good to unload with natural speed,” Bayston said. “I think it’s a testament to Kyle’s ability to jump into a new program with different cars than he’s worked with in the past and rebuild and reshape in a short period of time, and be able to immediately unload a car that has great speed and handling, getting myself comfortable almost right away. I think it has everyone excited.”
With the 2025 season in the books, all eyes are ahead for Bayston, Stenhouse Jr., and the entire organization. Along with Bayston in the seat and Pruitt turning the wrenches, they’ve also hired Joseph Sease as the car chief and Ace Pruitt, Kyle’s son, as the tire specialist to complete the crew on the road.
Bayston made the most of the second half of this year, and he’s ready to capitalize on a fresh start in 2026.
“I know from spending time with my guys they’re eager and chomping at the bit to get these cars put together, get the trailer all stocked up, and hit the road,” Bayston said.
Bayston and Stenhouse Jr./Marshall Racing begin the 2026 World of Outlaws campaign at Volusia Speedway Park’s Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals on Feb. 4-7 in Barberville, FL. For tickets, CLICK HERE.
For the complete 2026 schedule, CLICK HERE.
If you can’t make it to the track, catch every lap live on DIRTVision.