DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Corey LaJoie so badly wanted to race in the Daytona 500 that he gambled his children's college fund to secure a seat in “The Great American Race.”
LaJoie was let go last season from Spire Motorsports and closed out the year driving the final six races with Rick Ware Racing with no promise of 2025 work. Ware was willing to field a second car at Daytona International Speedway, but it would be a driver who brought the financial funding for the effort.
LaJoie, who has welcomed three sons since 2020, grabbed their college fund and turned it over to Ware to make sure another driver wouldn't snag the No. 01 Ford before he could find sponsorship.
He said he handed over the money “in January to make sure nobody else got the car.”
“I was probably dumb enough to let my chips ride on the table and try to make this race on my own dime,” LaJoie said. “It was all of my kids’ college fund rolled into one race."
LaJoie said the cost for the seat was “four zeros, one comma," but he was made whole before he arrived at Daytona International Speedway when sponsors “DuraMAX and Take 5 came in at the last minute and took me off the hook.”
Everything is bonus money from here as LaJoie raced his way into the field in one of Thursday night's qualifying races. He and Cody Ware will give RWR two cars in Sunday's race and strengthen Ford's presence in an event in which manufacturers need to help each other to be competitive.
LaJoie will run a limited Cup Series schedule with RWR this year and also be an analyst for Amazon Prime Video’s portion of the Cup Series schedule. He's using the platforms to build his Stacking Pennies Performance Brand.
The No. 01 is meant to represent the “Stacking Pennies” concept LaJoie has developed around the idea that small victories lead to greater success. His Stacking Pennies podcast is one of NASCAR’s most popular.
RWR has not announced how many races LaJoie will enter but he's in the biggest show of the year.
“I was at peace with letting that amount of money go as a bit of a faith tester,” LaJoie said. “It was like every day for weeks, and it got down to the 11th hour, right? I’m not sure what the future holds quite yet, but I’m excited that the first box we set out to check was coming down here and making the ‘Great American Race,’ and that’s what we did.”
LaJoie finished fourth in last year’s Daytona 500 driving for Spire.
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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
Jenna Fryer, The Associated Press
