TC Daily Pit Stop: Juan Pablo Montoya Making NASCAR Return with 23XI Racing; Corey LaJoie 'At Peace' With Spire Departure; Andretti Global Eyeing NASCAR Cup Team
TC Daily Pit Stop: Friday, August 2, 2024
Juan Pablo Montoya Returns to NASCAR in No. 50 23XI Racing Entry at Watkins Glen
Juan Pablo Montoya, one of the most versatile racers in history, is set to officially make his first NASCAR Cup Series start in 10 years. On Friday, 23XI Racing announced the two-time NASCAR Cup Series race winner, 7-time F1 Grand Prix winner, and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner, will compete in the NASCAR Cup Series event at Watkins Glen on September 15.
Montoya will pilot the team’s No. 50 Toyota Camry XSE in the event, and he will join Kamui Kobayashi and Corey Heim as drivers of the gold and black Mobil 1 machine this season.
“I’m looking forward to getting back in a Cup car and racing at Watkins Glen – a track I really enjoy and had the chance to experience earlier in my career,” Montoya said in a team release. “It’s an honor to celebrate the Mobil 1 team’s remarkable legacy in racing and be recognized for my contributions to motorsports. The Mobil 1 brand was one of my first sponsors when I started racing, so to represent the brand again as they celebrate this milestone will be so special. I’m also excited to work with 23XI and experience what the team is building.”
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Corey LaJoie ‘At Peace’ with Spire Departure; Has Been ‘Mad, Sad’ and ‘Appreciative’
In the latest edition of the Stacking Pennies podcast, Corey LaJoie opened up about the recent news that Spire Motorsports will move on from him at season’s end. In the episode, LaJoie says he has experienced a full spectrum of emotions in regards to his release from the No. 7 team.
“I had some realizations. Everywhere that I’ve been has always been one-year deals, so this position that I find myself in currently isn’t uncomfortable,” LaJoie explained. “It’s not someplace I’ve never been before.
“You go through all the emotions, mad, sad,” LaJoie continued. “I think where I’m at currently a week removed is that I’m super appreciative. Super appreciative of [team co-owners] Jeff [Dickerson] and T.J. [Puchyr] and for Spire giving me the opportunity, for believing in me from the jump when we were trying to whiteboard this thing and what we’ve grown it to has been pretty cool.”
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Andretti Global Openly Eyeing NASCAR Cup Series Team
With Marco Andretti dipping his toe into the stock car racing world the last few years, and with Gainbridge coming in as a primary sponsorship partner of Spire Motorsports, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that Andretti Global, a team that currently competes in IndyCar, Indy NXT, Formula E, IMSA, Super COPA, and Australian Supercars, and has been in a public battle to attain ownership in a team on the Formula 1 grid, would be heading to NASCAR sooner or later.
In a video shared to the team’s YouTube channel on Wednesday, team president JF Thormann admits that NASCAR is in the sights for the race team.
“We’re the only ones that compete in the amount of series that we do, and then the ambition that [Michael Andretti] still has of, we still have to close the loop obviously with Formula 1, that’s well documented. Hopefully, NASCAR,” Thormann stated. “Then, we’re going to have a race virtually every weekend. And it’ll keep our name out there, keep us busy.”