Denny Hamlin: Corey LaJoie should drop down to Xfinity or Truck Series to regain confidence
Denny Hamlin tried to give some advice to Corey LaJoie on the latest episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast, now that it’s been made official the driver won’t be returning to Spire Motorsports in 2025.
It’s certainly a disappointing revelation for LaJoie, who’s been building Spire over the last couple of seasons, but his rough 2024 has led to a dip in confidence, with the team moving in a new direction next season. Moving forward, Hamlin believes he knows the remedy for LaJoie to save his career.
“It’s unfortunate for Corey. I understand why Spire made the decision, right? They felt like, you know, this is a performance-based business, and the performance hasn’t been what they hoped,” Hamlin stated. “I listened to Corey’s podcast to kind of hear what his take was on it. I thought he was very professional, very matter of fact. I think he took it on the chin and took responsibility for what his role was in it. I do think there’s multiple layers to it, as in, like, is it all Corey’s fault? No, probably not, but you do have this obligation to get the best that you can out of your car each and every week. I think he took responsibility there, but I don’t think it’s the end.
“I think there’s an opportunity for him. What my advice would be is the same that I’ve said for a long time, is, go win, man. Go get your, you know, go get some wins, you know, because he battled. Now, this is back a long time ago, but he battled with Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott in the ARCA Series. And he raced with them, heads up. He did. He raced against them and won races, and was very competitive. Now, you know, he kind of skipped the Truck Series and Xfinity and all that, and just kind of started racing Cup. But, you know, he got a Cup opportunity, you know. He was on a backmarker team, but, like, he got an opportunity to race on Sunday, so he took it. So, you never really got that warm and cozy feeling, what is he able to do, right?
“So, I think this is an opportunity for him to go back down, I think he should go back down a series or two, and win. It worked for John Hunter Nemechek, for him to build his legitimacy back up into the sport. Cole Custer. You know, both Cole Custer and John Hunter are both going to get back an opportunity in the Cup Series, but you’ve got to do it. You gotta show these people that you can win. And I think that, you know, he’s going to work hard enough, and hopefully he gets an opportunity to show what he can do. And, you know, I wish the best for him, but I’ve got a ton of respect for how he handled it, and how honest he was with us, and himself, when he talked about it on his podcast.”
As Hamlin mentioned, John Hunter Nemechek and Cole Custer are recent examples of drivers who went back down to NASCAR’s Xfinity and Truck Series to regain their confidence, and now they’re in a better spot as it pertains to their Cup Series career.
Nemechek became one of the more sought after drivers in the Xfinity Series, and ended up with Legacy Motor Club, while Custer will return to the Cup Series with the Haas Factory Team after showing he’s the real deal in the Xfinity Series.
The opportunity is there for Corey LaJoie to do the same moving forward. It’s up to the soon-to-be-former Spire Motorsports wheelman to take it and run, and prove to the team that they’re wrong for passing him over in 2025.