SPIRE Academy, a premier multisport boarding school and elite athlete training institution in Geneva, Ohio, today announced it will serve as the primary sponsor for AJ Allmendinger and Kaulig Racing’s No. 16 car in the May 31 NASCAR Cup Series race at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tennessee.
The sponsorship builds directly on SPIRE Academy’s landmark $6 million, five-year partnership with Vensure Employer Solutions, a global leader in HR technology and workforce solutions, announced in February and one of the largest in youth sports history. Together, these moves reflect a deliberate strategy: extend SPIRE Academy’s reach beyond its campus and into national conversations about high performance, workforce development, and the future of youth sports. The Nashville race is the partnership’s most visible national activation to date, putting both brands in front of a Cup Series audience on a prime-time broadcast.
“This is a national moment for SPIRE Academy, and it’s one our team, student-athletes, families, and alumni can genuinely own,” said Steve Sanders, CEO of SPIRE Academy. “Putting our name on the No. 16 car in Nashville, alongside a partner like Vensure, is exactly the kind of stage we’ve been building toward. We welcome athletes from around the world to Geneva, and we’re proud that a moment like this carries Northeast Ohio with it. Matt Kaulig and Kaulig Racing are the perfect partners for that story.”
Matt Kaulig is an award-winning entrepreneur, business owner, and philanthropist from Northeast Ohio. He quarterbacked the University of Akron Zips football team in the 1990s before founding Leaf Home, a contractor business he started out of his home in 2005, which is now one of the largest direct-to-consumer home products companies in the United States and Canada.
Today, he is the executive chairman of Kaulig Companies Limited, his single-member family office, known for offering a diverse spectrum of businesses, which includes sports and entertainment, marketing and events, private equity, real estate, and philanthropy, with a focus on children and families. His sports venture includes Kaulig Racing, a multi-car NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team, and he is minority owner of the Cleveland Guardians baseball team along with sponsoring and running The Kaulig Companies Championship, a PGA Champions Tour Major at Firestone CC in Akron, Ohio.
“Being from Northeast Ohio, it’s great to see SPIRE Academy showing the world that the highest level of youth sports performance is right here,” said Kaulig. “What they’re building is real, and it matches how we race, with high standards, high performance, and no shortcuts. We’re proud to put them on the No. 16 car in Nashville and help tell that story on a national stage.”
Kaulig’s longtime driver, Allmendinger, shares the enthusiasm. “I think NASCAR fans and all sports fans are going to hear more about SPIRE Academy in the future,” said Allmendinger. “The best young athletes in America and across the world are going to see it as a place to improve their skills and get ready for high-performance competition. I hope this sponsorship in NASCAR increases awareness and gives all these students and supporters something to cheer about.”
“We don’t think about sponsorships as logo placement — we think about them as long-term commitments to people,” said Phil Urso, Chief Sales Officer of Vensure Employer Solutions. “SPIRE Academy is building the next generation of high performers, not just in sports, but in life and work. NASCAR gives us a national platform to tell that story, because high performance, preparation, and accountability matter whether you’re competing on the track, in the classroom, or in the workforce. That alignment is why this partnership works.”
“I’ve always believed that the right partners don’t just share your logo. They share your standards. Vensure understood that from day one, and so does Kaulig Racing,” said Amy Liles, Head of Partnerships at SPIRE Academy. “Having Crimson Education, Nuclear Printing, and Ironhorse on the No. 16 alongside us in Nashville is a reflection of what we’re building here: a group of organizations that see the same future for athlete development and want to be part of it.”
The Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway runs Sunday, May 31, 2026, in Lebanon, Tennessee. For more information about SPIRE Academy, visit spireacademy.com. For details on Vensure Employer Solutions, visit vensure.com.
— Kaulig Racing —