Corey LaJoie will run a part-time NASCAR Cup Series schedule for Rick Ware Racing in 2025.
In addition to piloting the No. 01 Ford, he will serve as a race analyst for five faces on Amazon Prime Video.
“The Amazon piece is one of the reasons why this year is going to look a little bit different,” LaJoie, 33, told NASCAR.com. “When those guys were pursuing me towards the end of last year, I felt like there were things that were materializing in my life and doors that were opening from the Lord to allow me to see that there are other things that I can do outside of being a full-time Cup driver.
“My entire racing life, since I was 7 years old, I’ve been blindly focused on being a competitive race-winning Cup Series driver. I’ve worked and leveraged and did everything with that clear vision in mind. The way this past year went and the way my cards were dealt of not being in the right system at the right time, you can always Monday morning quarterback it because hindsight is always 20/20 as far as what you would change. But I think everything happened for a reason with the way my career had gone up to this point.”
LaJoie moved from Spire Motorsports to Rick Ware Racing last September. RWR announced earlier this month that Cody Ware will be its full-time driver this season.
RWR is leasing its second charger to RFK Racing in 2025, meaning that LaJoie, or whoever is behind the wheel of a second RWR entry, will have to go through race qualifying. His first attempt will come at the Feb. 16 Daytona 500, where he finished fourth last year.
LaJoie, who has 11 top-10 finishes but no wins in 272 career Cup Series starts, said the transition to broadcasting helped to reignite his passion for the sport.
“With the Amazon guys knocking on my door and I had fallen out of love with the sport a bit and became disenchanted with the sport, I was looking for ways to love it again,” LaJoie said. “I’ve never not liked it; it’s kind of like a marriage. There are days where you don’t like each other, but you always love each other, and that’s how my last 16 months of my career have been.”
LaJoie also announced the launch of his Stacking Pennies Performance Brand, named after his popular podcast.
–Field Level Media
