Corey LaJoie wasted no time in making a name for himself with Kaulig Racing, clinching a seventh-place finish at the Rockingham Speedway. Replacing Daniel Dye, LaJoie was brilliant from start to finish and even got praise from NASCAR legend Mark Martin.
Mark Martin comments on Corey LaJoie’s breakthrough result for Kaulig
After Daniel Dye made controversial comments online, he came under heavy scrutiny from his team, Kaulig Racing, as well as NASCAR. Within days, the driver went from suspension to reinstatement to resigning from his team.
This led to Kaulig announcing Corey LaJoie as the replacement for Dye in the #10 Truck for the remainder of the 2026 season. With a lot of expectations going into the race, LaJoie did what Dye couldn’t: finish inside the top 10.
His racing helped him earn a shoutout from Mark Martin. “Well, @CoreyLaJoie got a top 10 with that Ram truck,” Martin wrote on X.
Well @CoreyLaJoie got a top 10 with that Ram truck.
— Mark Martin (@markmartin) April 3, 2026
While it does not indicate a direct dig at Dye, there was a clear message as he was struggling and did not have a lot of good races before his comments saw him get suspended, and eventually, he himself decided to step away from the sport.
The seventh-place finish in Rockingham was great news for LaJoie, as he has found himself without a job after being ousted by Spire at the end of 2024.
Following his top 10 finish at Rockingham for Kaulig, LaJoie claimed, “I’d like to think I’m a pretty decent race car driver, so I can drive these things in their top 10. And that’s what we did.”
Now that he’s driving for RAM, which is in its first NASCAR season in a long time, Corey LaJoie mentioned how he’s used to working with new manufacturers and teams his whole career.
“That’s why I don’t have a lot of trophies cause I’ve just been here committed to doing the dog days and doing the dirty work, so I don’t mind doing that,” he added.
Before Kaulig called up LaJoie for his services for the #10 Truck, he ran for Henderson Motorsports at Daytona, where he finished outside the top 30. He had also previously raced for Kaulig at Darlington in the #25 Truck, finishing in 21st place.
Corey LaJoie shares details about his driving style
Over the course of his time in NASCAR across the three divisions, Corey LaJoie has over 300 starts to his name. However, he has not won a single race in any of those starts in any of the series.
LaJoie stated that it was due to his style of driving, which he has developed over his career.
“If you look at my Racing Reference, there’s nothing sexy about it,” Lajoie said. “Why? Because I have chosen the hard way of getting in with teams that were in a deficit for six or seven years in my career, especially at Spire, starting with nothing. And we built that into a place where it became a respectable organization. We had great partners, and it took a lot of wind out of my sails when I felt like that rug was ripped out from under me.”
LaJoie claimed that right at the time he and Spire were getting to a place of visible progress in results, the team made ‘a hard decision’ as they decided to let him go.
The stint at Kaulig Racing is certainly a chance for LaJoie to prove his ability as a driver. It will be interesting to see if he can finally manage to utilise his talents as a driver and secure his first win in NASCAR.
