Corey LaJoie and the No. 7 Spire Motorsports team will have a patriotic paint scheme this weekend in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway as USO will be plastered all over the car.
The scheme will have a blue base with white, gray and red camo and on the front windshield of the car will be the name of United States Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum, who died in the line of duty in August of 2021.
LaJoie calls the sponsorship from USO and Coca-Cola a, “dream come true.”
“Representing the USO on Memorial Day weekend is a dream come true,” said LaJoie. “The Coca-Cola 600 is one of my favorite races on the schedule, as well as my home race. The opportunity to partner with the USO and Coca-Cola allows us to really show the service members and their families a great time at the track while remembering the brave men and women who paid the ultimate price for our freedom.”
The USO sponsorship comes to LaJoie and Spire through a partnership with The Coca-Cola Company, according to a press release from the race team.
USO, which is an organization that strengthens America’s military service members by keeping them connected to family, home and country throughout their service to the nation, is excited for this partnership.
“This Memorial Day weekend, we’re proud to partner with The Coca-Cola Company, as well as Corey LaJoie and Spire Motorsports, to honor our military service members and pay tribute to those who sacrificed their lives protecting our freedoms,” said Brian Cowart, Chief Development and Marketing Officer of the USO, the nation’s leading military nonprofit organization. “Together, we’re driving support and building connections between the public and the military community to keep our heroes in uniform strong and resilient.”
For Coca-Cola, this paint scheme is yet another chapter in an 81-year partnership with USO.
“Coca-Cola is incredibly proud of our 81-year partnership with the USO and our shared values of honoring our military service men and women,” said Alba Baylin, Vice President of Community and Stakeholder Relations for Coca-Cola North America. “The Coca-Cola 600 which is held on Memorial Day weekend, is a special time to bring racing fans together to recognize and honor our nation’s Armed Forces while bringing awareness to the USO’s mission of supporting those who have sacrificed and served our country.”
Spire Motorsports echoes the pride in the partnership and is just glad to be playing a roll in honoring former and current service members this weekend.
“Spire Motorsports is proud to partner with the USO and Coca-Cola for this initiative to honor and support the servicemen and servicewomen of the United States,” said Spire Motorsports co-owner T.J. Puchyr. “At the same time, we’re humbled to have Corey LaJoie carry Lance Corporal McCollum’s name on the windshield of the No. 7. We can’t ever let the bravery of those who make the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of the United States to be forgotten. NASCAR does a tremendous job every Memorial Day weekend of making sure we recognize those who deserve the highest of honors. Spire is privileged to play a small part.”
LaJoie currently sits 30th in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings after 13 races this season. He recorded his first-career top-five finish, a fifth-place finish, earlier in the season at Atlanta Motor Speedway. LaJoie also finished fourth in the non-points exhibition even the All-Star Open this past weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, after leading 11 laps.
