Corey LaJoie was hoping to overturn his misfortunes of 2024 after a swap deal with Rick Ware Racing from Spire Motorsports mid-season. Unfortunately, he’s just found himself in more trouble driving the #51 Ford Mustang at Charlotte Roval. And for the first time in 5 years, he’s blown up an engine of the race car.

It feels like Corey LaJoie might pull off a wild car win every week. Some brave fans even placed a bold bet, claiming that he would win the Roval race. After running into a streak of DNFs and crashes, an engine failure added to the misery of the 33-year-old river. Forcing him to retire after running a few laps in stage 1.

Unable to comprehend what went wrong with his race car, LaJoie said this via the team radio, “I don’t know. I haven’t blown up in 5 years, so I don’t know what it sounds like.” And just like that, after 5 laps, the #51 Ford crawled into the garage, leading to more questions surrounding LaJoie’s future in the Cup Series next year.

Technically, the former Spire Motorsports driver is auditioning to stay afloat at the Cup level. And with the limited races on his hands, a DNF certainly doesn’t do him any good. While the driver was left scratching over the bad luck he’s had, the fans trolled him online on social media. Almost celebrated knowing that their favorite playoff driver would be safe now from a potential crash sparked by LaJoie.

Corey LaJoie’s misery cheered on by the race fans

LaJoie played a big part in spoiling the playoffs at Watkins Glen. On the very first lap, he missed his markers and banged into Kyle Busch, which resulted in a big pile-up. This wreck proved costly for Ryan Blaney, as he was deemed out of race by NASCAR. Whereas Denny Hamlin was the other playoff driver involved in the crash. This is why today’s event of LaJoie taking an early exit was seen as a sign of relief for this fan. “And the field breathes a sigh of relief.”

Not to forget Corey LaJoie was the instigator for causing mayhem in the Coke Zero 400 race at Daytona International Speedway. His error saw a total of 17 race cars get involved in a big one, which included divers like Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott. They were competing for the regular season championship. Now that LaJoie is out of the race, the fans are feeling secure about their favorite driver’s chances. “Everyone is now much safer. Very nice of him to let everyone have a peaceful race.”

Even Kyle Busch wasn’t immune to Corey LaJoie’s history of causing wreckage and mayhem on the racetrack. At Michigan International Speedway, LaJoie intentionally took out the RCR driver. His reaction after the race was even worse, as he dusted off his hands, stating he didn’t do anything wrong. LaJoie won’t be able to spoil the day at the Roval, at least with his engine trouble, and this was welcoming news for this race fan. “Corey LaJoie doesn’t get a chance to be a menace today?”

With three DNFs already this season and an average finish place of 22.163, the RWR driver hasn’t helped his cause with the crashes and wrecks. His theatrics would often lead to multiple cautions, thus breaking the momentum of the race. But, knowing that he won’t be able to influence the outcome of the race, another user on X added, “welp, were definitrly not getting cautions today.”

While it is indeed hard to predict the fate of the drivers before the race, this particular fan was anticipating that LaJoie would run into some sort of trouble. In fact, ever since he made the switch to RWR, his performance has taken a massive hit. “Scheduled tweet.”

Do you think Corey LaJoie deserves a spot at the Cup Level? If yes, is Rick Ware Racing the best place for him to continue his racing journey?