Justin Haley, Corey LaJoie to Swap Rides Starting at Kansas

By David Morgan, Associate Editor

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Trades are synonymous with nearly every major sport there is and now NASCAR is getting in on the action.

On Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway, Spire Motorsports and Rick Ware Racing announced that Saturday night’s Bass Pro Night Race will be the final race for their respective drivers, Corey LaJoie and Justin Haley, with the two drivers swapping rides for the remainder of the season starting next week at Kansas.

It will be a homecoming for Haley, who started his Cup Series career with Spire and won his first Cup race for the organization in just his third start at Daytona in 2019. He would run through the 2022 season with the team before moving over to Kaulig Racing and then Rick Ware Racing in the years since.

Over the Olympic break, the idea of Haley moving back to Spire was broached with the RWR brass, given that the team had already announced that LaJoie would not be returning to the No. 7 Chevrolet in 2025.

“Justin came to us over the Olympic break with a longer-term opportunity that would serve his career well,” said RWR president Robby Benton.

“We were sympathetic to his desires, as Justin committed to RWR early last year and has since played a key role in the growth of our organization. We didn’t want to compromise his growth or our own. In our talks with Justin following the break, we agreed to release him from his contract with RWR.”

With the cooperation of both teams and both manufacturers in Ford and Chevrolet, a deal was able to be worked out in short order for the drivers to swap places for the remainder of the season.

“Justin Haley is extraordinarily talented and we’re thrilled to welcome him back home and to have a young driver of his caliber behind the wheel of Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Chevrolet beginning next weekend at Kansas Speedway,” said Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson.

“We’re grateful to our friends at Rick Ware Racing for teeing up the idea of a trade between Justin and Corey as the 2024 season winds down. We think this is a great opportunity to get a head start on 2025 and to get Justin acclimated so we’re ready to put our best foot forward next season.”

Benton added that with LaJoie being a free agent of sorts at the end of the season, it only made sense to slot him into the No. 51 car for the remainder of the season. He noted that it’s not locked in that LaJoie will be the driver of that car in 2025, but from Kansas on, it gives the driver and team the opportunity to feel things out and see if both are a fit for a full-time opportunity.

“Obviously, we needed a new plan to maintain the momentum we’ve gained this year, and Corey LaJoie joining RWR allows us to keep moving forward,” Benton said. “These seven races provide a unique and unconventional opportunity to work together now and evaluate what we may be able to accomplish together going forward. Corey wants to continue his path toward winning in the NASCAR Cup Series, and so do we. We’re like-minded in that pursuit.

“What we’re trying to do is take advantage of an opportunity that I think helps everyone. For us, it gives us the last part of the season to evaluate how well we work together. I think we would be foolish not to lean into the opportunity to work with somebody like Corey. But we need to make sure that we can do what we need to do together. And that’s the unique opportunity that we can take in these last seven races.”

LaJoie explained that since it was announced he would not be returning to Spire in 2025, he has had opportunities to drop down to either the Xfinity Series or Truck Series, but he was committed to remaining in the Cup Series going forward and jumped at the chance to drive the RWR Ford.

“I had other opportunities with a couple people in different Xfinity series and Trucks, but I told Robbie several weeks ago, I said, man, all my chips are pushed onto the table to drive the 51,” LaJoie said.

“Because my guiding light my entire racing career since I’ve been eight years old was to be a Cup driver. It’s not to be an Xfinity driver. It’s not to be a Truck driver, it’s making as a Cup driver at the Cup level and racing against the very best. And it’s freaking hard ’cause these guys are the very best.

“Taking a step back and winning some races, and then watching guys who I know that I can compete against each and every week, go have fun and compete for wins on a Sunday, didn’t really sit right for me. So, I wanted to stick it out for this opportunity towards the end of the year, however long that took. But, you know, through Grace extended from Ford and Chevy and Jeff in a lot of ways and Spire, they kind of helped me start this chapter much earlier than what I expected.”

As for why Haley wanted to make the move back to Spire, the opportunity to reunite with the team that gave him his start was too advantageous to turn down, especially with championship winning crew chief Rodney Childers coming on board to helm the No. 7 team in 2025.

“Having someone like Rodney behind you and supporting you on the pit box is one of the biggest motivations you can have as a driver and a team,” said Haley.

“I’m really looking forward to working with Rodney. He brings a lot to the table, especially for a younger driver like me. He had lots of success with Kevin (Harvick) for several years, and I feel like we have similar aspects to each other. I’m looking forward to seeing what he has to say and how he approaches a race weekend. Obviously, every crew chief prepares and executes the weekend differently, so I’m ready to absorb all I can from him.”