Corey LaJoie had a week to grapple with the news of his release from Spire Motorsports at the end of this season, and he’s at peace with the situation.
LaJoie got ahead of any team announcement when he issued a statement to the media on Thursday, July 25 confirming that he will not drive the No. 7 Chevrolet next season. It was three days after the race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and before the first off-weekend of the season. NASCAR Cup Series teams were getting ready for a two-week break for the Olympics, which LaJoie, who has now spoken further on the situation for the first time on his Stacking Pennies podcast, said he was also looking forward to with his family.
“I got fired on Wednesday,” LaJoie said. “They didn’t really give me a whole lot of reasons, but I don’t want to get too much into it because then we were able to unplug, take the RV on a trip Friday to Monday and I had some realizations. I’ve never found myself in this position with the sweat equity that went into the team and all the things to get to this point, but everywhere that I’ve been has always been one-year deals. So, this position I find myself in currently isn’t uncomfortable. It’s not someplace I’ve never been before.”
LaJoie said that the decision didn’t catch him off guard because he understands that when the performance doesn’t match the team’s expectations, “you will get shuffled out.” LaJoie has driven for Spire Motorsports since 2021 and has six top-10 finishes, including one earlier this year. He is 28th in the championship standings.
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“You got through all the emotions: mad, sad,” LaJoie continued. “It’s natural human tendency to go into the victim ‘woe-is-me’ mindset, but I think where I’m at currently, a week removed, is that I’m super appreciative. I’m super appreciative of Jeff [Dickerson] and TJ [Puchyr] from Spire for giving me the opportunity, for believing in me from the jump when we were trying to whiteboard this thing, and what we’ve grown it to has been pretty cool. I do hate that we weren’t able to see it through and weren’t able to adjust our No.7 team and turn the right knobs to get the performance where we needed to. And also, I’ve made too many mistakes behind the wheel this year; there’s several that took us out of contention for some good results. But it’s onward and upward.
“It’s never been easy. My entire NASCAR career has not (gone) how I thought it was going to go. So why would I expect anything different? Every single plan that I thought I was going to make it went differently, and the thing that I’ve been kind of clinging onto the last week or so it’s just that Proverbs 16:9. It’s been pinned to my X profile for almost 10 years now.”
Spire Motorsports continues to make moves to take additional steps forward in the Cup Series. Michael McDowell is joining the organization next season in its third car, and Rodney Childers will be the crew chief of the No. 7. The announcement of the Childers signing was on July 9, and LaJoie was mentioned in the news release as the driver. On the podcast, LaJoie said he was excited for a change of scenery in working with Childers.
“I don’t know what the next step is,” LaJoie said. “It’s been a unique situation with all the variables that are in play, but nonetheless, I’m at peace with it. I’m excited about what the next chapter holds, and I’m pretty motivated to still be the first driver who puts a win banner on the wall at Spire – a real one. They have a trophy, but that wasn’t really a real team back in the day (when Justin Haley won a rain-shortened race at Daytona in 2019).
“So, [it’s] a real team now; still want to be the first one to put a trophy in the trophy case on the Cup side there and continue to finish this thing strong the last 14 races.”
LaJoie said he has no regrets about his time with Spire Motorsports.
“I can lay my head down at night knowing I did everything I possibly could to build Spire with the things that I had,” he said. “Could I have been more assertive in certain meetings and around certain people? Probably so. Could I have made less mistakes behind the wheel in a couple different instances and get us some better finishes on occasion? Sure. But that’s just how it goes and there’s no sense of really getting hung up on it.
“I’m excited to get the opportunity to finish the year with my guys on the No.7 and give ourselves a chance to win a race. There’s nothing I’d love more than to be able to get a win for those guys for the amount that they’ve poured into me, believed in me and also those guys have risked everything financially to get their team to that spot. So, I don’t fault them for making changes they feel like is the best for their business going forward, and I wish them the very best, I really do.
“I’ll be fine. I’ve got some investments going, I’ve got some money in the bank, and if I’ve got to coach T-Ball, I’ll coach T-Ball. If I’ve got to race on Sundays and keep making a living for me and my family and keep showing up with people who have my back and want to go into battle with me each and every week, then that’s what I’m going to do.”