Spire Motorsports is a team that has yet to reach that level where they can challenge for championships consistently, but Dale Earnhardt Jr would want to see them get to that level. Some may argue that veteran race car driver Corey LaJoie would be the perfect man to take them to the pinnacle, but as per Junior, there is a threat in the team for the 32-year-old. The name of that threat? Carson Hocevar.

The 21-year-old burst onto the Cup Series scene with multiple top-20 finishes last season when he ran part-time with Legacy Motor Club. As a result of his performances, Hocevar became one of the few people to directly make the jump from the Truck Series to the Cup Series in 2024. In his first four rookie season races, he has earned two top-15s and one top-20 finish, which is highly impressive considering that this is his first year.

Will Spire Motorsports’ “wrecking ball” be a threat to Corey LaJoie?

This will put a lot of pressure on Corey LaJoie, who is yet to win a race in the Cup despite it being his seventh year in the series as a full-timer. The 32-year-old is a highly skilled and meticulous driver but has never driven for a top team. On one hand, Spire Motorsports is far from being a series title contender or show dominating performances according to many. However, on the other hand, with the investments that have come in this season, the future could be bright for Jeff Dickerson’s outfit. But who will be their lead driver?

Junior believes that Carson Hocevar was brought in to push Corey LaJoie to the next level so that the team management can see if the veteran race car driver really has what it takes to lead the team into the future. It will be a tough task for the 32-year-old because Hocevar hates to lose and can be very aggressive on track. However, if LaJaoie cannot hang in this pressure situation, it may signal the end of his time with Spire Motorsports.

“Which driver is the best driver at Spire? That’s going to be a conversation this year. Corey has been the guy, we all think Corey can do it. I’ve seen Corey racing in K&N, ARCA every time he…he’s a hands-on guy, knows how to set up a race car, sharp guy, and a good driver. But Hocevar, everything that he’s jumped in, he’s been fast. He’s a wrecking ball. Out of control sometimes but can make the lap time, no question. And if he can get better and clean up all the other mistakes, he’s gonna have run like he did this past weekend. What does that mean? I don’t think that’s good news for Corey,” Junior said in a recent episode of The Dale Jr Download podcast.

So far, their results have been more or less comparable. LaJoie has one top 5 and two top 15 finish in the first four races after barring The Clash. However, the other two races saw him finish outside of the top 30. In fact, he broke one of the longest-running streaks in the Cup Series in Phoenix when he suffered a DNF for the first time in a whopping 44 races.

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Hocevar had qualified better than his teammate in the race, starting in the top 10, but Corey LaJoie ran superbly well to make it near the top 15. However, disaster struck in stage 3 when Joey Logano was spun out by John Hunter Nemechek causing a wreck that collected several cars, including the #7 of the veteran race car driver. After the race, LaJoie spoke about the wreck and said that he was not happy about it, but it happened after a very long time to him, which is commendable.

“I just saw the 22 going backwards in a hurry and had nowhere to go. We just fought, clawed and got back on the lead lap, super happy about that and got ourselves in decent position there trying to work back towards. I feel like we had a top-15 car again, which I’m super confident about the kind of cars we’re bringing to the race track. It just sucks. First DNF in a while, you don’t like them but fewer and far between is always good,” the 32-year-old said as per On3.

He sounded calm, but deep down, he knows that he has to outperform his rookie teammate this year no matter how fast or talented he may be. Corey LaJoie’s future may be on the line and for a racer who has been in the game as long as he has, we might just see a side of him that we have not seen on the track yet.

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