Denny Hamlin claims that Corey LaJoie has consistently been outperformed by his teammate.
Corey LaJoie and Denny Hamlin (Via IMAGO)
The 2023 NASCAR Cup season saw a resurgence in Corey LaJoie’s performance, who had faced difficulties in previous years. Despite driving a Spire Motorsports Chevy that was rarely considered a top-15 car, LaJoie consistently competed within the top-15, finishing 25th in the championship. However, this year has been a different story, as LaJoie has failed to achieve notable results.
LaJoie’s best performance this season came at the Superspeedway, where he finished fourth in the Daytona 500, his only top-10 finish of the season. In the last 15 races, he finished within the top-20 only four times and had six disappointing results outside the top-30. As a result, JGR veteran Denny Hamlin believes LaJoie may have lost his competitiveness.
During his podcast, Hamlin pointed out that compared to last year, LaJoie’s performance in 2024 has been disappointing. He emphasized that the team only had one strong performance at the Superspeedways, while his teammate is now consistently running in the top-15, a position LaJoie used to occupy last season.
Spire made the decision to promote Carson Hocevar directly to the Cup Series after his impressive performance in the Truck Series. From the start, the young driver proved that the team made the right choice. Hamlin highlighted that Hocevar consistently outperformed his veteran teammate on the track.
It will be interesting to see how the dynamics between LaJoie and Hocevar unfold at Spire. If LaJoie fails to bounce back in 2024, the team may decide to invest even more in their young star, as he represents their future.
