● Corey LaJoie is set to make his second start for Rick Ware Racing (RWR) in the No. 51 Mighty Fire Breaker Ford Mustang Dark Horse at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. Sunday’s YellaWood 500 marks LaJoie’s 14th NASCAR Cup Series start at the 2.66-mile superspeedway. He finished 18th in April’s GEICO 500. His best result at the track came in the October 2023 race when he finished fourth. The result also matched LaJoie’s best-career Cup Series result.
● In 13 previous starts at Talladega, LaJoie has one top-five, two top-10s, four top-15s and six top-20s, with an average finish of 20.1 and only one DNF (did not finish).
● LaJoie made his debut with RWR last Sunday in the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City. The 29-year-old racer earned his career-best Kansas finish and set a new team-best finish at the track with a 15th-place effort.
● Mighty Fire Breaker LLC debuted with RWR last month at Atlanta Motor Speedway as the primary partner on the No. 15 Ford Mustang Dark Horse driven by Cody Ware. Mighty Fire Breaker is a leading provider of environmentally safe and sustainable solutions for proactive wildfire defense. The Mighty Fire Breaker portfolio includes EPA Safer Choice Certified Citrotech® Wildfire Inhibitors, mobile and stationary spray application systems, and GPS-tracking, recording and mapping technologies that support intelligent proactive wildfire defense management practices.
● Cody Ware, driver of the No. 15 Arby’s Ford Mustang Dark Horse for RWR, will make his eighth start of the season and his ninth at Talladega. Ware also made one Xfinity Series start at Talladega in 2019, finishing 21st for car owner B.J. McLeod, and one Truck Series start in 2015.
● Ware made his first start of the 2024 season at Talladedga on April 21. He qualified 34th in a field of 38 and finished on the lead lap in 24th. In seven starts this year, Ware has an average finish of 22.3 and has completed 1,363 of 1,391 laps available (98 percent). Twenty-six of the 28 laps Ware has not completed were the result of an early exit at Pocono due to a damaged radiator.
● In the Cup Series’ most recent superspeedway race Aug. 24 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, Ware drove to a fourth-place finish. It was his best finish in 104 Cup Series starts and matched the organization’s best overall finish. Prior to earning his top-five result at Daytona, Ware’s best finish was sixth, earned at Daytona in August 2022.
● In 15 Cup Series starts on superspeedways to date, Ware has completed 2,603 of 2,762 laps available – 94.2 percent.
Corey LaJoie, Driver Q&A
You matched your career-best finish of fourth in two of the last three superspeedway races. What is your goal for this weekend?
“I’m really looking forward to getting back to Talladega and having a chance at redemption. The April race certainly didn’t end the way I wanted it to. You know it’s a possibility, but you don’t want to be that person upside down at the finish line. I enjoy superspeedway racing and I think we can build on the top-five finish that RWR earned at Daytona. The Fords are always so fast at the bigger tracks and the RWR cars have been up there at the front, so I’m excited to get there and see what we’ve got.”
How has last weekend’s performance impacted the shop environment at RWR?
“When you can join a team and knock off a finish like that in the first race, it brings with it a big boost of excitement. It reinforces the time and energy that everyone puts in to get these cars ready each week. It gives the No. 51 team momentum to build on for these final six races. One good finish can lead to another. I’m going to do everything I can on the track to bring home those results and show these guys that I appreciate the work they put in.”
Cody Ware,
Driver Q&A
Superspeedway races have been your strong suit. How has it felt to continue to improve at these bigger tracks?
“I’ve always felt like speedway races were in my wheelhouse. I’ve always focused on doing what is needed to make sure we’re there at the end. When we’re successful at that is when we get the finishes we deserve. If a driver can get to the final five laps with their patience intact, there’s a higher chance of competeing for a win. Rick Ware Racing has shown a lot of progress this year, a lot of speed, and we’ve had some good finishes. It’s been nice to be a part of that and I think we can continue to find that next level of success, whatever that may be.”
Is there an accurate way to describe all of the things you have to think through, and how fast you have to do so, during a superspeedway race?
“You’re thinking through a lot. You’re listening to the spotter, looking for an opening to get in another lane that may be faster, or leapfrog a slower car, all while watching what is happening ahead so you don’t get caught in a wreck. You’re also trying to pay attention to what your car is doing when you’re being pushed versus being the pusher, if it handles any differently up high or down on the bottom. It’s a lot. You go through that every race but everything moves quicker at a superspeedway. At least at Talladega, you’ve got a little more room to work with if something does go wrong. It’s chaotic, but that’s what makes for an entertaining race.”
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