“It’s like breaking up with your high school girlfriend”: Corey LaJoie on what’s it like to move to Rick Ware Racing amid jeopardized NASCAR future

Corey LaJoie has opened up on his move to Rick Ware Racing amid a rare driver swap deal with Justin Haley. The latter will replace LaJoie in the #7 Chevy while the former will field RWR's #51 Ford for the remainder of the 2024 season.

During a joint press conference on Friday, September 20, it was announced that the 32-year-old would be transferred to RWR's garage after his final race for Spire at Bristol Motor Speedway. He will run the remaining seven races for the new team while Haley will do the same at Spire.

Corey LaJoie has been with the Mooresville-based team since the 2021 season and has been a pivotal force in their success through four seasons. He has made 136 starts for Spire and has collected four top-5s and eight top-10s.

The Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol marked his last stint for Spire, where he succumbed to a DNF after contact with Josh Berry. Thus, he couldn't complete his final race for the team he departed from.

Ahead of his first battle for Rick Ware's organization, LaJoie thanked Jeff Dickerson, co-owner of Spire, for giving him a shot at RWR. He also outlined what it's like to leave the garage where he "grew up."

"Lot of grace from Spire and Dickerson to allow me to go do it. I think that them allowing me to go to the #51 (of Rick Ware Racing) helps me and my career progress, further it goes. But now I get to earn my chance and integrate with that team and work with Chris Lawson (crew chief) and Tommy Baldwin and Robby Benton and Rick Ware. Like, there's a lot of motivated hungry guys that have won a lot of races over there that I'm excited to go race with," LaJoie said via NASCAR on X.

"Also bittersweet that you leave somewhere that you've grown up with. It's like breaking up with your high school girlfriend, it's not gonna last forever," the 32-year-old added.

Justin Haley has locked a deal with Spire for the 2025 season but Corey LaJoie is yet to confirm his future with Rick Ware Racing.

"You go through all the emotions": Corey LaJoie addresses his departure from Spire Motorsports

Before the announcement about LaJoie's contract was made public, the North Carolina native had competed in 22 race weekends. However, after a strong footing into the season with a fourth-place finish at the Daytona 500, LaJoie's performance fell drastically, and he couldn't bag a solitary top-10 until a P9 finish in the regular-season finale at Darlington Raceway.

As a result, a few months back during the summer break, the news broke that Corey LaJoie and Spire would not run together in the 2025 season. The revelation probably stemmed from his poor performance throughout the season, which prompted Jeff Dickerson's team to look elsewhere.

The then-Spire Motorsports driver addressed his exit from the team and said (via NASCAR).

“You go through all the emotions, mad, sad … I think where I’m at currently a week removed is that I’m super appreciative. Super appreciative of Jeff [Dickerson, team co-owner] and T.J. [Puchyr, co-owner] and for Spire 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,” LaJoie said.

It will be interesting to see how Corey LaJoie will prove his worth to Rick Ware Racing in the remaining seven races on the 2024 calendar.