Denny Hamlin: Corey LaJoie 'has to step up and perform better' with Rodney Childers as crew chief
Denny Hamlin is of the opinion that the addition of Rodney Childers as Corey LaJoie’s crew chief at Spire Motorsports in 2025 signals the driver’s final chance with the organization.
Over the last couple of years, Spire has been putting more and more resources into their team, hoping to become a major player in the NASCAR Cup Series. However, LaJoie’s standing hasn’t majorly improved, and he’s been out-paced by his rookie teammate Carson Hocevar in 2024.
During the latest episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast, the Joe Gibbs Racing wheelman explained why the move to bring in a cunning crew chief like Childers means LaJoie must improve, or his time with Spire could be up after 2025.
“They’re putting all their chips on the table, and gonna give Corey and the No. 7 car the best crew chief that they could go out and get. Now, it’s a situation where Corey has to step up and perform better,” Hamlin stated, regarding the addition of Childers for LaJoie. “He would tell you that himself, and this will certainly put the pressure on him to go out there and perform.
“We know that Rodney will build him a fast car, and they should be, you know, at least five, six or seven spots, on average, better than what they are, week-in, week-out, right now.”
While Hamlin relented that LaJoie hasn’t always been dealt the best hand, the excuses are drying up for the No. 7, especially when Childers is being brought in to sit atop your pit box.
“I think you always had the excuse of, ‘Well, my stuff’s not as good as other people’s,’ and this, that and the other. I mean, one thing’s for sure, right? Spire has good pit crews. They have Hendrick developmental guys, and you could see the No. 7 or No. 77 or whatever, their pit crews are upfront most weeks. It’s not the pit crew. Like, they’re fast, fast guys,” Hamlin explained. “Their cars, you know, they have an alliance with Hendrick Motorsports, and I don’t know what technology they share, back and forth, but it seems like Carson’s at least getting the most out of it. Whatever it is that they’ve got, he’s getting the most out of it, week-in, week-out.
“So yeah, eventually, you start to cross off all these things that might be variables, of why the performance is not where it needs to be, and once you cross all those things off, then you have to — you eventually have to look at yourself and say, ‘What do I need to do better, because I clearly need to step up,’ and this is just one of those things is crossing off some of the variables, before Corey really needs to look back at himself and say, ‘Alright,’ — well, he’s always going to look and say, ‘How can I be better?’ I know that about Corey. He’s always inquisitive on things that you know, he feels like he could do better. I think he wants to be better, and this next year is going to be a big moment for him.”
Alas, time will tell if Corey LaJoie can get the job done with Rodney Childers building his cars, but Denny Hamlin makes some salient points — if the veteran wheelman can’t, Spire Motorsports is proving they’ll spare no expense to find someone who will.