Is Corey LaJoie replacing Kyle Busch in Michigan’s NASCAR Truck Series race?

Corey LaJoie will return to the NASCAR Truck Series this weekend at Michigan International Speedway. On Tuesday, June 3, Spire Motorsports announced a nine-race deal with LaJoie for the 2025 season and the driver will begin his stint with the Michigan race scheduled on Saturday, June 7, replacing Kyle Busch in #07 entry.

LaJoie is the final addition to the full-time No. 07 team's rotating driver lineup, including Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson, who took the team to the victory lane in Homestead. William Byron, Michael McDowell, B.J. McLeod, Justin Haley, Nick Sanchez, and Sammy Smith are also part of the lineup.

Busch, who has made two starts in Spire Motorsports' No. 07 Chevy in NASCAR Craftsman Truck this season, had a five-race deal with the team. The 40-year-old veteran made two starts in the No. 7 Chevy at Charlotte and Atlanta, where he took home the checkered flag. However, Busch was never scheduled to race at Martinsville, his agreement with the team was expected to end with Watkins Glen International on August 8.

"My schedule will consist of some tracks where I’ve had a lot of success in the Truck Series...but also two tracks that I’ve never raced at in a truck – North Wilkesboro and Watkins Glen. So, I’m looking forward to hopefully adding a couple more tracks to the list of places where I’ve won across my Truck Series career," Busch said in a team release earlier this year (via Spire Motorsports).

This Saturday's DQS Solutions & Staffing 250 will mark LaJoie’s first Truck Series appearance since the season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway last year. The 33-year-old driver currently races part-time in the Cup Series for Rick Ware Racing and works as a Cup Series analyst on Amazon Prime Video.

Meanwhile, the Truck Series will return two-mile track in Michigan for the first time since Zane Smith won the race there in 2020.

Did Corey LaJoie change his mind about the Truck Series?

Corey LaJoie has only five starts in the NASCAR Truck Series despite his debut in 2014. He previously drove for Spire Motorsports in the Cup Series and made three Truck starts in 2023 and 2024. Now, LaJoie's return to Spire in the Truck Series comes despite his earlier critical comments about the series.

"I'm looking forward to getting back in the seat and chasing some NASCAR Truck Series wins," Corey LaJoie said in a statement (via Spire Motorsports).

Earlier this year, he dismissed the idea of racing in Trucks and called it a step backwards. During an interview with Fox Sports' Bob Pockrass, the Charlotte, North Carolina native suggested that he didn’t want to win a trophy in front of 12 fans.

"Do you wanna go pump the ego up and hold a trophy on a Friday when there’s 12 people in the grandstands? No," Corey LaJoie said.

After Michigan, LaJoie will later make a start in Richmond and compete in the final seven races of the 25-race Truck schedule this season.