BRISTOL, Tenn. (Sept. 20, 2024) – With eight races left on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series calendar, two teams are making changes for the remainder of the season.
Rick Ware Racing (RWR) has acquired driver Corey LaJoie from Spire Motorsports, and Spire Motorsports has procured driver Justin Haley from RWR. Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway will be the last race for each driver with their current organizations. Beginning with next weekend’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, LaJoie will take over the No. 51 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for RWR, and Haley will drive the No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Spire Motorsports.
While LaJoie’s pending partnership with RWR will mark his first stint with the team, Haley’s upcoming drive with Spire Motorsports serves as a homecoming. Haley began his NASCAR Cup Series career with Spire Motorsports, winning the 2019 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway in just his third career NASCAR Cup Series start.
“Justin Haley is a very talented driver who has done a lot to help elevate RWR,” said Robby Benton, president, RWR. “Justin came to us over the Olympic break with a longer-term opportunity that would serve his career well. 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.
“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. 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.”
LaJoie comes to RWR after spending the last four seasons (2021-2024) at Spire Motorsports.
“Corey LaJoie has been a cornerstone of Spire Motorsports and we’re incredibly appreciative of all the time, effort and energy he has invested in our program. RWR is getting a workhorse in Corey. He’s dedicated to his craft and his tenacity brings out the best in those around him,” said Jeff Dickerson, co-owner, Spire Motorsports.
“We’ve known Justin Haley for many years and have been bullish on his talent from the beginning of his NASCAR career. Justin, and his win at Daytona, put us both on the map. It was a pivotal moment for his career and our organization. We’ve both grown since that day, as Justin has proven his talent in the Cup garage and he comes back to an organization that is very different from the one he left a few years ago. Getting back together now, rather than waiting until 2025, gives us an excellent opportunity to build a baseline and be a step ahead when we get to Daytona next February.”
LaJoie is a 32-year-old, third-generation racer who grew up near stock-car racing’s epicenter of Charlotte, North Carolina. Haley is a 25-year-old racer from Winamac, Indiana, who began his career on dirt tracks before transitioning to pavement racing. Both drivers have worked their way up the NASCAR ladder to the elite NASCAR Cup Series, competing in the ARCA Menards Series, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Saturday night’s race at Bristol will mark LaJoie’s 265th career NASCAR Cup Series start and it will be Haley’s 137th career NASCAR Cup Series start.
About Rick Ware Racing:
Rick Ware has been a motorsports mainstay for more than 40 years. It began at age 6 when the third-generation racer began his driving career and has since spanned four wheels and two wheels on both asphalt and dirt. Competing in the SCCA Trans Am Series and other road-racing divisions led Ware to NASCAR in the early 1980s, where he finished third in his NASCAR debut – the 1983 Warner W. Hodgdon 300 NASCAR Grand American race at Riverside (Calif.) International Raceway. More than a decade later, injuries would force Ware out of the driver seat and into fulltime team ownership. In 1995, Rick Ware Racing was formed, and with wife Lisa by his side, Ware has since built his eponymous organization into an entity that fields two fulltime entries in the NASCAR Cup Series while simultaneously campaigning successful teams in the Top Fuel class of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, the NTT INDYCAR Series, Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup, Progressive American Flat Track and FIM World Supercross Championship (WSX).
About Spire Motorsports:
Spire Motorsports is a NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race team co-owned by long-time NASCAR industry executives Jeff Dickerson and Thaddeus “T.J.” Puchyr. In 2024, Spire Motorsports campaigns the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1s in the NASCAR Cup Series with drivers Corey LaJoie, Zane Smith and Carson Hocevar, respectively. The team also fields the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet Silverados full time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. An all-star driver lineup will rotate throughout the 2024 season in the No. 7 Chevy. Rajah Caruth drives the No. 71 entry and Chase Purdy rounds out the team’s fleet of Silverados in the No. 77.
Spire Motorsports earned its inaugural NASCAR Cup Series victory in its first full season of competition when Justin Haley took the checkered flag in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway on July 7, 2019. Less than three years later, William Byron drove Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado to its inaugural NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win on April 7, 2022 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The team’s most recent win came on April 12, 2024, when Kyle Busch took the checkered flag in the SpeedyCash.com 250 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.
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