Effectively, that escalated rapidly.
What appeared like a easy spin for Corey LaJoie quickly transitioned to a flipping crash down the backstretch at Michigan Worldwide Speedway.
LaJoie was trying to move Noah Gragson on lap 135 of Monday’s rain-delayed race when the pair made temporary contact. That despatched LaJoie’s No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet spinning to the left, the place it near-immediately started to take flight. The automobile flipped over and rolled down the backstretch and into the within wall on its roof earlier than catching the grass close to Flip 3 and flipping twice earlier than touchdown on its wheels.
The Spire Motorsports veteran was unharmed within the incident. He climbed out of the automobile beneath his personal energy and was evaluated and launched from the infield care heart.
COREY LAJOIE FLIPS AND SLIDES UPSIDE DOWN!#NASCAR | USA Community pic.twitter.com/Iyd3frqX5C
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) August 19, 2024
“That was a trip, buddy,” LaJoie stated. “There’s sparks, dust and all types of stuff coming in.”
The accident got here as a shock to all concerned. NBC Sports activities analyst Jeff Burton rapidly criticized the actions of the automobile as LaJoie’s group contemplated if a gust of wind had induced the flip.
“Fairly actually, that’s simply not acceptable,” Burton stated. “There’s no method {that a} automobile, when it turns like that, ought to stand up into the air that simply. There was tens of millions of {dollars} and hours and hours of time spent to stop that from taking place. That’s going to catch everyone unexpectedly.”
For LaJoie, it’s the newest dangerous break in what’s been a difficult 12 months for his No. 7 group. The son of two-time Xfinity Collection champion Randy Lajoie appeared poised for a breakout 12 months after ending a career-best twenty fifth within the 2023 championship. Spire Motorsports is a company on the rise and LaJoie was positioned to be the group chief. However the 32-year-old has been overshadowed by rookie teammate Carson Hocevar, is already confirmed to be leaving at 12 months’s finish and sat a disappointing twenty ninth within the standings coming into Michigan.
LaJoie had ran within the top-10 throughout elements of Stage 2. However after the crash, he was relegated to thirty second.
“That’s nearly the way in which the 12 months has gone,” LaJoie stated. “We’ve got a superb automobile and I discover a technique to flip it the other way up. Twice this 12 months we’ve been the other way up and I haven’t been the other way up in my entire profession. That’s simply how, sadly, the 12 months for our (No.) 7 group’s been. We’ve had velocity, simply haven’t been in a position to put it collectively.”
