Corey LaJoie has always been a showman, so, in the most Corey LaJoie way, he announced he officially has signed an extension with Spire Motorsports. No terms were announced, but LaJoie said on “Stacking Pennies” that he would be there for “Several years.” However, why would he choose to stay at Spire Motorsports?
Jordan Bianchi reported that Corey LaJoie was receiving interest from other race teams. However, he chose to stay with Spire, and why is that?
Corey LaJoie explained his decision on his “Stacking Pennies” podcast earlier today. He said the decision to stay at Spire was, “not a hard decision to be honest.” He went into more depth about the decision in the clip below.
LaJoie was asked specifically about filling in for Chase Elliott at Gateway back in June, and how that influenced his decision. While answering that question, he explained both that and more about what is going on at Spire to allow him to succeed.
It did show me how important continuity is, and also having a group that really is all in…I’m excited to just keep that continuity going, and there’s a lot of good stuff behind the scenes with the Gainbridge guys jumping on board and there’s a lot of stuff going that’s going to allow us to hire more people and get some depth and get some more technology from GM.
Corey LaJoie
Why is LaJoie staying at Spire? He feels that they are building something special. That has been apparent from the outside for a long time.
LaJoie has taken a step forward this season in terms of performance. It has not been a huge step forward, but its still been the best statistical season of his career. He’s developed a reputation as NASCAR’s “lovable underdog.”
It’s also true that the grass is not always greener on the other side when it comes to race team. We wrote about some of the cautionary tales of drivers who made moves from smaller teams to bigger teams that did not pan out.
Drivers like Jamie McMurray, Casey Mears, and Matt DiBenedetto are examples of drivers who left “lesser” equipment to drive with top teams. In every case, the drivers were unable to find the success they wanted. Sometimes it’s best to stay with the organization that believes in you, and LaJoie seems to have that mentality.
Whenever drivers switch teams, then there is no guarantee that success will translate. A lot of times they are working with different people, and they may not be great fits. Some drivers also struggle more when the expectations on them are higher.
He also got very specific on the podcast about what he feels the potential is for Spire Motorsports. He has high expectations for what he feels he can do with that race team.
Where I feel it’s capable of going, like, it’s not unfeasible for us to have a year like Ricky Stenhouse is having…or Michael McDowell. [Front Row] has had a 10 year head start to get them to the point of people, process, just footprint overall. It’s hard to get that many people to build a strong team, where we started three years ago. It’s hard to find that core group where I feel we’ve established that.
Corey LaJoie
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Michael McDowell are legitimate Playoff contenders. Not only did Stenhouse win the Daytona 500, but he also sits comfortably in the top-16 in 14th in the points. McDowell is currently in position to point his way into the Playoffs.
LaJoie seems to have his goals set in mind, and he has a route to go about it. He wants to build up the place that he is currently at, and he feels the potential is there. That is why he stayed at Spire Motorsports.
