Corey LaJoie hits the kill switch during rough start to Enjoy Illinois 300

Well, things aren’t off to a great start in the Enjoy Illinois 300 for Corey LaJoie. The driver hit the kill switch to start the race. However, there is some good news for the Chase Elliott substitute. Thankfully (for him), the race was soon put under the red flag due to lightning. He’ll have to start from the back of the field, but he’ll get a nice reset going out.

Corey LaJoie has a lot of pressure on his shoulders. From himself, his temporary team at Hendrick, fans at home, and pretty much everyone. With all of those expectations, replacing the 2020 champion in Chase Elliott, nerves may have gotten the best of LaJoie.

Just as the race was getting underway, the No. 9 NAPA Chevy just shut off. Apparently, LaJoie hit the kill switch while he was shifting and shut the whole thing down. It took him a second to get going again and he went to pit road. While he’s starting in the rear now, after the delay is over, he will have a shot at redoing this whole thing.

#NASCAR … Corey LaJoie tells the No. 9 team the master switch went off and that's what led to him falling back. Team asks if he hit it and he says he must have.

— Dustin Long (@dustinlong) June 4, 2023

This is just a silly mistake and it is one that Corey LaJoie can bounce back from. Those Hendrick Motorsports cars have driven back to front before. LaJoie will just have to fight his way through the field in this one. If he was going to have to earn it before, he’s really going to have to battle to get the finish that he wants.

Looking on the bright side, LaJoie has a delay to reset things. Also, Tyler Reddick took a spin on Lap 2 that put the field under caution. So, he’s not the only one dealing with early race nerves and nonsense on the track.

Corey LaJoie was ‘ready to go’ before the race

When Corey LaJoie talked to FS1 ahead of the Enjoy Illinois 300, he was ready. He had a little confidence to him and he clearly has his head on his shoulders. If LaJoie is nervous, he wasn’t showing it about an hour prior to the start of the race.

“I hope to do Chase [Elliott] a great job, champion guy so it’s definitely a tough situation to jump in and fill in with a championship team with Alan [Gustafson] and the entire NAPA 9 team. But I’m up to the challenge and I’m ready to go,” LaJoie said.

Whether or not that was true, LaJoie will have to find a way to settle himself now and get out there and compete. As this lightning delay lets up and drivers get back to their cars, LaJoie can be happy in the fact that he already made a mistake. Now he can drive carefree.

Starting in the back of the field, Corey LaJoie is going to have to scrape and claw his way to the front of this race. Just 300 miles to do it, too.