“There’s a lot of questions from this”: Corey LaJoie’s future in NASCAR deemed uncertain by Jeff Gluck

With Corey LaJoie no longer being a part of Spire Motorsports' plans after the current season, a big question mark has risen on his future in NASCAR. Currently, the #7 driver hasn't found a new team for next year, and as per insider Jeff Gluck, his future remains full of questions going forward.

Speaking during a recent conversation on Dirty Mo Media, Gluck spoke about the near-miss opportunity of LaJoie's career as well as what led to Spire deciding to part ways with him. He said [01:20]:

"I think what's really interesting about it is it felt like Corey was about to get this big breakthrough moment where he's going to be with Rodney Childers, where he was going to go from stacking pennies to being in a winning, contending car that was a championship crew chief. It seemed like he was this close to getting that and then, it doesn't happen. And it's like, 'Wow, what could've happened there?'"

The NASCAR journalist claimed a lot of it had to do with Carson Hocevar. This was because if Hocevar ran like Zane Smith, a traditional rookie, with LaJoie still being the lead driver, how would Spire know what they had with their cars? To Gluck, once the benchmark moved, with Hocevar having the most speed, Spire began to look at LaJoie in "a different way." He mentioned that Spire began to see the potential of their racecars, and considering their massive investments into the program, they began to wonder if Corey LaJoie was really the driver to lead the #7 team.

Having said that, Gluck added that he'd personally want to see LaJoie get that one more year with Childers to see how it went considering it could've been "the key that unlocked him." But now, they'll never know, because LaJoie has never been a top-tier car with a chance to win races.

"Where does he go from here? I'm not sure. He has some partners but he's not going to be able to bring a ton of money. So where does that leave you? Run in the lower series, try to rebuild your career that way. We've seen that to be a successful path, but I also think he's a Cup driver to me. But what opportunities are left out there? There's a lot of questions from this," Gluck added.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. shares his take on the NASCAR future of Corey LaJoie

Just as Jeff Gluck proposed Corey LaJoie taking a step down and running in the lower tiers of NASCAR, Dale Earnhardt Jr. shared a similar idea.

The former Hendrick Motorsports driver recently claimed that LaJoie should explore the idea of running in the Truck Series or the Xfinity Series. As per Earnhardt Jr., such a move could benefit LaJoie in a few ways.

"If I were him, I would try to put myself in positions where I felt like I could win races," Junior claimed (via The Dale Jr. Download).

With that said, it'll be interesting to see where Corey LaJoie races at next season. Will he remain at the Cup level? Or will he take a step down and run in the Xfinity or Trucks? Only time will tell.