Corey LaJoie could’ve had the breakthrough season he was looking for next with the arrival of Rodney Childers at Spire Motorsports. However, that dream project wouldn’t pan out for the driver, as Spire has announced that LaJoie is set to vacate the No. 7 seat at the end of the 2024 season.

This was the first time LaJoie found himself working with a passionate group focused on progressing at the Cup level. Although Spire Motorsports is a relatively new team starting to compete in 2019, their ambitions are big, a reason why they are looking to bolster their #7 team with the best resources, and LaJoie didn’t fit into that puzzle.

Despite being axed by his team, Corey LaJoie was thankful to his team owners for trusting him to progress the team’s program. In fact, he expressed regret for not living up to expectations during his time on the team, which spanned over four years.

Bitter-sweet feeling for Corey LaJoie as he exits Spire

Despite being touted as one of the upcoming drivers of his generation, LaJoie never burst onto the Cup Series scene. It wasn’t because of a lack of talent, but opportunities. Even the ones he got were mere single-year gigs with teams like BK Racing, Tri Star Motorsports, and Go Fas Racing.

Therefore, he isn’t losing sleep knowing that he is without a seat for next year. “Everywhere that I’ve been has always been one-year deals, so this position that I find myself in currently isn’t uncomfortable,” LaJoie said on Stacking Pennies. But he definitely feels that he could have done more than just add four top fives and six top tens to his 129 starts in the No. 7 Chevy.

“I do hate that we weren’t able to see it through; we weren’t able to kind of adjust the [No.] 7 team and kind of turn the right knobs to get performance where we needed it. Also, I made too many mistakes behind the wheel this year. There were several that took us out of contention for some good results.”

The mission for the California native for the rest of the 14 races is to give Spire Motorsports its first winning banner in the race shop. In doing so, he might feel he has made amends for those missed opportunities over the past four years. “I’m pretty motivated to still be the first one that puts a win banner on the wall at Spire and a trophy in the trophy case on the Cup side there and continue to finish this thing strong the last 14 races,” LaJoie concluded.

However, there is still uncertainty regarding his future in the Cup Series. The good thing is that he is allowed to talk to other teams and outfits.

Is Corey LaJoie returning to Cup racing in 2025?

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The 2024 silly season has seen multiple changes in teams as drivers are looking to make the switch. Moreover, the additional four charters have certainly spiced things up, leading to more speculation and rumors linking drivers to their next potential teams. Although LaJoie’s chances of competing in the Cup Series next season look bleak at the moment, the likes of Rick Ware Racing or Kaulig Racing might save his sinking ship.

The No. 16 Kualig Racing ride, which runs a full schedule, is currently shared by multiple drivers. A.J. Allmendinger, Josh Williams, Shane van Gisbergen, Derek Kraus and Ty Dillon. If they decide to develop this team with a single driver, LaJoie could be considered a prospect. But again, he will have to compete against SVG as Kaulig and Trackhouse have an alliance. Moreover, bringing the Kiwi speedster onboard ensures a road course win. So it will be a tough ask for the owner to consider LaJoie over him.

Justin Haley, driving the No. 51 for RWR, hasn’t worked wonders this season. In 21 starts, he has only managed two top-10 finishes. Now in a scenario, if LaJoie does register his first win and Haley continues this mediocre run, the team wouldn’t mind replacing the driver. A lot of things will have to fall into place for the California native to secure a Cup ride in 2025. But nothing can be said for certain, given how unpredictable and full of surprises this silly season has been so far.