NASCAR Cup Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray

RFK pulled Corey Lajoie back into racing when he least expected

The third-generation racer had started to make peace with limited driving opportunities

For the next week and a half, Corey Lajoie is what he has been for much of this decade, a NASCAR Cup Series driver.

With Brad Keselowski suffering from a broken right femur suffered in a fall on ice during a family skiing trip on December 18, Lajoie got the call to race in the Cookout Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium in the famed RFK Racing No. 6. This is in addition to his previously scheduled start with RFK in the equally famous No. 99 at the Daytona 500.

Lajoie lost his full-time ride with Spire Motorsports at the end of the 2024 season. Since then, he’s dabbled in the Truck Series and also made a transition to television with Amazon Prime’s portion of the Cup Series schedule.

Even this year, he’s going to make some Truck Series starts alongside his television and podcasting schedule, continuing a weird phase of his life where Lajoie has wrestled with his identity in NASCAR.

“That’s a daily wrestle because it’s pretty straightforward when you’re chasing being a race car driver,” Lajoie said during a Wednesday press conference in advance of the Clash.

He said it was straightforward in 2012 when he won at Bowman Gray in the K&N West Series. He was on the path to following his father, two-time Busch Series champion Randy, to the highest levels of NASCAR.

Not only get there, but win races and compete for a championship, he said.

“I got close,” Lajoie said. “I reached the top of the spear as I had hoped. I wish there was always more, but transitioning, not necessarily voluntarily but transitioning to Prime, that group was unbelievable. I’m excited to run it back with those guys. I’m doing some truck stuff.

“Hanging out with my kids more. I’m trying to start up a business. All of these things are learning experiences and ultimately, it’s just taught me to hold things much closer and let the Lord take the wheel.”

Lajoie says if that leads to more racing, ‘that is great’ and he will give it everything he has. But more importantly, Lajoie just wants to be more present in his everyday life.

“It’s been a confusing journey of sorts lately, but it’s been nice to have a central focus, whether it be this week preparing for the Clash or certainly next week for the 500 to really lock in and focus,” Lajoie said. “In racing, your goals are really clear. It’s to prepare and do a better job than the next guy, and I’m glad I get to have that clear-cut goal for the next two weeks.”

Lajoie says he’s playing with house money these first two weeks of the season at The Clash and Daytona 500.

“Just when I was starting to grasp the idea that the window is closed being a race car driver then this opportunity arose,” he said. “I hate it for Brad. I saw him yesterday and he’s as sharp as he’s ever been. He’s getting around well, so I’m excited for him to be back in the fold next week, but this opportunity has been awesome.

“I think there’s always pressure. If you don’t feel the pressure, then you don’t understand the gravity of what the opportunity is, and just to remind myself that I’ve been doing it for a long time and I’ve been doing it at a high level, so for those guys to tap me as the guy that can be in the 6 car and feel like I can do a good job is certainly an honor.

“It’s been cool to be in the mix and prep in the sim again, kind of knocking the rust off, but when the rubber hits the road here shortly hopefully we shake out pretty good.”