Corey LaJoie makes his feelings known on “3 of the best teams in the sport” fighting for the win at COTA

Corey LaJoie made his feelings clear on the three teams he views as the best competing for the first spot in this year’s COTA. In a post on X, he called HMS, JGR and 23XI as the best teams in the Cup Series.

In a thrilling finish at this year’s Circuit of the Americas, Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing held off William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports and Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing with a margin of only 0.433 seconds. This was a second consecutive win for the 30-year-old this season. Bell led for a total of 5 laps and ended up with his first win at COTA. This victory was a testament to JGR’s great strategic decisions, amid two other teams with great performances advancing just behind the JGR driver. Hendrick Motorsports had two drivers in the top 5 with Chase Elliott (despite spinning out early in the race) coming in at 4th. 23XI Racing made it a point to remain consistent in the race with having a front-row lockout and coming in 3rd with Reddick making a huge mark in the Cup Series.

Corey LaJoie commented on the performance of these teams during COTA and went on to call them the best teams in the Cup Series this year. The 33-year-old posted on his X account:

"That’s 3 of the best teams in the sport sliding around, locking up and fighting for every inch of leverage for 8 straight laps. It really doesn’t get any better than that."

Corey LaJoie, the driver of the #01 for Rick Ware Racing, did not compete in the 2025 COTA under the limited schedule he is contracted under. This year, LaJoie is diversifying his involvement in racing. The 33-year-old is serving as an analyst for five NASCAR Cup Series broadcasts in Amazon Prime Video including the Coca-Cola 600. Other than the broadcasting role, LaJoie is focused on making his Stacking Pennies podcast a major success.

---

Corey LaJoie labels the racing as “fun” at Atlanta

Corey LaJoie, despite being involved in a wreck that ended his race at the Ambetter Health 400 in Atlanta, maintained a positive outlook, describing the racing as "fun." The incident occurred on Lap 150 when contact between Chase Briscoe and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. triggered a chain reaction, causing Stenhouse Jr. to hit Chase Elliott, who was then tagged by LaJoie.

"I knew that there were some guys that got bogged down, or flat tire, and I'm not sure what happened because in the hornets' nest there," LaJoie told Peter Stratta of TSJSports1 on X. "Like 14th to 25th man, you're racing your ass off and every corner, you're trying to get a sniff of clean air and it was fun man. It was a blast."

"And we finally got our car driving to where I can actually be competitive and unfortunately, whatever happened there, I didn't think that came up. I was actually trying to favor down and the next thing I know, I got wrecked on the turn of the fence," he added.

Corey LaJoie added that he was caught off guard by the incident, as he was attempting to downshift when the wreck occurred.