By David Morgan, Associate Editor
BRISTOL, Tenn. – Trades are synonymous with nearly every major sport there is and now NASCAR is getting in on the action.
On Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway, Spire Motorsports and Rick Ware Racing announced that Saturday night’s Bass Pro Night Race will be the final race for their respective drivers, Corey LaJoie and Justin Haley, with the two drivers swapping rides for the remainder of the season starting next week at Kansas.
It will be a homecoming for Haley, who started his Cup Series career with Spire and won his first Cup race for the organization in just his third start at Daytona in 2019. He would run through the 2022 season with the team before moving over to Kaulig Racing and then Rick Ware Racing in the years since.
Over the Olympic break, the idea of Haley moving back to Spire was broached with the RWR brass, given that the team had already announced that LaJoie would not be returning to the No. 7 Chevrolet in 2025.
“Justin came to us over the Olympic break with a longer-term opportunity that would serve his career well,” said RWR president Robby Benton.
“We were sympathetic to his desires, as Justin committed to RWR early last year and has since played a key role in the growth of our organization. We didn’t want to compromise his growth or our own. In our talks with Justin following the break, we agreed to release him from his contract with RWR.”
With the cooperation of both teams and both manufacturers in Ford and Chevrolet, a deal was able to be worked out in short order for the drivers to swap places for the remainder of the season.
“Justin Haley is extraordinarily talented and we’re thrilled to welcome him back home and to have a young driver of his caliber behind the wheel of Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Chevrolet beginning next weekend at Kansas Speedway,” said Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson.
“We’re grateful to our friends at Rick Ware Racing for teeing up the idea of a trade between Justin and Corey as the 2024 season winds down. We think this is a great opportunity to get a head start on 2025 and to get Justin acclimated so we’re ready to put our best foot forward next season.”
Benton added that with LaJoie being a free agent of sorts at the end of the season, it only made sense to slot him into the No. 51 car for the remainder of the season. He noted that it’s not locked in that LaJoie will be the driver of that car in 2025,…
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