Stacking Pennies — that phrase has been coined by Corey LaJoie as he seeks to climb the ranks of the NASCAR Cup Series, and it has become a popular adage for his fan base.
As drivers continue to try and grasp the challenges of the Next Gen car, Spire Motorsports has seen its share of uphill and downhill battles. Some tough results on short tracks have left the No. 7 team searching for more as they seek to take the next step in the Cup garage.
A top five at Atlanta Motor Speedway and four top 15s on the season have been bright spots for a team who lacks the information that fellow Chevrolet teams get.
Frontstretch spoke with LaJoie following Martinsville Speedway in early April, where he discussed the Next Gen racing on short tracks, the team’s goals after some tough breaks and the parts shortages that make equipment even more valuable for a small team like Spire.
Luken Glover, Frontstretch: What were your thoughts on the way Martinsville went down?
Corey LaJoie: In terms of the [No.] 7’s night, it was horrendous. We missed it and were really bad. I think that’s the worst I’ve been there since my rookie year, so that was super frustrating just because we missed it on the setup. We’ve missed it on the short track stuff ever since the [L.A.] Coliseum, missed it at Richmond [Raceway], missed it at Phoenix [Raceway] and missed it here as well. So we’re still searching for ourselves what makes these cars drive good, and it’s not surprising to see two dominant Hendrick [Motorsports] cars.
The conditions weren’t great or conducive for a great Martinsville race. The drop gear that NASCAR brought was way too low, so we were shifting, which allows a little bit bigger of a range to hit the corner. You don’t have to be so precise to keep your RPMs in the range of being able to launch. So I think shifting allowed a little bit less passing. And then with how cold it was, it wasn’t peeling rubber off the tires, it wasn’t laying the rubber…
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