Corey LaJoie: “Fought & Clawed” as Legacy MC Star Puts an End to the 44-Race Streak at Phoenix

Spire Motorsports must be happy about the fact that one of their drivers is in the top 15 at the newly modified Phoenix Raceway. But the same cannot be said about their No. 7 driver, Corey LaJoie. A beautiful journey of 44 races without a DNF finally comes to an end for him, thanks to Legacy MC’s #42.

John Hunter Nemechek‘s Toyota contacted Team Penske’s Joey Logano, which eventually went for a spin. In the process, it collected a few more drivers, such as Josh Berry, Derek Kraus, and Zane Smith. It surely was not LaJoie’s fault, but he ended up getting wired into it. Heartbroken as he should rightly be, the 32-year-old opened up after getting out of the race.

Things took a drastic turn and prevented Corey LaJoie from creating history

During the much-awaited Shriners Children’s 500 race at Phoenix Raceway, Joey Logano was running outside the top 20 in his Ford Mustang Dark Horse. Unfortunately, a collision with John Hunter Nemechek caused his car to slam into the outside retaining wall at lap 204. This created a lot of mess in the aftermath, stacking up drivers like LaJoie who had nothing to do with the collision. Later, Bob Pockrass caught the Spire Motorsports star candid.

LaJoie said, “I just saw the 22 (Logano) going backwards in a hurry and had nowhere to go. We just, we fought and clawed and got back on the lead lap. Super happy about that and we got ourselves in a decent position there. Trying to work back towards, after like we had a, an on top 15 car again, which I’m super confident about. The kind of cars we’re bringing to the racetrack, it just sucks.”

Frustrated with the quality of cars, LaJoie is still proud of how his teammate Carson Hocevar managed to finish P15. This race marked the rookie’s second P15 finish after Las Vegas, though. The reporter further asked if it’s hard to complain when he had clean finishes in 44 straight races. LaJoie replied, “You forget all the 44 when you’re standing on top of the room, and there’s still guys making circles.”

However, Joe Gibbs Racing’s #20, Christopher Bell, had the last laugh. He beat Chris Buescher’s Ford to claim his seventh victory in the Cup series. Buescher, on the other hand, who was pumped up since his unfortunate stint in Las Vegas, had a great run too. The third and fourth spots are occupied by Bell and Buescher’s respective teammates. Ty Gibbs finished at P3, while the legendary Brad Keselowski had a tremendous run to finish at P4.

The 44-DNF-less race streak comes to an end

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Corey LaJoie was the proud owner of this streak, which is certainly the best ever in Cup series history. His last DNF came at the Talladega Superspeedway in the fall of 2022. Even though he started in 32nd place in that race, he fought his way to the higher ranks before the wreck unfolded. He had to be satisfied with a P14.

“But you know, going to race in one of my favorite tracks next week. So, go back and bring back on,” he said. However, it is surprising in itself as to why he said this, as the next outing will be at Bristol Motor Speedway. He achieved his best performance there back in July 2020, securing a ninth-place finish.

Read More: Corey LaJoie Claims Drivers Had “Unrealistic” Expectations From NASCAR’s New Short Track Package

Corey LaJoie is all set to return to the track in Bristol next week for the Food City Dirt Race, and the Weather Guard Truck Race. It would be interesting to see how things turn out for him there. After today’s incident, he is likely to be pumped up. Today’s streak-ending collision will serve as a motivator for him to bounce back stronger in the upcoming races.