Five races into the NASCAR Cup season and for some drivers and teams up is down and down is up.
One of them is Corey LaJoie and Spire Motorsports.
Last Sunday saw the No. 7 Chevrolet initially take the checkered flag at Atlanta Motor Speedway in sixth place. But after Christopher Bell was penalized for advancing his position below the double line on the backstretch, LaJoie moved up to fifth.
It’s LaJoie’s best finish in 169 Cup Series starts.
The achievement is more impressive given that the team was without suspended crew chief Ryan Sparks.
Heading to this weekend’s race at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, LaJoie has three top-15 finishes and is 24th in the points. That puts him ahead of Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, Cole Custer, Harrison Burton and Michael McDowell.
“For me, it’s not the end of the road,” LaJoie said Wednesday. “We’re just getting started. Starting the year with three top-15s here at Spire, I think should be celebrated as well. We are doing a lunch here with the guys here shortly, so definitely means a lot to those guys. We’ve asked those guys to work more than they probably ever signed up to work. Couple of our guys actually worked all-nighters through the West Coast swing to get cars turned around. To congratulate those guys and get those guys a solid run like that makes those guys feel like their work is just not lost.”
LaJoie’s top-five finish means he’s actually tied with all of Joe Gibbs Racing for top fives so far. JGR’s came from Kyle Busch at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The 30-year-old LaJoie isn’t allowing himself to think that dynamic will last.
“It is a little bit weird looking at the points,” LaJoie said. “I don’t think it is going to stay like that for long because you can’t keep a guy like Denny or Christopher Bell out of victory lane too long. Seeing the 11 car and the 20 car behind you in points five races into the year is a little bit unique, but we’re not racing those guys. Those guys will ultimately figure out (something) and punch their ticket to the playoffs. …
“I think the next month or so through these couple road courses and a couple short-tracks and then the dirt race (at Bristol), we’re going to try to gap ourselves and put a cushion between the guys who we feel like we can beat in points and hopefully we can finish in the top 25.”
LaJoie and Spire are potentially in a good situation to keep the good vibes going.
After the superspeedway racing at Atlanta, COTA provides a race where a car won’t be dependent on aero.
LaJoie, though, doesn’t have extensive road-course experience.
“Every single road course in my entire life has been in a Cup car,” LaJoie observed. “I haven’t raced K&N, Late Model, like nothing. Every single time I’ve been on a road course has been not a test session, not anywhere else, it’s been on live television in a Cup car. When you’re racing against guys like A.J. Allmendinger and guys that have been doing this their whole life, it’s a pretty big gap to close and you’ve got to close it quickly and adapt because you will get passed over for the next guy that can get the job done.
“I’ve had to really put in a lot of work with the shifter cart and a little bit of iRacing and we don’t get the OEM simulator to jump on there to knock the rust off, so you really just have to figure out what your weaknesses are and address them really quick.”
His goal for this year is to finish in the top 20 in all six road course races.
“Which would be a tough feat just for my lack of experience on it,” LaJoie said. “I wish I had the opportunity to race in trucks or Xfinity cars like a lot of these guys are plugging their drivers in to get some laps on Saturday before Sunday with limited amount of practice, but I don’t have those resources or tools to be able to do that, so I have to figure out how to bear down and get after it and have a good day on Sunday.”