Priority number one for Corey Lajoie every day of the week inevitably comes back to winning on Sundays in the NASCAR Cup Series, but his heart is never far from the pavement short track community that has shaped his entire family for generations.
He also wants to race anything he can get his hands on.
More than racing, Lajoie loves winning, which makes his NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory in October at Martinsville Speedway one of the highlights of his career. It’s not lost on the third-generation racer that his top flight opportunities are far and few between so winning for Rob Fuller was also good for his pride.
“I look at that clock every day when I get home,” Lajoie told Short Track Scene during a Wednesday NASCAR teleconference. “When you win against the likes of Matt Hirschman, Jimmy Blewett, Ron Silk in one of their crown jewels, it certainly means a lot.”
Lajoie is set to continue that relationship for the Tour races at Richmond, New Hampshire at Martinsville.
The Cup Series driver for Spire Motorsports also has a lengthy history in Super Late Model racing and has become more interested in Late Model Stocks over the past several years with CARS Tour becoming more prominent within the industry.
He no longer has his own Super Late Model but that doesn’t mean he isn’t interested in racing them.
“I would love to drive a Late Model Stock, particularly at Wilkesboro or something like that,” Lajoie said. “I have a great friendship with Justin Marks. Dale (Earnhardt) Jr. and Kevin Harvick have worked closely with us in the driver’s advisory council. There might be something in the works for a CARS Tour race, potentially.
“I love short track racing. I love Modifieds and I’m excited for those companion races. I would love to race Supers, but man, it’s just expensive. I can kind of justify owning my own, but at the same time, I don’t want to be a car owner.
“Any second I spend at the shop on a Super, Late Model Stock or Modified, that’s time I’m taking away from my kids at a time where I’m already leaving them three days every week.”
But again, that doesn’t mean he’s closing the door on driving, but just ownership.
“I’m at a point in my life where I need to choose my family and my job,” he said. “And my job, really, has turned into the media work and the podcast. Driving a Cup car has become my hobby and that’s a really comfortable place to be in with my life.
“But I’ll drive anyone’s car any day of the week. I just don’t want to work on it at this point.”
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