Corey LaJoie is facing intense scrutiny from NASCAR fans all over the socials because of the stunt he pulled in Pocono. And adding more fire to the fuel was his post-race interview statement of calling the collision as — not a “bonehead” move!

The race ended Kyle Busch’s day there and everyone knows how hard he has been trying for the spot. While fans might be pulling Busch’s strings too, given his performance, the fact that Corey LaJoie bullied him on track isn’t going down well on them. Not just fans, even insiders have called Corey’s move out. But Dale Earnhardt Jr is sailing against the wind and is understanding of LaJoie’s situation.

Dale Earnhardt Jr sides with Corey LaJoie

At Pocono, the race didn’t just end Kyle Busch’s day, it also disrupted the day for many drivers. And some barely escaped like Hocevar—in fact, Harvick in his podcast thought it was going to take out many more drivers and called it a “bad move” by LaJoie. While LaJoie could finish on the 19th, Busch had to settle for the 32nd! Also, the fact that he wasn’t penalized for his actions adds more to the drama.

Bubba Wallace’s spotter, Freddie Kraft, openly called out Corey LaJoie and said, “This guy just recklessly goes in there, wipes Kyle Busch out. [….] This guy drives in there, cleans him out, and wrecks six other guys for no reason. […] You cannot turn a guy into one on a restart of Pocono, like, intentionally.”

But while everyone is putting LaJoie in a tough spot, Dale Earnhardt Jr chose to cut LaJoie some slack. According to Junior, Corey LaJoie just has had a tough year. Dale Earnhardt Jr said on the Dale Jr Download podcast, “I don’t know. There’s a lot of stuff going that way. Those could be bad things if you listen to the media, but if you are Corey Lajoie, you have to look at those things and go, ‘Those are positive things—I’m going to get better because of Rodney, I’m going to get better because of McDowell, the 77, and Connor Hocevar. They’re pushing me. I’m being pushed. That’s good. I needed something to push me.’”

Also, the fact that his teammates, like Carson Hocevar, are performing better than him in most races while he is not able to do so with the same car might just be looming over his head, adding more pressure. Plus, the save that Hocevar did at Pocono, to get saved from the wreck, just blew everyone’s mind over his skill level. He surely added brownie points there, too.

Additionally, the social media rumblings don’t help. It’s true because no matter how much you try to stay away from the media and ignore the online craziness, it always manages to catch up with you. Fans are not just calling out LaJoie but also NASCAR, with comments like, “We’re gonna fine Bubba (Wallace) 50k for a side swipe but send Corey to the principals office for wrecking a bunch of cars.”

However, Junior gives LaJoie some hope when clearly he must be feeling hopeless right now. He’s like, LaJoie must be stoked ’cause he’s getting Rodney Childers as his crew chief next year, the absolute top dog! Not just that Michael McDowell is coming on too and this, according to Junior, is great because competition always helps people grow.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. thinks Corey LaJoie got a free pass ’cause nobody knew about his equipment quality. So, while he did cut him some slack, he just feels that now that Hocevar is doing better and getting the car into the top 10 and 20, LaJoie’s car could do the same. Hence, he should just buckle up! 

NASCAR clarifies penalty decision of LaJoie’s race-ending move on Kyle Busch

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NASCAR has been under the keen eye of fans, especially this season. Most feel that for NASCAR, rules mean nothing and they always seem to bend it. Most didn’t like Kyle Larson being given the waiver, the fact that Bubba Wallace got slammed with a harsh fine, and more. This time the internet was in a rage over NASCAR actually not giving the fine to LaJoie for his action at Pocono that not only ended Busch’s day, but also resulted in a multi-crash.

Journalist Toby Christie reported the Senior VP of Competition Elton Sawyer’s decision on the incident. He said, “NO PENALTY. Elton Sawyer says there will be no penalty from the Corey LaJoie / Kyle Busch incident at Pocono. However, NASCAR does plan to speak to LaJoie before this weekend.”

Later, after the internet questioned them, NASCAR Cup Series Managing Director Brad Moran said, “Don’t believe it was intentional, but we’ll certainly go through and do our diligence to make sure that is correct.”

And while initially, LaJoie didn’t seem regretful of his move and didn’t think it was a bonehead move, he has since changed directions too. He said, “I do feel bad for… Even for Kyle. Like I wouldn’t. Randall Burnett, like, we’re buddies, like… I don’t. I don’t want to wreck anybody’s day. […] I was planning on trying to kind of blend back behind him, but at the same time I was committed to kind of fill and get behind him is when he was in the chip.”

Hopefully, LaJoie can move away from this and think of this as a close call and not let his performance shortages wreck someone else’s day. What do you think—should he have gotten a penalty?