Tag: Corey LaJoie

LaJoie appreciative but unfulfilled after Hendrick drive at WWTR

Corey LaJoie appreciated the opportunity to drive for Hendrick Motorsports at World Wide Technology Raceway on Sunday but said he was left unfulfilled by his performance. “It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and experience here this …

Corey LaJoie appreciated the opportunity to drive for Hendrick Motorsports at World Wide Technology Raceway on Sunday but said he was left unfulfilled by his performance.

“It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and experience here this week, just obviously disappointed in the overall result,” LaJoie said Tuesday while co-hosting on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “But (I’m) not disappointed by my effort and the all the things wrapped up in it. Obviously, the sentimental value was high, but at the end of the day, the expectations were higher leading into the event than what we executed.”

A seven-year Cup Series veteran, LaJoie substituted for the suspended Chase Elliott in the No. 9 Chevrolet. It was the first time LaJoie had driven something other than a Spire Motorsports car in the series in over two years. But LaJoie overdrove the car in practice and then hit the wall in qualifying to roll off the starting grid 30th. He finished 21st in Sunday’s race – the highest he reached all afternoon in the running order – and averaged a 27th-place running position.

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“We missed it a little bit,” LaJoie said. “I missed it a little bit; just couldn’t quite get settled into that NAPA Chevy. It was just different. Your switches are in a different spot. Your sightlines are a bit different and the car reacts differently.

“I don’t want to shy away from it. It wasn’t what the fans wanted to see. I wasn’t what I expected or what I thought I was capable of when that call came. But I’m not embarrassed by it. I’m not upset by it. I’m just disappointed.

“I didn’t leave (Hendrick Motorsports) Monday after those meetings thinking I couldn’t do it. I actually left thinking that, OK, there’s a ton of value in continuity and a ton of value in just relationships within an organization. Where over the course of a weekend that driver/crew chief communication of trying to get that balance, trying to get it perfect for the driver’s style, we just didn’t have that opportunity. So, we missed the balance a little bit.”

Without much experience at World Wide Technology Raceway, since he failed to finish the inaugural event last season, LaJoie said he, crew chief Alan Gustafson and the rest of the No. 9 group looked for a Chevrolet partner to lean on and hedged on Ross Chastain’s setup.

“We just looked at his averages and thought Ross’s style and my style are somewhat similar, and we got our stuff laying over the 1’s pretty close, and I ran 21st and he ran 22nd,” said LaJoie. “I think we just didn’t start with track position, we couldn’t really get it, we didn’t really attempt to do the two-tire strategy that a lot of guys did that some were able to maintain and some weren’t.

“It was an experience, and I thought that I was ready, and I still think and know that I am ready, and I’m also ready to accept, hey, sometimes you get kicked in the nuts, and you got to freaking up, and you get back to work, and you figure out areas what you’re weak in.”

LaJoie admitted he learned a lot about himself through the experience. And he was also appreciative of the fan support and those around him who matter, such as feedback from his peers in the garage.

After it was over, Lajoie said his Spire Motorsports crew chief, Ryan Sparks, made him feel a little better by showing how history had repeated itself. LaJoie’s 21st finishing position in Elliott’s car on Sunday was where Elliott finished last year. Furthermore, LaJoie’s regular car with Carson Hocevar at the wheel failed to finish the race, just as LaJoie had experienced last year.

“It was definitely a really cool, cool opportunity to just see how those [Hendrick] guys operate and the level of which they approach a weekend and how structured it is and how refined that process is,” LaJoie said. “It’s pretty clear why they have sustained success. It was cool to be a small part of that process this weekend.”

LaJoie relishing opportunity, lessons learned with Hendrick

Ahead of the biggest opportunity of his NASCAR Cup Series career, Corey Lajoie has been sleeping well. A bit too well, in fact. He missed the initial call from Rick Hendrick that made his dreams come true on Wednesday morning. A voicemail from a …

Ahead of the biggest opportunity of his NASCAR Cup Series career, Corey Lajoie has been sleeping well.

A bit too well, in fact. He missed the initial call from Rick Hendrick that made his dreams come true on Wednesday morning. A voicemail from a number he didn’t have saved began with Hendrick saying he was excited, appreciated the help, and knew LaJoie would do a good job.

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“I told the wife, ‘Honey, I missed the call,” LaJoie said during a Saturday media availability.

But thankfully Hendrick answered when LaJoie called him back and confirmed the news. With Chase Elliott sitting out with a suspension for an intentional crash at the Coca-Cola 600, LaJoie was given the opportunity to drive his No. 9 Chevrolet at World Wide Technology Raceway. A full 25 years after his dad, Randy LaJoie, had filled in for the injured Ricky Craven at Hendrick Motorsports, Corey’s opportunity to drive for the NASCAR juggernaut had arrived.

In the moment it felt like something from the NASCAR video games in the mid-2000s.

“In NASCAR (2004), you would start your career mode in the bottom team,” he said. “Then you’d get the call up for the next team, and the next team. And then you’d get a notification on your phone from Rick Hendrick to drive that car.

“That’s what I felt like laying in bed on Wednesday morning talking to the wife. I was like, ‘My life is a video game right now.’

“It’s just non-stop progression and failure. Just falling short time-and-time again, but (I) keep taking steps forward to the goal of getting to the position that I am (in) right now. It’s been wild.”

The son of a two-time Xfinity Series champion, LaJoie has spent most of the past seven years competing in the Cup Series. Along the way he’s made slow, steady progress, rising from times as a back marker into a consistent midfield competitor.

This season has been his best to date. LaJoie sits 19th in points after 14 races, his 19.1 average finish a full 5.2 positions better than the 24.3 average he managed in 2022. The 31-year-old finished fourth at Atlanta Motor Speedway and has eight top-20 finishes so far for Spire Motorsports – a team that’s traditionally filled the back of the grid since its arrival.

LaJoie’s improvement has been notable, catching the eye of many in the series. With the Xfinity Series racing in Portland, far from the Cup date at World Wide Technology Raceway, Hendrick needed a new option from recent super-sub Josh Berry.

The call went to LaJoie, whose No. 7 will be filled by Craftsman Truck Series regular Carson Hocevar. LaJoie found out on a call while he was at the NASCAR offices recording his podcast on Tuesday, then he received the call from Hendrick himself on Wednesday morning.

LaJoie will take over Elliott’s No. 9 for one weekend. Rusty Jarrett/Motorsport Images

Between those two calls were creeping doubts. “You’re wrestling with these emotions, scared and nervous,” he said.

But when he got to the shop on Wednesday morning, the doubt turned to confidence. Seeing how Hendrick operates gave LaJoie optimism and lessons that will extend far beyond his one-off drive in the No. 9.

“I left with much more confidence Wednesday from seeing the process and just the system that those guys have,” he said. “That you could plug in somebody with good talent, and that’s how they become great in the process, with those tools and resources. Those guys build champions for a reason, because they can extract the best.

“I’ve been here three days. My philosophy of how I approach a weekend, how I prepare, how I am going to engage with my team at Spire going forward is going to change. I think I’m going to be able to come in there and apply and share some of the things I’ve learned over the course of the week with (crew chief Ryan) Sparks, Roy (Gangdal, engineer) and the No. 77 team as well. And I think we’re all going to be stronger for it. “

LaJoie first tried to drive for Hendrick three years ago. Then a driver for Go Fas Racing, LaJoie penned Hendrick a hand-written letter expressing his interest in a top-tier ride. He delivered it in person at the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s induction night.

It didn’t help his case at the time. The vacancy he was interested in ultimately went to eventual champion Kyle Larson in 2021. But LaJoie doesn’t consider that a bad thing – he actually believes it’s for the best that the letter didn’t work out.

“I’m glad that call didn’t come a couple months after that letter, because I wouldn’t have been ready for it,” he admitted. “I wouldn’t have been ready for the opportunity. My maturation level, my skills behind the wheel. It’s taken six years of grinding and stacking pennies to feel confident enough to be able to plug into this 9 car and run it to its true potential.”

Now that he has this one-off chance, LaJoie feels ready to make the most of it.

He’ll have to return to Spire after this weekend, where the expectations will be different. LaJoie now realizes just how much Spire is lacking compared to the sport’s top teams. He texted co-owner Jeff Dickerson after visiting Hendrick’s shop Wednesday and admitted that he “can’t believe Spire and Hendrick race in the same series.”

“Like, we are closer to a good Truck team than we are to (Hendrick),” he said. “If that’s what a Cup team is, then holy cow. We’ve got a long way to go.”

But that’s a challenge for another week. This weekend, LaJoie is just happy to race with a rare opportunity in top equipment.

“It’s fun sometimes to carry that chip on your shoulder and try to be the one beating the Goliaths,” LaJoie said. “But it’s definitely a cool opportunity this week to be one of the Goliaths sitting in (a top car).”

The steady progression of Corey LaJoie and Spire Motorsports

Corey LaJoie is giving his Spire Motorsports team a passing grade early in the NASCAR Cup Series season as the focus shifts to trying to even out their performance. The No. 7 is 21st in the championship standings entering Martinsville Speedway …

Corey LaJoie is giving his Spire Motorsports team a passing grade early in the NASCAR Cup Series season as the focus shifts to trying to even out their performance.

The No. 7 is 21st in the championship standings entering Martinsville Speedway (Sunday, 3 p.m. ET, FS1). A fourth-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway is one of the team’s highlights, along with an 11th-place finish at Circuit of The Americas.

But while LaJoie has five top-20 finishes, there have also been weeks the No. 7 Chevrolet hasn’t been close. LaJoie was 26th at Phoenix Raceway and 30th last weekend on the Bristol dirt.

“I would give us a B, currently,” LaJoie said of the season. “I had a talk with Kevin Harvick for a little while this week of just how you attack a race throughout the course of a day when your car is fast. You don’t have to race like every lap your life depends on it; you don’t have to race quite as desperate. So the speed that Spire Motorsports has given me in our cars this year allows me to kind of turn the knob up and down of what my aggression and situational awareness looks like.”

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With one top-five and one top-10 finish to his credit, LaJoie has tied what he earned in a full season last year. But unlike this time a year ago, he’s in much better shape points-wise, as he was 30th in the championship standings after eight races in 2022.

LaJoie also seems to have a much more consistent race car. By contending inside the top 20, looking at a potential postseason berth is realistic this season.

“As realistic as it’s ever been, I think,” LaJoie said. “We’ve always needed to be a Hail Mary type win at a speedway to find your way into the playoffs. But I think realistically, there is nobody behind us in points – you can look at a couple of guys – but there is no more than two or three guys that run consistently better than us. I think there are a couple of people in front of us that, after we string a couple of races together, we can actually be in front of in points.

“I think at the moment, we’re a 17th to 20th-place team on overall speed and execution, so if we can keep that, then you start running top 15, then you start running top 10. But our ways of how we get in the playoffs is certainly through winning a speedway race.”

It’s hard for LaJoie to point to one thing that’s been the difference this season.

“There’s not a magic pill,” he said. “It’s just my team continues to get stronger. We’ve got a lot of great guys working a lot of long hours, trying to build our cars for the additional information that we’re getting from GM and some other partners, and applying what we learned has certainly been an advantage and upgrade. It’s easy to execute days when your cars have some general speed. So our cars have some better speed.

“I’m getting some more confidence. It’s kind of like the chicken or the egg; you’ve got to have confidence to run good, but you also have to have fast cars to gain confidence. We’re starting (to move) forward, and I’m happy with where we’re at right now; we’re going to continue to get better.”

NASCAR driver Corey LaJoie’s face is on the hood of his race car… again

Corey LaJoie should run more paint schemes of his face!

NASCAR fans love a good paint scheme, but no matter how flashy or colorful or sleek a paint scheme is, nothing compares with a driver racing around the track with their own face leading the way on the hood of a car.

And thanks to Corey LaJoie, the NASCAR world is getting treated to his face on his car… again.

For Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway — the fourth race of the 2021 season and first of this year’s abbreviated West Coast swing — LaJoie’s No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet features a light blue and gold paint scheme with the 29-year-old driver’s face planted on the hood. Specifically, he’s got a Built Bar in his mouth, advertising his primary sponsor for this weekend’s race.

It’s really something special.

However, it’s still comfortably in second place behind LaJoie’s previous scheme with his face on it.

Back for the 2019 Daytona 500, he ran this spectacular look when he was driving the No. 32 Ford:

Corey LaJoie during the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. (Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports)

Come on! This scheme is fantastic, especially with the grille serving as LaJoie’s mouth. It’s basically perfect.

Corey LaJoie’s face paint scheme in his garage ahead of the 2019 Daytona 500. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

This time around, LaJoie probably hopes he has a better result with his second face scheme car. In the 2019 Daytona 500, LaJoie damaged his car early in the race and ultimately finished 18th and seven laps down.

Either way, we hope this isn’t the last of LaJoie’s face paint schemes, no matter what he says.

Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas is set for 3:30 p.m. ET.

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NASCAR driver who hit Ryan Newman says they ‘shared a couple laughs’ after hospital release

Corey LaJoie said he and Ryan Newman joked laughed about this go-kart story Wednesday night.

NASCAR driver Cory LaJoie didn’t even know who he hit when he smashed into Ryan Newman at the end of the last lap of the 2020 Daytona 500.

And, like so many other people at the track, he didn’t realize the severity of Newman’s situation until he was evaluated and released from the infield care center. He was just excited about the idea of finishing eighth in NASCAR’s biggest race because it was only his third top-10 finish.

But after being cleared by the care center, LaJoie said he learned about the seriousness of Newman’s wreck.

“My stomach dropped, and I thought I was going to puke,” LaJoie told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Thursday.

Racing for the win on the last lap, Newman and his No. 6 Ford was out front with Ryan Blaney in the No. 12 Ford behind him. Blaney said their bumpers got “hooked up wrong,” and Newman’s car turned and hit the wall before LaJoie’s No. 32 Ford collided with him. LaJoie said it “was the hardest hit I’ve had.”

Newman’s car flew through the air before landing upside down and sliding off the track. He was taken to a nearby hospital and was in “serious condition” Monday night, but his injuries were not life threatening, according to his team, Roush Fenway Racing.

And then miraculously, Newman was released from the hospital Wednesday afternoon, not even 48 hours after the wreck.

LaJoie said it’s been a “very emotional week” for him, Blaney and, of course, Newman. “It seems like all three of us are doing well for the circumstances,” he said.

He also mentioned that he and Newman texted Wednesday night and explained Newman is still in Florida at fellow NASCAR driver (and his fishing buddy) Martin Truex Jr.’s house.

On SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, LaJoie said they joked about a gathering for Ford drivers near Pocono Raceway, which included indoor go-karts:

“We texted last night. We shared a couple laughs. … We went to that little slick track in Pocono called S&S [Speedways]. And for whatever reason, Newman and I always found each other, and his big ass looked like Bowser in that little go-kart. We’re sliding around and smashing into each other, and his head is so big he had to hold the roof up because his head was smashing into it.

“So we shared a laugh over [that]. I said, ‘Man, it was almost like we were back at that slick track in Pocono, but unfortunately, we were going 200 miles an hour instead of seven.’ And he thought that was funny. He’s down there still I guess in Martin’s house in Florida. What a blessing to be able to share a laugh with Ryan not even almost 48 hours after everybody assumed the worst.”

LaJoie also explained a little about what it feels like to be in a wreck going about 200 miles an hour. He said hit Newman at basically full speed and got the wind knocked out of him, which is why, when he got out of the car, he fell to his knees.

View this post on Instagram

They say a picture is worth 1000 words. A lot of speculation as to what was going through my little noggin here. Here’s the facts. The wind was knocked out of me so I was catching my breath, I was wiggling my fingers and toes to make sure they were still connected, I was confused as my brain tried to process what my body just went through and I was hurting from the sub straps containing the force of the frontal impact. While I was down there I did send up a “thank you Jesus for your hand of protection” prayer and at that moment I had no idea who I hit or the severity of it. I’m hearing very optimistic things on Ryan’s condition so your prayers are working guys, keep it rolling.

A post shared by Corey LaJoie (@coreylajoie) on

The photo quickly circulated around NASCAR social media, and LaJoie clarified what exactly what was happening in that moment because, again, he didn’t even realize Newman was injured at that point. He told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio:

“I really didn’t have a grip on what happened until probably Wednesday afternoon. [That’s] when it finally sunk in, and I was able to digest everything feelings wise and just the whole situation because I’ve never really been in a situation like that. I’ve never really been in a big superspeedway crash to that point. So it’s crazy how fast it happens, crazy how people don’t realize how much it hurts when you hit something that hard or that fast.

“If anybody’s gotten in a wreck on the road at 40 miles an hour, they know how much that hurts, and we’re going 190, 200 miles an hour. It definitely makes your body do a lot of funky things it’s not used to. That’s why that little picture that was kind of going viral there on Twitter and Facebook there. I was on my knees. I kind of addressed it on my Instagram.

“People assumed or speculated that I got out because I was in a praying position. I honestly was on my knees because I was in pain. The wind was knocked out of me. Granted, I said a thank you for protection prayer up to the big guy because I knew it was a nasty wreck, but at that point in time, I had no idea who I hit or the severity of it.”

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