NASCAR Silly Season Heats Up: Corey LaJoie out of Spire Motorsports beyond 2024

Corey LaJoie will not continue racing with Spire Motorsports beyond the current NASCAR Cup Series season. This comes shortly after the team signed veteran crew chief Rodney Childers as LaJoie's chief on a multi-year contract starting in 2025.

Childers is one of the most successful crew chiefs in the Cup Series, known for his work with Kevin Harvick in SHR. Childers labeled LaJoie a "veteran of the sport" when he was announced as his crew chief but the latter will be stepping away from the team at the end of this season.

While his future currently seems unclear with multiple options on the NASCAR grid, LaJoie talked about the time he spent with the team. He mentioned that he "take(s) a lot of satisfaction" from being an important part of Spire Motorsports throughout the years.

"I won’t be driving the 7 car next year," The Athletic quoted LaJoie. "I take a lot of satisfaction from having an integral part of building Spire into a respectable team on the grid, but unfortunately the future won’t involve me. We will finish the remainder of 2024 strong, continuing to deliver for my partners, my guys who work hard to build good cars, family, fans & friends who have supported me since day one in the Cup Series."

"This chapter ends after Phoenix and I’m excited to see what the Lord has in store for my family next," he concluded.

The #7 Chevrolet driver has raced with Spire since the 2021 season and signed a two-year contract last summer. His performance improved mid-season in 2023 but he couldn't qualify for the playoffs. Leading into the current season, he has mostly finished out of the top 20 in races, scoring only a single top ten (P4 in Daytona).

LaJoie is currently in 28th place in the points standings and far from a playoff qualification in what is now his final season with the team. He has only led 38 laps so far this season and won no races or stages.

LaJoie's performance, when directly compared with his rookie teammate Carson Hocevar, has not been satisfactory. The latter has had a better average finish in the season so far and also finished within the top ten twice.

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Corey LaJoie claimed the team will be "frustrated" if they don't qualify for the playoffs

Although he seems to be walking on thin ice regarding a playoff qualification, Corey LaJoie sounded determined when talking about his prospects. He claimed that the team expects to qualify during a conversation with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

"I feel like if we don't make the playoffs, we'll be pretty frustrated," he said (at 0:04) "We got so many great additions to our race team. We, we move shops. There's four truck teams in there with us. The entire 77 crew with, with Luke Lambert leading that team is going to be super strong."

LaJoie has raced in 258 Cup Series races over 9 years but has not managed a win so far. He has finished in the top 10 nine times. 2023 marked his best season finish in the Series so far in 25th place.