Corey LaJoie not penalized for Pocono incident with Kyle Busch
LONG POND, Pa. — NASCAR will not penalize Corey LaJoie for a restart incident with Kyle Busch during Sunday’s Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway.
A NASCAR rep told TRE they used all available resources and didn’t find anything that rose to the level of a penalty for LaJoie.
On lap 121 of 160, LaJoie restarted behind Busch and made a move to the inside entering turn one. Busch blocked the move but LaJoie persisted. As they approached the yellow line, demarcating where the banking ends and the apron without banking begins in turn one. LaJoie moved up and bumped into Busch. That sent Busch spinning into the grass and then back into traffic, crashing into multiple cars.
The wreck took out Busch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Harrison Burton and Ryan Preece.
LaJoie’s team was fired up on the radio. They said they were happy that he didn’t take any grief from Busch.
In Busch’s camp, they were dismayed with LaJoie.
“That damn 7 [Corey LaJoie] is a weapon. A damn weapon,” team owner Richard Childress said over the radio.
A NASCAR rep told TRE they used all available resources and didn’t find anything that rose to the level of a penalty for LaJoie. Officials will talk to him this weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
At Pocono LaJoie finished 19th. Meanwhile, Busch finished 32nd.
Busch now has six finishes of 27th or worse in the last nine races, including four finishes of 32nd or worse in the last seven races. In those nine races, Busch has lost 133 points to the cutline – going from 12th in points (+31 points to the cutline) to 18th in points (-102 points to the cutline).
Officials will talk to him this weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com