Veterans of a sport look out for each other. Corey LaJoie, the driver who encountered heartbreak last year, is on a new path in 2025. His four-year stint with Spire Motorsports screeched to an end, as he could not match his team’s drastic progress. Following a mid-season team swap, a seven-race run with Rick Ware Racing also could not help LaJoie protect his full-time Cup status. Even after this, he would choose the NASCAR Cup Series.
Many people like fans and officials in the Craftsman Truck Series alike, bashed him for his opinions. How dare he fail to win a single Cup race and still shrug off a move to Trucks or Xfinity? Thankfully, the most experienced Xfinity Series veteran, Kenny Wallace, helped provide valid answers to that – overturning the public eye.
Corey LaJoie receives stamp of approval
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Well, the Chevrolet driver ruffled the feathers of a lot of prominent stars last year. Corey LaJoie bumped into 63-time Cup race winner Kyle Busch at Pocono Raceway. Then he spun out seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson at Kansas Speedway. These incidents rubbed salt in the wounds of his reputation as LaJoie was already struggling to keep up with rookie Carson Hocevar. Now, his comments about the Trucks and Xfinity did not help. “Do you wanna go and pump the ego up and hold a trophy on a Friday when there’s twelve people in the grandstands? No. I wanna compete against the best.” So LaJoie is going to pilot the No. 01 RWR Ford in a limited Cup Series schedule.
Reaume Brothers Racing team owner Josh verbally lashed out at Corey LaJoie’s disrespectful words. However, Kenny Wallace, who has accumulated 547 Xfinity Series starts in his career, admitted that it is the bitter truth. “Corey’s right and it was hard for people to hear.” Wallace’s Xfinity starts are the most in the series, and add up to his total NASCAR starts of 905. He also owns nine Xfinity Series race wins along with 66 top-fives. Despite that, Wallace admitted that the value of all that is lesser than NCS. “People would say to me… ‘Is the Xfinity Series NASCAR?’ That would piss me off… would hurt my feelings. But they were right.”
Corey LaJoie also admitted that he needs to stick to his sponsors’ promises. They want him to go Cup racing, and he will oblige. Kenny Wallace supported that, revealing the sport’s harsh financial truth. Wallace continued, “All the money and all the eyes are on Sunday… I’m going to hurt some feelings today, but ain’t nobody give a flying f–k about the Xfinity Series or the Truck Series… I ran 20th in the Cup Series all the time, and I made five times the money doing it… It’s all fine to hear that, ‘Oh I’m winning in the Xfinity Series’, but it does not pay the bills.”
Wallace helped upturn the bitter approach towards Corey LaJoie a little bit. However, supportive fans helped move that further.
NASCAR fans rhyme in support
Besides nurturing a big base of haters, Corey LaJoie also holds together a supportive and loyal fanbase. That is largely thanks to his popular podcast ‘Stacking Pennies’. In 2025, he will work on creating the Stacking Pennies Performance Brand. Many of his fans praised Kenny Wallace or Herm’s words. “Herm, I like how you tell it like it is!”
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LaJoie will also serve as a race analyst for Prime Video’s five Cup Series races. Such an orator is bound to be outspoken, and Wallace just helped drive that home for another fan. “We all beg for honesty and personalities and then when someone is honest and not cookie cutter we crucify them. God is great, beer is good and people are CRAZY 😜” Somebody else hyped up Wallace himself for standing up for LaJoie. The Xfinity veteran is an outspoken star himself and has the most loyal fanbase. “Good Morning Herm!! Preach the TRUTH!!”
Granted, Corey LaJoie’s Cup Series stats have never been impressive. He has not reached the peaks of fame as his father Randy LaJoie, 1996 and 1997 Xfinity champion, or Don LaJoie, a of the New England Auto Racing Hall of Fame. Despite that, a fan emphasized that LaJoie works hard, and appreciated Wallace for pointing it out. “Sometimes people just can’t handle the truth. Glad you’re here to do some straight shootin’ and giving us the inside skinny from someone who would definitely know. I’m not sure why Corey gets the flack I’ve seen over the last year. I watch stacking pennies on the regular I don’t get the feeling he’s entitled. There are a few running cup I feel are and don’t see them getting the criticism. I’m with you on this one 💯”
Somebody also broached the icky topic of comparing NCS with NASCAR’s lower tiers. Justin Allgaier owns 25 Xfinity race wins and just clinched the 2024 championship – yet his fame does not compare with his Cup Series parallels. A fan agreed with Corey LaJoie that Xfinity cannot compete with Cup’s fame. “Xfinity used to have full stands years ago, I don’t know why it’s so dead now because in my opinion Xfinity puts on more consistent good racing. But also yes I’m a huge Cup fan.”
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Evidently, Kenny Wallace cleared up some bitter views about Corey LaJoie. Despite the criticism, the latter will embark on a jam-packed schedule for 2025, involving racing and broadcasting alike.