For the next week and a half, Corey Lajoie That’s what he was for much of this decade, a NASCAR Cup Series driver.
With Brad Keselowski Suffering from a fractured right femur suffered in a fall on the ice during a family ski trip on Dec. 18, Lajoie got the call to compete in the Cookout Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium in the famed RFK Racing No. 6. This is in addition to his previously planned start with RFK in the equally famous No. 99 at the Daytona 500.
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Lajoie lost his full-time job with Spire Motorsports at the end of the 2024 season. Since then, he has tried the Truck Series and also made a transition to television with the Amazon Prime portion of the Cup Series schedule.
Even this year, he’ll make some Truck Series debuts alongside his television and podcasting schedule, continuing a strange phase in his life where Lajoie struggled with his identity in NASCAR.
“It’s a daily struggle because it’s quite simple when you aim to become a race car driver,” Lajoie said at a press conference Wednesday before the Clash.
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He said it was easy in 2012 when he won at Bowman Gray in the K&N West Series. He was poised to follow his father, Randy, a two-time Busch Series champion, to the highest levels of NASCAR.
Not only getting there, but also winning races and competing for a championship, he said.
“I got closer,” Lajoie said. “I reached the top of the spear like I had hoped. I wish there was always more, but the transition, not necessarily voluntary but the transition to Prime, that group was amazing. I’m excited to get back with those guys. I’m doing truck stuff.
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“I’m spending more time with my kids. I’m trying to start a business. All of these things are learning experiences and ultimately it’s just taught me to keep things a lot closer and let the Lord take the wheel.”
Lajoie says if it leads to more races, “that’s great” and he’ll give it everything he’s got. But above all, Lajoie simply wants to be more present in his daily life.
“It’s been a confusing journey lately, but it’s nice to have a central focus, whether it’s this week preparing for the Clash or certainly next week so the 500 can really focus and focus,” Lajoie said. “In racing, your goals are very clear. It’s about preparing and doing a better job than the next guy, and I’m happy to have that clear goal for the next two weeks.”
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Lajoie says he’s playing with house money these first two weeks of the season at the Clash and the Daytona 500.
“Just when I was starting to wrap my head around the idea that the window is closed as a racing driver, this opportunity presented itself,” he said. “I hate it for Brad. I saw him yesterday and he’s as sharp as he’s ever been. He’s moving well, so I’m excited to have him back in the fold next week, but this opportunity has been great.
“I think there’s always pressure. If you don’t feel the pressure, then you don’t understand the gravity of the opportunity, and just to remind myself that I’ve been doing this for a long time and I’m doing it at a high level, so for those guys to name me the guy that can be in car 6 and feel like I can do a good job is definitely an honor.
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“It’s been cool to be back in the mixing and prep in the simulation, kind of knocking off the rust, but when the rubber hits the road here shortly, hopefully we’ll do pretty well.”
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