One Cup Series star’s fate is among the sad news pieces accumulated in 2024. As the year draws to an end, Corey LaJoie’s future hangs in a balance. 2025 is already at our doorstep and the NASCAR veteran has yet to sign up for a new ride. His four-year-old stint with Spire Motorsports screeched to an end following a series of mishaps and conflicts. As we are on this topic, let us delve into LaJoie’s background.

Who is Corey LaJoie?

The name LaJoie has been famous in motorsports since the last quarter of the 20th century. Don LaJoie, is a member of the New England Auto Racing Hall of Fame. His son Randy LaJoie was a prolific racer, being a two-time champion in the NASCAR Busch Series, or Xfinity in modern parlance. He won the series title in 1996 and 1997 – being one of five to win consecutive championships. So growing up under the guidance of his grandfather (Don) and father (Randy) fueled Corey LaJoie’s racing interests. The 34-year-old was born in Concord, North Carolina, right in the heart of NASCAR’s racing country. He started his racing career in 1996, competing in kart racing events.

From karting to the Cup Series: Corey LaJoie’s racing stint

Corey LaJoie’s career began on humble racetracks, yet he managed to display his winning spark early. He won 19 times on both dirt and asphalt tracks. In 2003, LaJoie moved to the INEX Bandolero series, clinching 12 wins as well as the Summer Shootout championship. Several more victories followed with LaJoie driving Legends cars and Late Models. LaJoie subsequently recorded 3 wins and 4 top-tens in the ARCA Menards Series, as well as 6 wins in the ARCA Menards Series East.

All these paved the path for his Cup Series debut in 2014, which was marred by bad luck – he crashed three times in five race starts. After a short break of two years, Corey LaJoie returned to NASCAR in 2016. His tenure under BK Racing in 2017 witnessed a controversial wreck in Daytona. He spun out Reed Sorensen and that led to Paul Menards’ crash as well. Subsequently, he ran for several teams like TriStar Motorsports and Go Fas Racing with little success until his Spire Motorsports joining in 2021.

Besides his career on the racetrack, Corey LaJoie also actively covers the sport on the microphone. Earlier, he was a host of Motor Racing Network’s Sunday Money podcast alongside Daryl Motte and MRN’s Lauren Fox. They touched upon racing as well as current events. In 2021, he launched his podcast Stacking Pennies on NASCAR.com. It is a highly popular show that NASCAR fans tune into.

Why did Spire Motorsports oust Corey LaJoie from the team?

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When Corey LaJoie came to Spire Motorsports in 2021, the team was a fledgling entity in NASCAR. Although he never won, he helped establish the team through four years. He clinched four top-fives and 6 top-tens across this span. LaJoie’s career-best finish of 4th came thrice at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway and Daytona International Speedway. However, while Spire grew its wings, LaJoie never found his. The team’s efforts included getting three full-time teams by acquiring two charters. Then it bought Kyle Busch Motorsports’ Truck Series team and its building, signed Michael McDowell and championship-winning crew chief Rodney Childers.

Amidst this progress, Corey LaJoie was not performing well. During the 2024 season, he clinched 3 top-tens and 1 top-five. In contrast, his teammate and rookie driver Carson Hocevar fetched 7 top-tens and 1 top-five. This disparity in performance severely axed LaJoie’s future prospects. Then he harbored disrespect among his peers. In 2023, Ryan Preece unloaded colorful words at him after LaJoie got into him in Pocono. Denny Hamlin said in August 2024, “Corey LaJoie’s just outta control, man. He is his own worst enemy.” The same month, Spire and LaJoie announced they would be parting ways. He even swapped his spot at Spire mid-season with Justin Haley from Rick Ware Racing.

Is there a glimpse of hope for Corey LaJoie’s Cup Series return? 

Well, Corey LaJoie wheeling the RWR No. 51 Ford did open up a possibility. Justin Haley has already been confirmed to be LaJoie’s replacement driver for the No. 7 Chevrolet at Spire Motorsports. Although no confirmation has come as of yet, LaJoie’s possible induction into RWR may benefit the team. The driver already has experience in helping small teams grow. Rick Ware Racing is currently in a growth phase, investing additional resources, entering into a technical alliance with RFK Racing, and hiring several behind-the-scenes personnel.

However, Corey LaJoie is still in talks about his 2025 predicament. On his first outing in the RWR car, LaJoie logged a 15th-place finish at Kansas Speedway. Besides another 14th-place finish at Las Vegas, the rest of his starts were gloomy. The No. 51 team incurred repeated penalties during the pre-race inspection process. These inspection failures are blotches on LaJoie’s resume – that may lead to loss of sponsorships. Overall, LaJoie logged 5 DNFs this year and also pulled a controversial stunt against Kyle Busch in Pocono.

Hence, Corey LaJoie’s future looks bleak as of now. Let us see if developments appear to retain him in NASCAR or oust him once and for all.