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Corey LaJoie laid everything out on the table on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio on Thursday. His expectations for Spire and the #7 team, in particular, are to win and make the Playoffs in 2024, and anything less is a “Disappointment”. Those are lofty expectations, but are they even achievable?
Corey LaJoie is expecting a major leap in performance for 2024. He is asking himself to jump at least 9 spots in the points standings and to do something he has never done at the Cup Series level, win. In terms of week-to-week, he hopes to consistently run top 12 to 15 with some top-10s sprinkled in.
Now, that type of jump is not impossible. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. jumped from 26th to 16th in points from 2022 to 2023 including a win at the Daytona 500. Corey LaJoie said when he signed the extension with Spire, that he believes this team is “Capable” of putting together a Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 2023-type season.
LaJoie is not expecting to win a Championship or win multiple races. At the core, he is expecting to be more competitive week-in and week-out, which is not an unfair expectation. However, to make the Playoffs, that would require a major uptick in performance.
In terms of winning a race, LaJoie’s best opportunity will come at the six drafting-style superspeedways, particularly the four regular season races at these tracks. All of his top-5s and top-10s have come on these types of tracks, and he nearly won at Atlanta in 2022 before an incident on the last lap.
He’s more than capable of running up front in these races, but, can he win? That’s tough to say because these races are very difficult to win because of how much is out of the driver’s control. Sometimes, a driver is caught up in an accident that is no fault of his own, and other times they are passed thanks to a run that is impossible to stop. Winning a superspeedway race is a doable task, but, that doesn’t make it easy.
For other race tracks, he needs to consistently run in the top 12 to top 15. He did so at times last year. He recorded top-15 finishes at Michigan (15th), the Chicago Street Race (14th), Dover (14th), COTA (11th), and Auto Club (14th). He and his team can do it, but, it’s all about doing it more consistently.
Theoretically, he should have better equipment in 2024 to accomplish that. However, we do not know how much better Spire’s equipment will really be in 2024. They have more money and better shop space, but will they put those new resources to good use?
The short answer is yes, Corey LaJoie can meet those expectations. He has shown that he can run well and even compete for wins here and there. The issue is doing it consistently.
He can’t pepper in a top-15 finish every five races. He needs to be in that position week in and week out, and that is a tall order. He has to go up against plenty of other drivers and teams that are fighting for that same real estate.
Think about teams like Legacy Motor Club, Front Row Motorsports, Stewart-Haas Racing, and even JTG Daugherty Racing. LaJoie has to consistently beat those teams while also giving teams like JGR, Team Penske, RFK, 23XI, and Hendrick a run for their money. It’s easy in theory, but, in practice, it’s difficult.
The expectations are high, and they seem to be at least possible. However, it’s a tall order for LaJoie.
