Newsworthy updates are flooding in from the Spire Motorsports fold. Corey LaJoie cracked the headlines last weekend for throwing a wrench in a falling veteran driver’s efforts. He emerged without a scratch of a penalty, spurring a debate. Then recently, LaJoie’s team announced a significant shuffle, but Dale Earnhardt Jr. looks doubtful if that would help things.

Throughout his seven-year Cup Series stint, LaJoie has never scraped Victory Lane. And his team is not known for its stellar garage as well.

Less than a year ago, Dale Earnhardt Jr. made a bold prediction for the Spire Motorsports team. Corey LaJoie arguably staged his best performance last season, clinching two top-fives and three top-tens. Achieving an average finishing position of 20.9, LaJoie seemed slated for great heights. So Dale Jr. predicted that the No. 7 Chevrolet driver would crack the playoffs the following season.

However, the 2024 playoffs are just around the corner, and LaJoie has yet to make a mark. After a top-five finish in Daytona, it has been a downward trend for the Spire driver, achieving only six top-20 finishes so far.

Junior admitted to his faulty prediction on the July 17th episode of the Dale Jr. Download, as he spoke to Andrews and Dalton. He said as they decided to give Corey LaJoie, a pass, “I thought he was going to have some fortune and get a win at Atlanta or somewhere like that. But man, he’s just not performed as well as I think he has in years past…Their performance just tailed off a little bit on the seven.”

But the Spire team is trying to improve things on a war footing. They recently roped in Rodney Childers as the No. 7 crew chief. Childers is a 40-time NASCAR Cup Series race-winning crew chief, having guided Kevin Harvick to the 2014 championship as well. Given that Spire and LaJoie struck gold in their crew shuffle, people are expecting an overhaul next year. The discussion on the podcast ended with a bold prediction of their own – LaJoie would make it into the 2025 playoffs.

But now doubt has crept into Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s mind, as he scoffed at this statement. Without bringing up LaJoie’s faltering performance, he talked about Spire’s backdated machinery, which would be a huge thorn in their ambitions. “I want to give Spire all the credit in the world; they’re doing some great things. But damn, I’m so amazed at how short our freaking memories are…This team, just a couple of years ago were racing on old tires…They’re budgeting for an average finish of 28th every year…They were bartering and trading, fiddling and whittling the deals to make charters exist and be able to go to the racetrack,” Junior said as he produced a more realistic expectation for Corey LaJoie, “I think 20th in points is the goal…and the best Spire car.”

Indeed, even the latter goal seems like a tall order for LaJoie at this point. His teammate is Carson Hocevar, who makes up for his lack of age with his speed and aggression. But given the correct mindset, LaJoie can wade through that difficulty.

A tough mental battle for Corey LaJoie, as Dale Jr stated

Truth be told, Corey LaJoie does not bunk with the best in the NASCAR Cup garage. Over seven long years of Cup racing, LaJoie’s achievement chart is a bit of a parched desert: no wins, four top-fives, and ten top-tens. Yet he commands huge respect in the racing community. He offers crips analyses of races on his podcast, ‘Stacking Pennies’.

Even then, his authority seems to be dwindling by the day since Carson Hocevar joined the Spire fold. The No. 77 Cup rookie driver has already notched three top-ten finishes and a reputation for wild driving on the track.

But Dale Earnhardt Jr. emphasizes that Corey LaJoie just needs to harbor the right mindset to achieve along with his teammate. “Corey can look at Hocevar and go, ‘Oh man, this sucks! So much pressure.’ Or he can go, ‘They’re pushing us. That’s good. I need that kick in the ass.'” He mentioned the need to be proactive. “You have to feel like you’re going to figure this out. Yes, you could wait until Rodney gets here, but you need to start showing some glimpses like what we’re seeing out of Hocevar.”

Even Rodney Childers, the current winningest crew chief in the NASCAR garage, expressed confidence in the No. 7 prospects when he said, “There’s going to be steps. There are going to be hard days. There are going to be good days. There’s going to be good tracks. There are going to be bad tracks. It’s not going to be a miracle. But we’re going to chip away at it every single week.”

Hopefully, Corey LaJoie will be able to live up to Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s expectations. Time can only tell where the Spire Motorsports fold will turn its head.