NASCAR veteran announces surprise departure after the 2024 season

Despite the fact that he signed a multi-year contract extension to remain with Spire Motorsports last summer, Corey LaJoie will not be back for what would have been a fifth season behind the wheel of the No. 7 Chevrolet in 2025.

LaJoie issued a statement confirming his departure to The Athletic, which was the first outlet to report that the 2024 season would be his last with his current team.

The 32-year-old Charlotte, North Carolina native joined Spire Motorsports in 2021 as their first ever full-time driver after competing for Go Fas Racing in 2019 and 2020, his first two full seasons in the Cup Series.

Corey LaJoie out at Spire Motorsports

In 128 starts with the team, LaJoie has recorded six top 10 finishes, including four inside the top five. His top finishes are all fourth place finishes in superspeedway races, one at each of Atlanta Motor Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, and Daytona International Speedway.

The 2023 season was the first season in which LaJoie had a full-time teammate during his Cup Series career, and he finished in a career-high 25th place in the point standings, seven positions and nearly 250 points ahead of teammate Ty Dillon.

But in 2024, Spire Motorsports expanded to three cars, and LaJoie finds himself in 28th place in the point standings, five spots behind rookie teammate Carson Hocevar. He is still five spots ahead of rookie teammate Zane Smith, but Smith recently recorded a career-high finish of second at Nashville Superspeedway amid an uptick in form.

Sitting 228 points below the playoff cut line with four races remaining on the regular season schedule, LaJoie needs to win if he is to secure his first career playoff berth this year.

The announcement of LaJoie's impending departure comes after it was confirmed that Stewart-Haas Racing crew chief Rodney Childers is set to join Spire Motorsports in 2025 after Stewart-Haas Racing's shutdown, and he is set to do so atop the pit box for the No. 7 team.

With LaJoie said to have been under contract through 2025, it was assumed that he would continue to drive the No. 7 car, but now it is unknown who Childers' first driver will be at his new team.

Hocevar is expected to return to the team for a second season in 2025, but with LaJoie out, it is unknown which cars he and McDowell will drive. Despite LaJoie's departure, it is still believed that Smith will move elsewhere.