NASCAR twitter goes nuclear on Corey LaJoie; Hailie Deegan says, 'Screw stock car racing', eyes IndyCar?
This is not how the NASCAR season was supposed to go for Corey LaJoie.
LaJoie was a trendy breakout pick prior to 2024 as the elder statesman of a rededicated effort from Spire Motorsports in terms of finances and resources.
It started with a fourth-place run in the Daytona 500 but that remains his lone top-10 finish of the season, a season marred by a calamity of errors like the one Sunday at Pocono that left social media firing away at the "Stacking Pennies" host.
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LaJoie was blocked on a restart by Kyle Busch and after trying to go even lower, LaJoie turned back to the right, spinning Busch and igniting a pileup. And while Busch, also mired in a miserable year, has a pair of championships and 63 wins to his credit, LaJoie's resume was in the crosshairs following Sunday's race.
Here are some of the highlights, err, lowlights:
Corey LaJoie simply dumped Kyle Busch and caused a big wreck.
Absolutely pathetic.— Austin Konenski (@AustinKonenski) July 14, 2024
Corey LaJoie might be the worst driver in NASCAR history. Absolute waste of a seat.
Back when he was clean he might have had an excuse but now he just wrecks EVERY SINGLE WEEK.
Put anyone with half a brain in that 7 car, PLEASE.— Sean Peleg (@SeanP171) July 14, 2024
Corey Lajoie has genuinely become the most unlikeable driver in the garage
> “nah man it isn’t me it’s my equipment”
>”he had it coming he was bumping me”
>just generally an awful personality.
Why is he even here?? https://t.co/AMdBgxOJlD— matt (@Matt51801) July 14, 2024
Corey LaJoie has been on a tear lately. Showing everyone that he doesn't belong in the Cup series.
— MTJ HUB (@MTJhub) July 14, 2024
Hi @CoreyLaJoie. I'm not saying this as a joke or a bit, I'm not trying to troll you, and I don't say this with any anger or mean undertones, but please stop racing.
— Junk Knuckles (@lawnmowerpranks) July 14, 2024
Corey LaJoie is facing the most pressure-packed season of his career in 2025 with Rodney Childers as his crew chief
And, at the moment, LaJoie has shown nothing throughout his Cup Series career to show he can stand up to that pressure and deliver results— Nick Bromberg (@NickBromberg) July 14, 2024
It's not all unwarranted. LaJoie has made 257 Cup Series starts in nine seasons. He has nine top 10s and no wins.
Maybe most frustratingly, rookie teammate Carson Hocevar, who is currently 23rd in points compared to LaJoie in 30th, has been a pleasant surprise. Even the third Spire driver, Zane Smith, who got off to brutal start, has shown progress of late and started ninth on Sunday.
Last week, Spire announced that Rodney Childers, longtime crew chief for Kevin Harvick, would be coming to the No. 7 team. And while we don't know the specifics of LaJoie's contract, we know he signed a multi-season extension last year.
At 31, LaJoie is no longer a youngster but he'll have at least one more year to silence the criticism.
It's certainly not hard to find.
Let's go through the gears:
First gear
Ryan Blaney didn't have to say his No. 12 team is in better shape than it was at this point last year, the numbers do it for him.
Over the last six races, Blaney has two wins and five top-10 finishes. In the same six-race stretch last year, he had five finishes of 22nd or worse. Team Penske has won every other race over the last nine events, starting with Joey Logano in the All-Star Race.
So, is this run a statement to the rest of the field?
"I try not to get too focused on everyone else's stuff," Blaney deflected.
Fair enough, but the defending champ's stuff is pretty good at the moment.
Second gear
Hailie Deegan is staying busy, despite her departure from AM Racing and the Xfinity Series last week.
On Monday, Deegan was announced as a partner for Ken Schrader in this weekend's SpeedTour All-Star Race at Lime Rock. Even more intriguing was a tweet from the IndyCar Series over the weekend, showing Deegan climbing out of an open-wheel car at Iowa and summing up the experience with, "Screw stock-car racing."
Her comment came with a laugh, but could Deegan really be heading to IndyCar? Time will tell, but she's making good on her promise to keep racing.
“Screw stock car racing.” 😏
She said it, not us 😂 Glad you enjoyed the ride, @HailieDeegan. #INDYCAR // @simonpagenaud pic.twitter.com/GCyG2uDMWG— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) August 24, 2019
Third gear
Last week, it looked like a must-win scenario for drivers 17th and worse.
But thanks to a Ross Chastain crash and a Bubba Wallace 10th-place run on Sunday, things got quite a bit more interesting.
Wallace is just 27 points back of Chastain for the 16th and final playoff spot and has four of his top eight tracks in terms of average finish remaining over the last five races of the regular season. That includes this Sunday at Indianapolis, where he's registered a pair of top 10s in three career starts.
Driver | Wins | Points |
1. Kyle Larson | 3 | 700 |
2. Denny Hamlin | 3 | 683 |
3. William Byron | 3 | 646 |
4. Christopher Bell | 3 | 616 |
5. Ryan Blaney | 2 | 627 |
6. Chase Elliott | 1 | 603 |
7. Tyler Reddick | 1 | 688 |
8. Brad Keselowski | 1 | 599 |
9. Alex Bowman | 1 | 596 |
10. Joey Logano | 1 | 522 |
11. Daniel Suarez | 1 | 431 |
12. Austin Cindric | 1 | 408 |
13. Martin Truex Jr. | 0 | 640 |
14. Ty Gibbs | 0 | 570 |
15. Chris Buescher | 0 | 547 |
16. Ross Chastain | 0 | 530 |
----------------------------- | -- | ---- |
17. Bubba Wallace | 0 | 503 (-27) |
18. Chase Briscoe | 0 | 455 (-75) |
19. Kyle Busch | 0 | 428 (-102) |
20. Todd Gilliland | 0 | 403 (-127) |
Fourth gear
It's hard to put much meaning into Indianapolis averages with this being the Gen-7 car's first trip 'round the oval. Joey Logano (10.8) has the best average among active drivers who've made more than one start. Kyle Busch (two) and Brad Keselowski (one) are the only full-time active drivers with a win.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Corey LaJoie nearing NASCAR crossroads; Hailie Deegan keeps racing