Corey LaJoie 'wasn't comfortable' all week before driving for Hendrick Motorsports

NASCAR driver Corey LaJoie recently revealed that he “wasn’t comfortable” before his opportunity to drive for Hendrick Motorsports at Gateway back in June. He filled in for suspended driver Chase Elliott for the Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway.

LaJoie finished the race 21st, a run he admitted that he was disappointed in afterwards. He thought he could give the team a better performance but said it was tough to adjust to the changes that week.

“After the competition meeting on Monday, nobody felt like they did a great job,” LaJoie told FOX’s Bob Pockrass. “(Crew chief) Alan [Gustafson] was wishing he had a better setup, I was wishing I gave those guys a better job, a little more pace off the jump. But I just wasn’t settled in. I wasn’t comfortable all weekend there, whether it be the pressure or just driving a different car. I wanted to give those guys a solid run. And really I didn’t find myself driving as hard as I drive mine, just because I’m more comfortable with my guys and my car.”

After the race, LaJoie referred to the experience as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” So, finishing 21st wasn’t exactly the type of result he had hoped for.

“It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and experience here this week. Just obviously disappointed in the overall result,” LaJoie said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “But (I’m) not disappointed by my effort and the all the things wrapped up in it. Obviously, the sentimental value was high, but at the end of the day, the expectations were higher leading into the event than what we executed.”

Corey LaJoie finds new respect for Spire Motorsports

Corey LaJoie’s finish at Gateway might’ve been disappointing, but he did learn some lessons. He also found new respect for Spire Motorsports.

He discussed some of the main differences between Spire and Hendrick during the interview with FOX.

“The amount of information we don’t get here was staggering, whether it’s driver comparisons and stuff — anything that those guys have to continue to hone their thoughts and get better as a driver was big,” explained LaJoie.

“But also being a key partner [of Chevy], those guys can see what RCR is running, what Trackhouse is running and what obviously each individual teammate car is running. And that’s a huge tool to be able to progress the entire company. And we’ve been doing that essentially with part-time teammates last year and Ty [Dillon] had a tough start to this year, but he’s starting to find his rhythm.”

Even in the disappointments comes some good lessons. LaJoie now possesses a new appreciation for his racing team moving forward. Maybe it will give him even more motivation behind the wheel.