NASCAR: Surprise veteran linked to Corey LaJoie's seat for 2025

Corey LaJoie signed a multi-year contract extension with Spire Motorsports last summer, presumably tying him to the team through the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season.

But he confirmed last week that he will not be back for what would have been a fifth season behind the wheel of the No. 7 Chevrolet next year.

Spire Motorsports have already confirmed one driver change for 2025, with Michael McDowell set to join the team from Front Row Motorsports. It was said that he would replace Zane Smith behind the wheel of the No. 71 Chevrolet, but that was when it was still believed that LaJoie would return.

With LaJoie no longer set to return, Smith, who is currently competing for the team on loan from Trackhouse Racing Team, could theoretically remain with Spire Motorsports after all, as their only other confirmed driver for 2025 is Carson Hocevar, who currently pilots the No. 77 Chevrolet.

However, that does not appear likely, as he has been linked to McDowell's Front Row Motorsports seat. Smith competed for the Bob Jenkins-owned team in the Truck Series in 2022 and 2023, winning the 2022 championship along the way.

There are a number of other young Chevrolet drivers who have been linked to the team as LaJoie's replacement. Sam Mayer, who had also been linked to Front Row Motorsports, is one of them.

But what about a veteran Chevrolet driver?

Kyle Busch is said to be under contract with Richard Childress Racing through at least the 2025 season, but it's no secret that he has grown frustrated with his current situation and has had one of the worst years of his Cup Series career.

Busch entered the 2024 season on a record-long 19-year winning streak and a series-high 11-year playoff streak. But with four races remaining in the regular season, he is winless and sits 112 points below the cut line, effectively meaning he'll need a 20th straight winning season to secure a 12th consecutive playoff berth.

Busch won three races last year in his first season since moving to Richard Childress Racing from Joe Gibbs Racing, but all three wins came during the first half of the season.

His second half of the season was a struggle and painted a grim picture as far as his outlook for 2024 was concerned, and things indeed have not improved. He finished last year in 14th place in the point standings, his lowest since he finished in 20th in his rookie season with Hendrick Motorsports in 2005.

Kyle Busch to Spire Motorsports?

After the 2023 season, Busch sold the assets of his Kyle Busch Motorsports Truck Series team to Spire Motorsports, and he now competes in five races, which is the maximum allowable total for a full-time Cup Series driver with his experience, for the Jeff Dickerson and T.J. Puchyr-owned team.

He won twice earlier this season, and his continued part-time participation in Truck Series events for a new team demonstrates both his commitment to improving the organization and the team's commitment to doing everything they can do to continue to get better.

Stewart-Haas Racing crew chief Rodney Childers is set to join Spire Motorsports as the crew chief for the No. 7 team next year after Stewart-Haas Racing's shutdown.

Would he really pass up the opportunity to join Wood Brothers Racing with his current driver, Josh Berry, just to work with a young, inexperienced, and TBD newcomer?

Childers is a championship-winning crew chief who has been a part of 40 Cup Series victories, so pairing him with a two-time series champion and 60-time winner seeking a career resurgence could be just what the doctor ordered.

Though Spire Motorsports are not exactly a front-running team, Busch isn't that far ahead of rookie Hocevar, who leads the team's trio in the point standings. LaJoie is ahead of Busch's teammate, Austin Dillon, and Smith is just one spot behind him.

With a driver of Busch's caliber behind the wheel, I'm not sure that you can definitively say that Spire Motorsports wouldn't be just as good, if not better, than the current state of Richard Childress Racing, all things considered.

Busch also notably told LaJoie that "payback's coming" after LaJoie hooked him on the front straightaway at Pocono Raceway a few weeks ago, a move that basically summed up Busch's disappointing 2024 season up to this point.

Could that payback come in the form of Busch taking his ride, the ride he once figured to have through at least next year?

Could the decision to part ways with LaJoie early have been made because the team have learned Busch might indeed be available?

There is nothing concrete to suggest that Busch is considering a move to Spire Motorsports. But when the rumors started to emerge in the spring of 2022 that Busch could leave Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of the year, not much attention was paid to them, not even by some of the sport's most well-known insiders.

Yet one thing led to another, and he ended joining Richard Childress Racing for 2023 after all. With the seat of the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet available for 2025, could something similar happen here?