NASCAR Driver Reacts To Being Traded To New Racing Team
09/25/2024 12:19 PM
Trades in NASCAR aren't quite like trades in most American team sports. They're exceedingly rare in the Cup Series. But we got one this week with Corey LaJoie set to swap teams with Justin Haley for at least the rest of the year.
It was recently revealed that Spire Motorsports has sent LaJoie to Rick Ware Racing and will place Haley in their No. 7 Chevrolet for the remaining races. Over at RWR, LaJoie will be driving the No. 51 Ford for the rest of the season.
On the latest episode of Corey LaJoie's Stacking Penniespodcast, LaJoie reflected on the "wild turn of events." He admitted that he was "caught off guard" because he simply didn't see the trade coming. LaJoie said that everything was going on as normal - working with his teammates and preparing for the race - before getting the news that he had been traded.
"Wild turn of events, because normally you have some sort of an inclination things are going to happen in this business," LaJoie said. "Normally, there's writing on the wall, and some, you know, there's no real surprises. But this time, I was a little bit caught off guard. Tuesday night was when it all went down, and from the time of about 6:30 p.m., when everything was just kind of chugging along, see what was happening, and then about 8:15 p.m., your entire setup of what you're doing with your career changes...
"The first call was business as usual, 'Couple good runs last couple weeks. Let's keep this thing going,' you know, 'Go Team.' Couple hours later, and you've been treated. Right at the deadline, the wire came through right at the nick of time. So, for me, I'm a big T-chart kind of fella. When I make major life decisions, particularly with my career, it comes down to a T-chart — pros, cons, write it out. I don't see very many cons in this situation, to be honest with you, because even though the No. 7 car and our team has had a great month, before I stuck it in the fence — I got some assistance getting stuck in the fence at Bristol. We were going to go for another top 10 day, which would have been three top 10s in the last month.
"To get in with another process, new people who are excited to have you over there and think their their cars are just as good as the one I'm driving, to integrate with that system, to get in the Ford camp, get the feel, the simulator and how that correlates to reality, I think there are a lot of positives, to be able to jump in a car that you know you're going to be able to work towards a future with, with seven races to go, and just knock the new off of it."
Haley, meanwhile, hasn't said much on the matter other than to make a few social media posts expressing how happy he is to be back with his former team. He previously drove for Spire Motorsports from 2019 to 2021.
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