Denny Hamlin urges Corey LaJoie to transition to lower series to rebuild confidence following Spire exit

NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin recently gave a suggestion about Corey LaJoie's future, as the latter is out of a seat for the 2025 season.

During the Olympic break, Spire Motorsports announced that they would be parting ways with Corey LaJoie, who currently pilots their #7 Chevrolet. LaJoie, who is a third-generation racer, has had a disappointing stint with Spire having consistently finished outside the top-ten in all the 23 races that he has started this season.

In a recent episode of the Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin suggested that LaJoie should make a move to either the Xfinity or the Truck Series. He said:

“It’s unfortunate for Corey. I understand why Spire made the decision, right? They felt like, you know, this is a performance-based business, and the performance hasn’t been what they hoped[...]I do think there’s multiple layers to it, as in, like, is it all Corey’s fault? No, probably not, but you do have this obligation to get the best that you can out of your car each and every week." [1:09:42]

“So, I think this is an opportunity for him to go back down, I think he should go back down a series or two, and win. It worked for John Hunter Nemechek, for him to build his legitimacy back up into the sport. Cole Custer. You know, both Cole Custer and John Hunter are both going to get back an opportunity in the Cup Series, but you’ve got to do it. You gotta show these people that you can win," Hamlin added. [1:11:36]

Corey LaJoie is currently P29 in the Cup Series driver standings, with 327 points. His chances of making it to the playoffs are quite low whereas JGR driver Denny Hamlin has secured three race wins this season and is currently P4 on the table.

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"Respond in an unprecedented manner" - Denny Hamlin expresses his views on NASCAR's penalty on Austin Dillon

Denny Hamlin was one of two victims of Austin Dillon's controversial race-winning move at Richmond Raceway last Sunday. Following the end of the race, NASCAR penalized Dillon by denying him playoff eligibility even though he secured a win in the Cook Out 400.

In a recent interview at Michigan, Fox Sports' Bob Pockrass asked Hamlin on where NASCAR draws the line when it comes to making moves such as Dillon's last Sunday. Hamlin responded:

"I feel like I saw something that I'd never seen before last week and we saw an unprecedented penalty for it. So when you see something unprecedented, you sometimes have to respond in an unprecedented manner.

"I think that hard racing is still OK. I think if two cars are battling side by side and one of them hits the wall because of the close racing, I think that that's going to be deemed OK."

Denny Hamlin dominated the qualifying session for the Firekeepers Casino 400 at Michigan and will be starting the Cup race in pole position, sharing the front row with his 23XI driver, Tyler Reddick.