It has been over two years since Corey LaJoie was siphoned out of a full-time role. In mid-2024, the now-34-year-old veteran could not cope with rookie driver Carson Hocevar’s talents. The latter became the name of the game at Spire Motorsports, a team with which LaJoie had spent four years. Now, as LaJoie makes a limited return in 2026, his enthusiasm is spilling over into the community. And the latter certainly does not appreciate it.

Corey LaJoie’s confidence knows no bounds

“People that know… guys like Brad (Keselowski) that have raced around me, those guys know if I’m with the right group that believes in me and gives me the right stuff to jump in there, I can get the job done as well as anybody,” Corey LaJoie told Kelly Crandall and Doug Rice of SiriusXM. “Am I a Hall of Fame guy? No. But at the peak of my abilities, I feel like I was a top-10 Cup guy. And that’s not something many people can say that are trying to go for these seats.”

These bold words came from the driver on the cusp of his 2026 plans. Corey LaJoie will drive the No. 99 Trimble Ford under RFK Racing in the Feb. 15 season opener, the Daytona 500. He will look to join full-time drivers Brad Keselowski, Chris Buescher, and Ryan Preece in the “Great American Race.” Additionally, he will replace Keselowski for the Cook Out Clash at the beginning of February, as the driver continues to recover from a broken leg.

These massive responsibilities have thrown Corey LaJoie‘s capabilities in the spotlight. He did make it to the topmost tier of stock car racing, but LaJoie’s achievements have been few. In 276 Cup Series starts, he’s yet to visit victory lane. No trophy has landed his way in Trucks or Xfinity either. In four seasons and 142 races with Spire, LaJoie had just eight top-10 finishes. What’s more, LaJoie has just three top 10s in nine Daytona 500 appearances.

Despite his string of lackluster performances, Corey LaJoie made a case for himself. “I sacrificed four years of my career trying to do an upstart team, and you essentially relegate yourself hoping to build the team where it’s a good spot and they can get some sponsors,” he said. “That’s what I was committed to do. And as soon as we got to a decent place and they hired some smart guys they cut my head off.”

These words did not exactly strike a warm chord among fans.

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A shower of roasts from the community

Well, Corey LaJoie’s comments on self-adoration did not elicit sympathy from NASCAR fans. Calling oneself a top ten driver in a sport filled with legendary drivers is bold, and the first thing that people brought up was LaJoie’s actual stats. “Top 10 driver in NASCAR has exactly 0 combined wins in the top 3 series,” someone wrote.

Another fan broached Corey LaJoie’s departure from Spire when he was replaced by another developing talent. Justin Haley is still better, with one win, six top-five, and 18 top-10 finishes. “Yeah, hard to be a top 10 driver out of 40 when you weren’t even top 3 out of… 3, considering you got booted for Justin Haley.”

Others made a total laughing stock out of the 34-year-old NASCAR icon. Corey LaJoie is probably known for his verbal stunts more than his wheeling stunts. So a fan dropped a WWE reference: “This guy has to be playing a character. Like a WWE heel.” Somebody else also poked fun at LaJoie’s actually dire circumstances. “Corey isn’t even one of the top 10 unemployed drivers,” they wrote.

Another fan tried to dissect the reason for Corey LaJoie’s confident claims. LaJoie has made just four Cup Series starts in 2025, without much notice. Since the driver has been out of the racetrack spotlight for some time, the fan wrote, “This has to be some type of elaborate scheme by LaJoie, if he wasn’t continually acting like a pompous ass we wouldn’t be talking about him right? Bad publicity is still publicity? Right?”

Clearly, Corey LaJoie is not drumming up the highest enthusiasm among fans. Let’s wait and see how his performance unfolds in NASCAR’s new season.