1 month agoAlthough Corey LaJoie became the butt of jokes after a string of crashes last summer, he is actually quite serviceable at Daytona, especially in the Daytona 500. He has never crashed out of this race in eight previous starts and his average finish of 10.2 over the last five Daytona 500s is actually the best in the field. Furthermore, the Rick Ware Racing cars have generally done an excellent job of avoiding wrecks at Daytona, as 7 of RWR's 11 top tens have come there. Even though he is inexpensive on DFS at $5,700, the fact that he is starting 12th means the number of points he can gain relative to other drivers is limited and he is probably not worth considering there. Since it is Ware, betting on him for the win at 70-1 likely isn't a good value either, but he is possibly a good bet for a top ten at +260.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2 months agoDuring Thursday night's No. 2 Daytona 500 Duel race, Corey LaJoie drove his No. 01 Stacking Pennies Performance/Rick Ware Racing Ford into the Daytona 500 by finishing sixth. Starting the race from the 17th position, LaJoie would keep his car clean throughout the race while quietly riding with the pack to avoid incidents. This approach worked for LaJoie and then eventually, towards the middle and latter stages of the Duel, he would climb into the Top 10. As a result, LaJoie put a large gap between himself and the other open entries who needed to race their way into the Daytona 500, as he ended up as the only open car to finish in the Top 10. Due to his finishing position in the Duel, LaJoie will officially start the Daytona 500 from the 12th position.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
5 months agoCorey LaJoie will start 20th for this week's NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway, setting a new career-best qualifying result in his Cup career to date. In 14 races in his Cup career at Phoenix, LaJoie has one top-20 finish and nabbed positive Place Differential six times. Through 35 races this year, while splitting time between Spire Motorsports and Rick Ware Racing, LaJoie has 14 top-20 finishes and an average finish of 23.5. In practice, LaJoie ranked 16th in overall lap averages, 23rd in five consecutive lap averages, and 26th in 10 consecutive lap averages. LaJoie's Phoenix history is unfavorable, and with his practice speeds indicating a finish outside of the Top 20, he is not a driver to rely on for DFS this week.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
5 months agoCorey LaJoie first attracted serious attention when he feuded with Denny Hamlin in the spring of 2020 and argued that he would outrun Hamlin in his No. 11 car before proceeding to outrun him in the next race at Martinsville, widely regarded to be Hamlin's best track. Now that the entire fanbase has turned against LaJoie four years later, he now looks to restore his cred. Because of his poor finish last week at Las Vegas, he drew a bad qualifying draw, which resulted in a 34th-place starting position but he was unexpectedly very fast in practice, posting the second-fastest time and having the fourth fastest average lap time in practice. Although he has never bettered his 18th place finish on that day in 2020, his speed suggests he may deliver his best finish at the track - if he stays out of trouble.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
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