Corey LaJoie signs multiyear extension with Spire Motorsports
Corey LaJoie has signed a multiyear extension with Spire Motorsports to remain behind the wheel of the No. 7 Chevrolet, he announced Wednesday.
LaJoie, 31, is in his third season with Spire, having joined the team in 2021. He’s in the middle of a career year — a 21.2 average finish and the only driver to finish every NASCAR Cup Series race. LaJoie, however, remains far out of the playoff picture, sitting 27th in the points standings with just one top-10 finish on the season.
“I still feel like I’ve got a lot of work to do there and a lot a lot of stuff personally to learn and grow and just continue to evolve,” LaJoie said, via NASCAR.com. “Because, you know, when we built this thing, when we started, there was literally zero employees. Like none. There was a vision that Jeff and T.J. had, and they had some connections with [Hendrick Motorsports owner] Rick [Hendrick] and they had some connections with [Chip] Ganassi [Racing] at the time to get cars, and we didn’t really know what would materialize — where we would get pit crews from and this and that.
“But I trusted Dickerson and T.J. enough [with] the direction they wanted to go and try to get it to, and also how much faith they had in me made it really enticing to be one of the ones that you know, kind of put it on your back and to make it grow. And I take a lot of pride in that. Take a lot of pride in our continued trajectory.”
Corey LaJoie returns to Spire Motorsports ahead of free agency
Scheduled to be a free agent at the end of the season before signing the new deal, LaJoie said he felt like the “hot girl to dance for once.” LaJoie notably got the opportunity to fill-in for Chase Elliott in the No. 9 car for Hendrick at Worldwide Technology Raceway in June for the Enjoy Illinois 300. He finished 21st.
“The wheels were already in motion [to return to Spire] before that, but it did show me how important continuity is and also having a group that really is all in,” LaJoie said. “Like, there’s no doubt when I go to Spire Motorsports that the owners have my back — spotter, crew chief, engineer, car chief, pit crew — like we are one team and there’s no pointing fingers. There is a collective understanding and mindset there that we’re trying to build on.”
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