Former Spire Motorsports driver Corey LaJoie was born on September 25, 1991, in Charlotte, North Carolina. Five years later, he was already competing and winning in kart racing events. As he navigated childhood with a growing passion for motorsports, there had to be some motivation for him to balance his academic act in school. His father had the perfect solution.
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LaJoie revealed in a 2019 interview that his father did not allow him to enter racing competitions if he got a grade of B or less in any of his tests. He said, “I did the bare minimum to get an A. I wish I’d applied myself, but I was decent enough at following directions where I could kind of skate by and get an A. So, my dad knew that I was doing that and he would take away races.”
“Like I couldn’t go race Bandoleros or go-karts if I got a B on any report card. So, that happened twice. Then I had to plant myself more in high school to keep being able to race late models or whatever,” he added.
This pressure motivated LaJoie to win 19 events on dirt and asphalt tracks on karts. He moved to INEX Bandoleros in 2003 and won the Summer Shootout Championship, while also keeping a tab on his academics.
At age 14, he began racing in Legend cars and gained promotion to the Aaron’s Pro Challenge Series the next year. He competed in the UARA-Stars Late Model Series between 2007 and 2009. By this time, he’d shown enough promise for his father to take away race time based on his performance in school. LaJoie made his NASCAR debut in 2009 through the ARCA Menards East Series.
LaJoie reveals what he finds most annoying about people
The driver was asked what his biggest pet peeve was in the same interview for 3WideLifeTV. He responded, “People riding slow in the fast lane. Oh, man. 90% of the time the person is on the phone not paying attention.” He joked that he just piercingly stares at such people as he passes them.
LaJoie competed in the 2024 Cup Series season driving the #7 Chevrolet Camaro for Spire Motorsports. For the last seven races of the season, however, he was traded for Rick Ware Racing’s Justin Haley. He finished the year driving for Rick Ware Racing’s #51 Ford Mustang.
He was an instrumental figure in the development of Spire Motorsports from 2021. The team decided to let him go following disappointing performances over recent years. LaJoie is currently without a ride for the 2025 season.
