Lajoie And Why The Cup Series Isn’t The Promised Land Many Think it is
Lajoie last year found himself looking on the outside looking in for most of the year and hated by a large number of fans. His being in this position would’ve been unthinkable in 2021. When Spire was brand new, he was already developing cult-hero status as the leader of a backmarker.
When He Should’ve Left and Why He Didn’t
While he was already unpopular heading into the 2025 season, what made matters worse was when Lajoie said, “I don’t want to drive in front of 12 fans on a Saturday,” and had a whole rant about it. This also exposes something fundamental about him and why, heading into 2026, he doesn’t have a ride confirmed for the year.
Lajoie showed flashes of talent in his time in the Cup Series. Most notably in the second half of his final full-time season, he rebounded from the worst half-season he had in his career. To have top tens in drivers’ tracks like Watkins Glen and Darlington,
And back when Spire was a struggling backmarker, Lajoie got finishes at tracks a sub-20th-place car like the Spire seven should not have been getting. Like 15ths at Nashville and Darlington in 2021, an 11th at COTA in 2023, or a 14th at Texas in 2022.
But there’s an obvious problem with his notable results. Most people don’t care about who finished 14th, even if they did it in a car that was supposed to finish in 30th. People only care about who’s in victory lane.
Why It’s Better To Be In The Lower Series
Ron Hornaday Jr. isn’t a driver most random people on the street can name, but any NASCAR fan can name him in a heartbeat. The 51 wins and four championships he won earned him admiration from fans and a lot of respect from all drivers, even if all those wins and titles were in NASCAR’s third tier, the Truck Series.
He still went head-to-head with not many future Cup Series winners and champions before they became superstars, but sometimes even when they were in their prime as superstars. Especially in the late 2000s and early 2010s, when bushwhacking, the practice of Cup drivers going to the lower series, was at its peak.
This made Hornaday a litmus test for drivers coming through the ranks. Because if you couldn’t beat him, you didn’t belong in any of the higher tiers of NASCAR, which also made it hard to evolve further.
Lajoie’s Case For Staying in Cup And Why It’s Wrong
Now, Lajoie isn’t crazy for sticking to the Cup Series. It has its benefits. He’s not wrong when he says that way more people watch the Cup Series than any other series. This comes with bigger sponsorship money, winnings, and the title of being a Cup Series driver.
Not to mention all that, which means the checks are way better. But is the money and getting to call yourself a Cup Series driver worth ruining your legacy? To many fans, Corey LaJoie is a joke who only does a good job of wrecking the car.
People don’t care about who finishes in 13th, only who wins, and with his aggressive driving style and bad habit of outdriving the underfunded cars he was given, he crashed, which stood out to most fans.
So he won’t be remembered for the moments when his talent really shone, and everything came together for triumph. But for his lowest moments, for they were so much more spectacular than his highs.
The end of 2025 shone some hope for Lajoie. Who got over his pride and drove in the truck series for Spire as well? Here , any doubts about his talents were laid to rest. While he never won in his nine starts, he earned a top ten in all but two of them.
Including three fifth-place finishes. Showing championship-level consistency. Recently, it was confirmed that Spire will return to trucks, but the drivers remain unknown. While he could retire to focus on a broadcasting career, he started in 2025.
Final Thoughts
Many are both drivers and broadcasters, so I hope he races in trucks full-time and does some broadcasting on the side. Thanks a bunch for reading, and stay tuned for more content like this.
