The drama that unfolded at the Kansas Speedway was nothing short of cinematic. From a seasoned champion making a rookie mistake to a heated stare-down between Jimmie Jonson and Corey LaJoie, this race had everything to make a blockbuster sports movie! And caught right in the middle of it was the Legacy Motor Club owner, as his latest outing was yet another reminder of his glaring shortfalls in today’s racing era.
As the driver-owner ended up being shoved to the wall and wrecked, he was quick to point fingers at LaJoie. But the story doesn’t end there. The NASCAR fans were divided and instead, many pointed fingers at JJ himself for the crash. Surprisingly, amidst all this, someone else has stepped forward to take responsibility for the wreck.
It wasn’t Corey LaJoie’s fault after all!
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Jimmie Johnson’s pointing fingers without confirming might just be a rookie mistake no one expected from someone so seasoned. He said, “I know it wasn’t on purpose, but it’s just unfortunate. Why he slowed, just to make the turn. I was slowing to make the turn, there’s traffic in front of me. I’ve been trying to set up my line so there’s clean air … I was just setting up for corner and I got hit from behind.”
But turns out, after all, LaJoie’s not the one to blame. In a recent episode of the Door Bumper Clear podcast, Freddie Kraft admitted his mistake.
He said, “Unfortunately, I think it might have been my fault. I think that Jimmy lifted reacting to us damn near stuffing the four in the fence, and we had a little rub and some smoke there, and that was my fault because I thought Bubba was committed to the middle, and all of a sudden he started darting right, and I was like, ‘Ah, I’m sorry!'”
Jimmie Johnson has been checked and released from the infield care center. The 7-time champ talks with @ReganSmith about what happened in Kansas: pic.twitter.com/7zZu0SZnm9
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 6, 2024
While we now know who’s to blame for the Johnson-LaJoie debacle, Kraft had a lot more to reveal. He also touched down on the aggression that Larson took to when overtaking Buescher.
Freddie Kraft thinks Larson hit Buescher really hard
The battle to the finish line was nail-biting! We saw Larson take the win from Buescher in the blink of an eye. However, that said, it wasn’t without controversy, as Larson’s aggressiveness did come under scrutiny. Even Kraft in the podcast mentioned, “He hit him real hard!”
He further added, “I feel like if anybody on the racetrack, you can’t let Kyle Larson get to the top or even leave him a lane. That’s probably his preferred lane. He’s been running there all night. Kraft also took time to address how Buescher could easily win if he wanted to play it aggressively. He said, “And to Chris’s credit, I mean he ran him clean. He could have easily squeezed him in the fence or something.”
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Should Chris Buescher have thrown a block on Kyle Larson? 🫸 pic.twitter.com/M6aajMZZJJ
— Dirty Mo Media (@DirtyMoMedia) May 7, 2024
On the other hand, the #17 driver didn’t have any complaints for his opponent. Talking about the finish, he evidently shied away from any blame game. “I felt like I was pretty defensive on it and was going to make a drag race coming to the finish line and got to banging doors a little bit and lost some momentum,” Buescher said. “I was aggressive trying to cover it and needed to draft to keep speed up down the straightaway for us,” the racer said.
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However, it’s also notable that perhaps instead of blaming others, he was concentrating more on his lost chance. Either way, the ending did leave fans at the edge of their seats!
What do you think about the two major controversies that took place at the Kansas Speedway? Let us know.