LaJoie makes Cup Series return after TV stint

The microphone has been packed away and the helmet pulled back out for Corey LaJoie.

LaJoie rejoins the NASCAR Cup Series tour this weekend at Atlanta's EchoPark Speedway with Rick Ware Racing. It’s just his fourth start of the season. LaJoie has not been in Cup Series competition since Bristol Motor Speedway in the middle of April.

But he hasn’t been without work or not paying attention. LaJoie spent the last five weeks appearing on the Prime Video broadcasts. He sat alongside Danielle Trotta and Carl Edwards on the pre- and post-race shows.

“Driving the race car can be a really lonely place,” LaJoie said. “You have all this weight of expectations to deliver for your team and your sponsors and yourself and your fans, and when you feel like you’re not doing that, it feels like everybody is looking at you. But what I realized these last five weeks during my time on Prime, I’m intently watching the race, but I’m really only focused on three guys’ races. The other guys who are there grinding away, unless they somehow factor into the main storylines of the race, they’re not top of mind.

“Before this opportunity to see the race from a TV perspective, I would feel like if I wasn’t running well, then I was letting a lot of people down. I think that I cared too much, and I would hold the outcome too tightly, as opposed to just enjoying it when I was doing it.”

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In 2022, LaJoie finished 19th at Atlanta, but that was after racing Chase Elliott for the victory on the green-white-checkered finish. LaJoie made a run to Elliot’s outside on the final lap in Turn 1, but a block by Elliott forced LaJoie into the wall.

“We led the final restart of the day, and then Chase Elliott got a big push, got to the lead, and I should’ve worked a bit harder to block that run for the lead,” LaJoie said. “I thought I made the right move on the last lap to get to his right-rear quarter, but he just threw his block a bit later, and he threw the block to win, right? It didn’t work for me and the help didn’t go my way, but that was pretty close to career victory number one.

“But that’s why I keep showing up, especially here at Atlanta. I feel that we can find ourselves in the same spot.”

Ware has given LaJoie a part-time ride for the season. He is also slated to run nine of the final 13 races in the Craftsman Truck Series with Spire Motorsports.

“Now that I’m back in the seat, I’m going to enjoy it,” LaJoie said. “I really like the atmosphere at Rick Ware Racing, and now we’re going back to a place where I’ve been close to winning before. It’s a great opportunity for me to run well and have some fun.”