Corey LaJoie thought he missed the call of a lifetime when he woke up to a voicemail from Rick Hendrick on Wednesday morning.
But luckily, the NASCAR Cup Series team owner answered when LaJoie rung him back later in the morning. Over the next four days, the 31-year-old compared his life to “drinking water out of a fire hose.”
The fateful call was regarding a fill-in opportunity for LaJoie behind the wheel of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
Though Chase Elliott typically pilots the No. 9, NASCAR’s most popular driver was dealt a one-race suspension due to his intentional wrecking of Denny Hamlin during Monday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. As such, Hendrick was shopping for a replacement driver for Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway.
“It was just like — ‘Hey Corey, it’s Rick Hendrick here. Just wanted to let you know that I’m excited you’re filling in under this circumstance. Appreciate the help and I know you’re going to do us a good job,’” LaJoie said, relaying what he remembered from Hendrick’s voicemail.
LaJoie thought he was being “punked” on Tuesday afternoon when he received a text about the potential fill-in opportunity from Jeff Dickerson, co-owner of Spire Motorsports, which is LaJoie’s full-time Cup Series team.
“He was like, ‘No, no, it’s happening,’” LaJoie said.
The North Carolina native admittedly wrestled with nerves and self-doubt through the night, prior to his phone call from Hendrick. He then arrived at the team’s race shop at 7:15 a.m. on Wednesday to discuss the opportunity with Alan Gustafson, crew chief of the No. 9.
At 8:30 a.m., LaJoie was settled in the simulator to prepare to race at the 1.25-mile course at Gateway. But by then, he’d already detected the gravity of the situation.
“You go to the shop and you walk in there for the first five minutes and you realize just the collective focus of the group. Their goal is to win races and championships. You can walk through the lobby and you can tell why they’re so successful,” LaJoie commented.
It’s been eight years since LaJoie made his Cup Series debut. The 31-year-old has made 214 starts in his career, with two top-five and six top-10 finishes.
Experience will certainly be his side when he straps into the No. 9, but Sunday afternoon will be the first time LaJoie has been seated in the best equipment in the business.
“My life is a video game right now. It’s just nonstop progression, failure and just falling short time and time again, but keep taking steps forward toward the goal of getting to the position that I’m in right now. It’s been wild,” LaJoie said.
After witnessing Hendrick Motorsports’ preparation methods firsthand, LaJoie is also looking forward to bringing a renewed mindset to his No. 7 Spire Motorsports team once his week with Hendrick concludes.
“I’ve been here three days and my philosophy of how I approach a weekend, how I prepare, how I’m going to engage with my team at Spire Motorsports going forward is going to change,” LaJoie said.
He’s already been putting in the work to become a new “Corey LaJoie” for the better part of a year, laying the groundwork for an opportunity such as this.
Quick-Witted LaJoie Eyes Victory Lane
“So the last six or eight months, maybe a little less than that, have been like me preparing for today just not knowing if it’d ever come,” LaJoie said. “Leaning into the work and just not making excuses or exceptions to the pursuit of the person that you want to be. Not the person that you are, but the person you’re striving to be.
“And then you go to Hendrick (Motorsports) and you see that there’s 500 people over there that have the same mentality. And you’re like, that’s why they’re so freaking good.”
LaJoie will start 30th in Sunday afternoon’s 240-lap race.
While qualifying proved to be a little topsy-turvy, the North Carolina native is eager to quiet the outside noise and conjecture once his helmet goes on.
“It’s going to be fun to be able to dice it up and be sitting on equally fast horses as those guys for the first time,” LaJoie said.
Interestingly, Lajoie’s father, two-time NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Randy LaJoie, drove eight Cup Series races for Hendrick Motorsports in 1998, replacing injured driver Ricky Craven.