As the racing community digests the news of Corey LaJoie’s upcoming departure from the No. 7 car at Spire Motorsports next season, fellow racer and NASCAR team owner Denny Hamlin has stepped forward with some crucial advice. LaJoie’s exit comes after a challenging season and three years with the team.
In a discussion on the podcast ‘Actions Detrimental’, Hamlin commented, as quoted by Yardbarker:
“I don’t think it’s the end, I think there’s an opportunity for him. And what my advice would be is to, the same that I said for a long time is, go win man. Go win. Go get, go get some wins.
“Because he battled, this is back a long time ago, but he battled with Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott in the ARCA series and he raced with them heads up, he did, he raced against them and won races and was very competitive. Now, he kinda skipped Truck Series and Xfinity and all that, just kind of started racing Cup.
“He got a Cup opportunity, it was a backmarker team, but like he got an opportunity to like race on Sundays so he took it, right? So, you never really got that warm and cozy feeling that, well what is he able to do? Right?
“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. And both Cole Custer and John Hunter are both going to get back an opportunity in the Cup Series.”
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The decision by Spire Motorsports to not retain LaJoie has surprised many in the industry, hinting at significant implications for both the team and driver.
Regarding LaJoie’s potential next steps, the consensus is that stepping back could serve as a reset period to strengthen his form and confidence in a less pressured environment.
LaJoie is currently fighting for a place in the playoffs. He is currently running in 29th position in the standings with three races to go before the playoffs, including the race in Michigan which is currently ongoing.
NASCAR Cup Series Current Standings
- Kyle Larson – 779 points
- Denny Hamlin – 758 points
- Christopher Bell – 701 points
- William Byron – 678 points
- Ryan Blaney – 702 points
- Tyler Reddick – 774 points
- Chase Elliott – 773 points
- Brad Keselowski – 636 points
- Alex Bowman – 615 points
- Joey Logano – 557 points
- Daniel Suarez – 497 points
- Austin Cindric – 451 points
- Martin Truex Jr. – 662 points
- Ty Gibbs – 602 points
- Bubba Wallace – 587 points
- Chris Buescher – 584 points
(PLAYOFFS CUT-OFF) - Ross Chastain – 584 points
- Chase Briscoe – 485 points
- Kyle Busch – 465 points
- Todd Gilliland – 454 points
- Michael McDowell – 431 points
- Carson Hocevar – 414 points
- Josh Berry – 412 points
- Noah Gragson – 400 points
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – 376 points
- Ryan Preece – 341 points
- Erik Jones – 337 points
- Justin Haley – 329 points
- Corey LaJoie – 327 points
- Daniel Hemric – 323 points
- Austin Dillon – 319 points
- John Hunter Nemechek – 313 points
- Zane Smith – 262 points
- Harrison Burton – 243 points
- Kaz Grala – 166 points
- Cody Ware – 47 points
- Joey Hand – 43 points
- Jimmie Johnson – 39 points
- Derek Kraus – 32 points
- David Ragan – 17 points
- Kamui Kobayashi – 8 points
- Will Brown – 6 points
- Cam Waters – 2 points
