Peter J. Sospenzo (born December 23, 1956) is an American professionalstock car racing driver and crew chief who works forSpire Motorsports on theirNext Gen car implementation. He previously competed in theNASCAR Busch Grand National Series as a driver.

A formerNASCAR Busch Series andARCA Permatex SuperCar Series driver, Sospenzo began working as a crew chief in 1994 withRich Bickle. From 1994 to 1997, he worked withPhil Parsons,Joe Ruttman,Lake Speed,Loy Allen Jr.,Mike Wallace, andGary Bradberry.^[1] He later joinedPenske-Kranefuss Racing, taking over asJeremy Mayfield's crew chief during the 1999 season afterPaul Andrews was fired.^[2] In 2000, Sospenzo and Mayfield won two races, though the former was also subject to penalties during the year for various infractions. In May, he was fined following Mayfield's win atCalifornia Speedway for a roof height violation, followed by a four-race suspension for using illegal fuel additives during theTalladega Superspeedway race in April.^[3][4]

He joinedHendrick Motorsports' No. 25, driven byJoe Nemechek late in the 2002 season.^[5] The following year, the two won atRichmond International Speedway; Nemechek rebounded from a pit miscommunication that dropped him to 25th by taking the lead late in the race and was declared the winner when the event was shortened by rain.^[6] With the Hendrick organization, Sospenzo later worked withBrian Vickers andTerry Labonte.^[7] He reunited with Nemechek atGinn Racing in 2007,^[8] but was released when the team merged withDale Earnhardt, Inc. in July.^[9]

After Ginn, Sospenzo joinedMichael Waltrip Racing andMichael McDowell's No. 00 car,^[10] which was followed by leadingKevin Conway andDavid Gilliland atFront Row Motorsports.^[11][1] In 2014, he becameDave Blaney's crew chief atRandy Humphrey Racing.^[12] A stint atTeam Xtreme Racing in 2015 saw his final race as a Cup crew chief—the2015 Daytona 500 withReed Sorenson—until 2018.^[1][13]

In 2018, Sospenzo joinedPremium Motorsports; in addition to overseeing the team's No. 7, he ledStefan Parsons'NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut with the team atBristol Motor Speedway.^[14][1] The following year, he became the crew chief ofSpire Motorsports' No. 77. In July, he won the rain-shortenedCoke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona with driverJustin Haley. In addition to being Haley and Spire's first Cup victories, it was Sospenzo's first since the coincidentally also-rain-shortened 2003 Richmond victory with Nemechek.^[15]

In 2021, Sospenzo was replaced by Kevin Bellicourt as the crew chief of the Spire Motorsports No. 77 car, and he became the crew chief forRick Ware Racing's No. 52 car driven byJosh Bilicki. After the first ten races of the season, Sospenzo left RWR to return to Spire where he was tasked with helping the team prepare their Next Gen cars for 2022. He also served as the interim crew chief for the No. 77 at Sonoma and again at Bristol in September when Bellicourt was suspended.

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time.Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time.Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

• Peter Sospenzo driver statistics at Racing-Reference
• Peter Sospenzo crew chief statistics at Racing-Reference

• 1956 births
• NASCAR drivers
• NASCAR crew chiefs
• ARCA Menards Series drivers
• Living people
• Sportspeople from Brooklyn
• Racing drivers from New York City
• Dale Earnhardt Inc. drivers

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Short description is different from Wikidata