Corey LaJoie will not return to Spire Motorsports for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, he said in a statement to The Athletic on Thursday. The team informed him of its decision on Wednesday.

“I won’t be driving the 7 car next year,” LaJoie said. “I take a lot of satisfaction from having an integral part of building Spire into a respectable team on the grid, but unfortunately the future won’t involve me. We will finish the remainder of 2024 strong, continuing to deliver for my partners, my guys who work hard to build good cars, family, fans & friends who have supported me since day one in the Cup Series.

“This chapter ends after Phoenix and I’m excited to see what the Lord has in store for my family next.”

LaJoie signed a two-year contract extension with Spire last summer, declining overtures from other teams. At the time, the move spoke of the team’s confidence in LaJoie’s ability to continue evolving into a playoff-contending driver while being a cornerstone for an organization that was investing significant resources to build itself into a consistent winner.

The extension followed LaJoie, 32, producing better results each subsequent season after joining Spire in 2021, seemingly setting the table for a breakthrough this year.

But after LaJoie had an encouraging start to 2024, a season where he faced heightened expectations, the summer has been a struggle. LaJoie ranks 28th in points, with just a single top-10 finish through 22 races — a fourth in the season-opening Daytona 500.

How the No. 7 team has performed led to increasing frustration within the team, especially when compared to the team of rookie teammate Carson Hocevar, who has a pair of top-10 finishes and sits 24th in points.

Most recently, LaJoie was in the news for his involvement in a controversial accident with Kyle Busch during the July 14 race at Pocono. The incident occurred right after a late restart when LaJoie clipped Busch’s rear bumper, spinning Busch into traffic.

The news that LaJoie won’t return to Spire is the latest development among many involving the upstart organization that began in 2019 as a single-car team on a limited budget and has gradually invested more and more into improving what’s now a three-car program that fields teams for LaJoie, Hocevar and Zane Smith.

Among the notable transactions Spire has completed since last summer:

• Entered into a high-profile partnership with Gainbridge that includes primary sponsorship for the No. 7 team LaJoie currently drives for.
• Purchased a charter for $40 million, according to industry sources. That price point is a record sum for the NASCAR equivalent of a franchise that guarantees the holders certain monetary rewards.
• Purchased Kyle Busch’s Truck Series team and its headquarters. Spire now fields multiple full-time teams in Cup and trucks and relocated to the more spacious shop that previously housed Kyle Busch Motorsports.
• Signed 2021 Daytona 500 winner Michael McDowell to a multiyear contract that takes effect beginning with the 2025 season.
• Signed 2014 championship-winning crew chief Rodney Childers to lead its No. 7 team that takes effect beginning with the 2025 season.

It is not known who will replace LaJoie at Spire, though sources briefed on the decision process say the team has already begun exploring its options.

The next driver will step into a situation with an organization hungry to win and a team led by a crew chief in Childers, regarded as one of the best in the garage.