Corey Lajoie stopped by one of his favorite coffee shops on the way to Rockingham Speedway on Friday morning.
Local Patriot Roasting Company
While there, and after placing his order, engaged in a conversation that kind of encapsulated the head space for the 34-year-old heading into this new opportunity in the Craftsman Truck Series with RAM and Kaulig Racing.
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“We were just chopping it up while I’m waiting on my coffee,” Lajoie told Motorsport.com on Friday. “I’ve got this shirt on and he asks, ‘do you work for a RAM dealership’ and I’m like ‘kind of’ and then I tell him I work for RAM in NASCAR.
“He goes, ‘man, you got a cool job,’and I’m like, ‘yeah, it’s a pretty cool job,’ and I haven’t always thought about it because there was always the next thing I needed to do, the next step in the rung of where I wanted to go, but I left there thinking this is my cool job for the foreseeable future.”
With the parting of ways between Kaulig, RAM and Daniel Dye, Lajoie got the call from team president Chris Rice and company and said it was ‘a pretty quick yes,’ but not for the reasons some might think.
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“I miss working towards a goal,” Lajoie said. “I have this carbon fiber short track seat business that’s had some set-backs but it’s coming along but I like the stress and the constant battle within yourself.
“I like being part of a team and in the trenches, within the nitty gritty of packers and shims, and set-up philosophies. Where this RAM project is at right now, they need someone like that, right?”
Daniel Dye, #10 Kaulig Racing Ram
Daniel Dye, #10 Kaulig Racing Ram
To wit, this Kaulig and RAM project is the ultimate NASCAR DIY program because it’s only four races old and doesn’t even have an operational simulation program yet. That’s coming along through Pratt Miller but it’s going to take some time.
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In the meanwhile, RAM and Kaulig needed someone driving that No. 10 truck that knows what direction this program is supposed to go and what it’s supposed to feel like. After all, he’s been part of building a project out before at Spire.
“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, right?
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“Right when we got to the point where we were getting good people in the building and the cars were getting faster, they made a hard decision and I don’t have any ill-will towards those guys, but it just took the wind out of my sails.”
Lajoie said it took him about a year to figure out there was more to life than making it to Cup, succeeding in Cup, and eventually winning at the highest level. And when it seemed like that chapter ended, Lajoie didn’t entirely know what to do with himself.
The controversial ’12 fans’ comment
He made some mistakes, telling FOX Sports that he didn’t want to take a Truck Series ride, and ‘race in front of 12 fans.’ He was just not in the right head space to contemplate a life outside of the Cup Series.
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“It was wrong,” he said. “I felt defensive. I felt all these things. I was still trying to keep a seat at the table. But with this deal being on Fridays, no sim yet, and the workload being pretty low, it was an easy yes.
“But once we get this stuff going, I’ll be going over to Pratt Miller more, and be at the shop more. But right now, it’s an easy place for me to want to be because I show up at meetings, shake hands, go to battle at the track, and it’s ‘see you next Friday.’
“Big picture, this is a good opportunity with a high ceiling when you consider the tools Kaulig Racing has and the people they have in the building. Then you consider the expectations that RAM has on and off the race track, I believe this has a higher ceiling that what we had at Spire.”
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A pathway back to Cup?
It’s not lost on Lajoie that RAM parent company Stellantis is working towards a return to the Cup Series with the Dodge marque and this might be a chance for him to finish the story he was denied at Spire.
“Ultimately, I have to win, right,” Lajoie said. “That’s always the knock on Corey Lajoue. ‘I have the same number of wins as Corey Lajoie.’ That’s what they say. I see it. But again, I have chosen to take the long road without a destination and we were getting to a destination with Spire but never got to see it fully to fruition.
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“Hopefully we can see something to fruition. I don’t know what that is yet. I sure would love to win. I sure would love to help.”
Lajoie says the difference between himself at Spire and himself now is that he wants to be a mentor to his teammates. He says he wants to see Brenden Queen and Mini Tyrrell succeed. He called a post-practice meeting at Rockingham just because he felt like it would be a productive thing to do.
“I’ve had a peek behind the curtains at Hendrick,” Lajoie said. “I had a peek behind the curtain at RFK. I feel like I have an idea of what those teams do that make them successful. I want to contribute here and hopefully we can see some progress happen over the course of the year.”
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Specifically, Lajoie believes the RAM Kaulig program should regularly be racing for top-10s come the start of the Chase for the Championship. All told, he spoke with a sense of purpose on Friday that was a little different than the Corey Lajoie the industry would recognize.
Corey LaJoie
Corey LaJoie
Is there something to that?
“I don’t know,” Lajoie said. “I just think, with the chapter of life that I’m in, where I’m not trying at all costs to be a Cup Series winner or champion, and all the selfish pursuits I had behind the wheel …
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“Now, I just like the community. I like having this battalion of people that I go to the race track with. So this is a different approach, much less selfish, and just holding it loosely. If I’m not careful, I will live and die with this in a way that’s not healthy.”
He doesn’t want to get sucked into things that way but he does want to be part of the solution towards building the best Kaulig Racing and RAM Truck Series team possible.
“Granted, Rockingham is my favorite race track in the entire world, but I can’t remember the last time I was this excited to drive to the race track,” he said. “I mean, Daytona with RFK, I was optimistic, and content, but I didn’t want it to go bad and it went the worst way possible.”
He missed the Daytona 500.
“But today, it’s like, man, even if it goes bad, I am excited to be a damn race car driver today.”
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