Corey LaJoie reacts to being named Chase Elliott's replacement driver

It’s a dream come true for Corey LaJoie to drive for Hendrick Motorsports, even if it’s only for one race.

The Spire Motorsports wheelman was named as the replacement driver for Chase Elliott on Tuesday, following Elliott’s suspension for hooking Denny Hamlin during the Coca-Cola 600. LaJoie has been wonderful in 2023, doing the most with incomparable equipment to the biggest teams in the sport, and it’s obviously turning some heads.

Elaborating on the situation during his Stacking Pennies podcast, LaJoie explained how it all came together for him to fill in for Elliott.

“It’s strange to me all fast it all kind of happened,” started LaJoie. “Like I got a text at about noon that said, ‘Hey, if that sit Chase out, you’re going to drive it.’ I was like, ‘what?’ I didn’t hear anything until about three o’clock, once NASCAR told Hendrick they had to sit him out, which we’ll get into that here in a second, of the Denny and Chase incident, it was like, ‘Hey, it’s happening. You’re in it. You wanna run a seat? What helmet you want to run? What fire suit you running?’ And I was like, drinking out of a firehose. Still am at the moment. So I don’t really know what emotion I’m feeling, but I’m exciting about it. 

“It’s a far cry difference from still when I started by Cup career six years ago. There was a Twitter page, ‘Did Corey Crash?’ Did an update, yes or no every week. So going from that guy, just trying to swim and stay above water, and try to learn the ropes to filling in for a champion like Chase Elliott for Hendrick Motorsports is just, it all just feels surreal to say right now.”

It’s a full-circle moment for LaJoie, who even wrote a letter to Rick Hendrick a couple seasons ago to throw his hat in the ring for a chance to replace Jimmie Johnson when the veteran retired. While he was hardly under consideration back then, perhaps LaJoie is changing his reputation with his driving in 2023.

“If somehow the plans would align back then to drive the #48, which my chances back then were zero, I wouldn’t have been ready, whether it be in my maturation, my game, my knowledge of the race cars, and just the person I was wasn’t ready for an opportunity like that,” added LaJoie. “All that being said, still it’s one race. We’re going to Gateway, and my execution is going to be the same, my preparation is going to be the same as I would for the #7. You know, we’ve been, I think stacking pennies where we’re at now, but it’s going to be a big opportunity. Going to a big organization, I thought about that, this week. I was just riding in the road thinking about something of like, how I almost was thinking about how much information and like, understanding of like how the sport works, from not being with a big team growing up, or really seeing that. Like working with three elite teammates. Working with a shop full of elite engineers.

“You kind of see it with Denny [Hamlin], or see it with guys who, Joey [Logano], guys who have driven with those teams from the jump, of how much more of like, an understanding they have, of how to exert the most amount of themselves and others, so I’m excited to see a peak behind the curtain as to what makes those guys exceptional.”

Regardless of what the result it, Corey LaJoie will be better for driving with Hendrick this weekend. Something good certainly came out of Elliott’s suspension, as a unique opportunity has arisen for a driver who just needs one.