Do you remember when we all thought Spire Motorsports was going to just buy NASCAR last season when it went on a shopping spree and subsequent major expansion?
Well so far, Spire’s new era has gone really well in both the NASCAR Cup Series and Craftsman Truck Series. The team has new equipment, a new charter, one new Cup Series team and three new full-time Truck Series teams (four if you count Nick Sanchez, as his team, Rev Racing, is housed in Spire’s shop).
On top of that, of the five single-driver teams in 2024 (the No. 7 Truck Series team is split between several different drivers), four of them have new drivers. The only full-time returnee to the team from 2023 was Corey LaJoie.
Some of the highlights in the Truck Series include the first career wins of Sanchez and Rajah Caruth, as well as rookie phenom Connor Zilisch nearly adding his name to the list with a banner weekend at Circuit of the Americas. Not to mention, Kyle Busch has won two races in four starts in the No. 7 – with one more start to go at Darlington Raceway. Meanwhile, Chase Purdy, while still trying to find speed, has showed measured improvement in other areas.
On the Cup side, Carson Hocevar has had a solid start to his rookie campaign, earning his first career Cup Series top 10 in the most recent race at Texas Motor Speedway. Zane Smith, driving the brand new No. 71 in partnership with Trackhouse Racing (with whom Smith is actually under contract), has had some growing pains adjusting to the Next Gen. Though he has dropped down to the Truck Series a few times in 2024 with McAnally-Hilgemann Racing to show he’s still capable of wheeling a race vehicle.
So what about LaJoie?
Aside from a fourth-place finish at the Daytona 500, it’s been a season from hell.
But is it really?
After running the entire 2023 Cup Series season without a single DNF, a crash at Phoenix Raceway ended LaJoie’s day early. It’s his only DNF of the season.
That makes the results look worse.
At Las Vegas Motor Speedway, LaJoie finished a dismal 32nd after a late wreck, though he managed four stage points to help soften the blow. Then came the Phoenix DNF. The following race at Bristol Motor Speedway, where he started and finished midpack after the tire wear, perhaps scrambled the finishing order a little more than intended.
COTA started out great for the No. 7 as LaJoie qualified fifth, but he nearly caused an accident on the opening lap and faded to a…
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