Corey LaJoie Suffers Flip on Lap 136 of Michigan NASCAR Cup Race
While Michigan International Speedway is known for its high straightaway speeds, the 2-mile oval in Brooklyn, Michigan hasn't been known for blow-over crashes. However, Corey LaJoie, who had been battling Noah Gragson for the 16th position for several laps, got clipped by Gragson on the backstretch on Lap 136 of Monday's FireKeepers Casino 400. Instantly, LaJoie's No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro went into the air for a wild ride.
This is so, so bizarre. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/85lMak7r0q
— Toby Christie (@Toby_Christie) August 19, 2024
"[Gragson] chopped me a couple of times, especially off of [Turn] 2 when I had a run," LaJoie explained after the crash.
After getting airborne, LaJoie's car landed on its roof in the flip and proceeded to skid into the Turn 3 grass, where the car dug into the Earth, went for another barrel roll, and landed hard back onto its wheels. Despite the hard landing, LaJoie quickly climbed from his wrecked No. 7 machine and made a required trip to the infield care center, where he was medically cleared.
"It was a ride, buddy. There's sparks and dirt and all sorts of stuff coming in," LaJoie said of his crash. "I just hate that our Garner Trucking Camaro got a little dinged up. I think we had a top 12, top 10 car today and I hate that we ended up on our roof."
LaJoie credited NASCAR for building safe race cars and all of the vendors of the safety equipment that he used for keeping him safe through the spectacular crash. He even expressed that he felt like he could get back in the car and keep running the rest of the race if he wasn't officially listed as out of the race due to climbing from the car.
"Yeah, it's just safe cars. Kudos to NASCAR for building safe cars. The Joie of Seating shout out to them, Bell helmets, everybody that keeps me safe in the car... Stroh belts," LaJoie said. "That's a big lick and I feel like I could jump back in that thing and keep going if they let me, but I just hate today ended like that."
This is the second flip of the race weekend at Michigan International Speedway as NASCAR Xfinity Series contender Kyle Sieg walked away from a flip in his No. 28 RSS Racing Ford Mustang in Saturday's Cabo Wabo 250. While LaJoie's tumble down the backstretch was the second of the NASCAR weekend at Michigan, it was also the second flip of the season for the Spire Motorsports driver.
LaJoie, who also flipped on the final lap at Talladega Superspeedway in April, says its the continuation of a very frustrating 2024 season.
"That's just about the way the year has gone. You know, we had a good car, and I found a way to flip it upside down," LaJoie stated. "That's twice this year that we've been upside down. I haven't been upside down in my whole career. That's just how, unfortunately, the year for our 7 team has been. We've had speed just haven't been able to put it together."
The son of two-time NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Randy LaJoie has been the driver of the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro since the 2021 season, but he will not return to the car next season. On July 25, Spire Motorsports surprisingly announced that the team would be parting ways with LaJoie at season's end.
The 32-year-old racer came into Monday's race 29th in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings, and has one top-five finish on the season, which was a fourth-place effort in the season-opening Daytona 500.
TOBY CHRISTIE