“He wins all the time because he’s up front all the time” - Corey LaJoie on wanting to emulate Joey Logano
Corey LaJoie had an impressive outing at the Atlanta Motors Speedway, taking home a career-best fourth-place finish. The Spire Motorsports driver bettered his fifth-place finish at the same track last year.
Corey LaJoie climbed out of his car to see his childhood friend and fellow racer Joey Logano win his first race of the season. He was left in awe watching the reigning champion execute a flawless race.
The 31-year-old praised Logano's ability to position himself in race-winning situations as he said in a post-race interview:
"To get another career best here...I don't expect to show up and instantly win a race. You have to keep putting yourself in these positions, like Joey (Logano). That is why he wins all the time, because he's up front all the time."
A great day for Corey LaJoie at Atlanta. #NASCAR https://t.co/GQVL18jTYp
Corey LaJoie was satisfied with a fourth-place finish considering he had a chance to win the race. When the white flag dropped LaJoie behind Logano on the bottom pushed the #22 car to attack the leader Brad Keselowski. Logano successfully pulled off the move venturing into the top lane. LaJoie was helpless as he stayed in the bottom lane and finished fourth.
He expressed his delight at the fourth-place finish saying:
"It feels great, It's like this taboo, second sucks. Fourth is great. Fourth is great for our CELSIUS Camaro and our small team. Just a great points day. We started off the year, West Coast swing, really solid. To come back here, a bit of a crapshoot."
The #7 Spire Motorsports team has had a decent start to the season as LaJoie stands 14th in the driver's standings. The team has vastly improved compared to the previous year when they were outside the top 20 after five races.
He continues to Stack those Pennies!
A career-best day for @CoreyLaJoie this afternoon. https://t.co/HGP2VfjxtF
Corey LaJoie added about the team's dire situation compared to others and the efforts they put into the race every weekend. He said:
"It’s freaking hard, Five races in, a team like ours gets buried. It’s just like the week-after-week preparation. We’re just trying to get, a lot of times, just the cars done in the truck to go, whereas some of your teams are two or three weeks out and just massaging on it."
The Charlotte native is hoping that the team continues its consistent runs to build on the momentum and grab an outside chance of a playoff berth.
Joey Logano delighted to see Corey LaJoie finish fourth
While celebrating his race win, Joey Logano commended the efforts put in by Corey LaJoie and his team. The #22 driver admitted that he was not surprised by LaJoie finishing in the top five.
The reigning Cup Series champion said in a post-race interview:
"It’s a great day for them. I don’t think many of us are surprised by it. Toward the end, I was like, ‘Oh, there he is. Where has he been all day?’ Corey just kind of popped up there at the end."
He added:
"They’ve obviously given him a really good-handling racecar that can go fast and allow him to make some good moves on the racetrack."