Corey LaJoie isn't surprised by Spire Motorsports' performance this year
Corey LaJoie has turned the heads of many with his performance over the 2023 season.
Driving for Spire Motorsports, many didn’t expect LaJoie to be in the hunt for the playoffs throughout the season. Still, he sits at P23 in the standings, ahead of some playoff regulars, including Chase Elliott, Aric Almirola, Austin Dillon and Chase Briscoe.
That’s not too shabby for a driver on a team that doesn’t have nearly the resources as the other drivers he’s ahead of. LaJoie has done a masterful job of keeping his car a part of the race and accumulating as many points as he can, not having any DNFs on the season, while only having one top five and one top ten on the season.
All things considered, LaJoie could be even higher in the standings, but he’s not focusing on that, and he told FOX Sports that his team expected to be where they’re at, even if nobody else believed in them.
“It’s right where we thought we should be,” a confident LaJoie stated. “When we execute the day, our floor is generally in the top-20. If you continue to do that, then you start running in the top-15 more consistently and that’s the way the progression goes. …. [Competition director and crew chief] Ryan Sparks and I and all the people knew what we were capable of when we executed and what we were able to do when the competence is there for me driving the car putting it on the edge. And then him also just having confidence in me and my feedback and continuing to grow that notebook.
“It might surprise some people who don’t really know what we were capable of — whether it’s myself as a driver, or my team behind me building good race cars — but it’s no surprise to everybody within these doors.”
It remains to be seen if LaJoie can get into the playoffs, but he’ll have some interesting race tracks to attempt to do it at.
His ability on super-speedways has been lauded over recent seasons, and NASCAR will return to both Atlanta and Daytona before the playoffs begin this season. Those will likely be LaJoie’s top two chances to get his first win, and secure his first ever playoff opportunity at the Cup Series level.
Time will tell, but Corey LaJoie has proven the haters wrong time and time again over the 2023 season. Even if he doesn’t get into the playoffs, being in the mix is more than impressive for the Spire Motorsports driver.