The Tricky Triangle panned out differently for the NASCAR Cup field. Seven-time Pocono master Denny Hamlin dominated again, trailing only Ryan Blaney, who won the race in a resurgent fashion. However, the driver with the second-most wins on the track, Kyle Busch, witnessed his slump dragging. And his race rival, Corey LaJoie, blamed Busch himself for his misery.

As EssentiallySports, the official media partners of Real American Beer, had an exclusive chat with LaJoie after the race, he talked about the Pocono mishap. In a cutting answer to Richard Childress, he equated his misery with Kyle Busch’s and blamed the latter for their mid-race fiasco at Pocono Raceway.

Corey LaJoie refuses to eat a humble pie

Kyle Busch’s long race misery is no mystery inside NASCAR circles. The Great American Getaway 400 race marked his 41st winless run in a chaotic fashion. First, the Richard Childress Racing No. 8 team got relegated to the rear right in the beginning as they were fixing an oil line while already on the grid. Busch tried to pick up the pace, although he stayed outside the top ten in both stages. Then, on lap 121, Spire Motorsports driver Corey LaJoie appeared to clip him in the rear, spinning into other cars.

This prompted Richard Childress to bash LaJoie and label No. 7 “a damn weapon.” But the Spire Motorsports star was not one to back down either! Talking to NASCAR journalist Kailey Mizelle for EssentiallySports, Corey LaJoie shrugged off the blame. “I’m sure those guys are that caught up.. that was mad but I didn’t feel like it was a boneheaded move. I had a run, I got to the left rear, he blocked it twice and the second time he spun his a** out.”

Additionally, Corey LaJoie aligned the Spire and RCR fortunes. He too has had a bone-dry race performance this year, barely scraping the front of the field. He owns a single top-five in Daytona. In a bold claim, LaJoie said Busch’s and RCR’s fortunes are no different from his and Spire’s. “It’s a competitor-based business, and the #7 team hasn’t had a great year; the #8 team hasn’t had a great year. So anytime that they kind of finish how you want to, you’re gonna be frustrated and I understand that I’m sure he’s mad.”

Echoing his heartbreaking race results, Corey LaJoie expressed his sentiments. And they closely echoed Kyle Busch’s misery of scoring another DNF. “I mean this is a very emotional sport because you pour your heart and soul into it each and every week and you live & die by the result that’s next to your name whether you like it or not, that’s just how you’re defined and that’s how you’re ranked.”

Not just that, he even refused to apologize for the incident. In another conversation with NASCAR, the racer said, “Kyle and I’ve been racing each other around for long enough we won’t be smashing into each other on purpose. I’m not gonna say sorry, I’m not sorry about it because that was the thing out there and if the issue was on another foot, the exact same thing would’ve happened.”

This is not the first time Busch and LaJoie have locked horns in a NASCAR race. Last year in Martinsville, the Spire Motorsports driver contacted his RCR rival, eliciting a horde of backlash from him. But that starkly contrasts with Busch’s laid-back response this time.

Kyle Busch finally seems to accept his fate

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In the 2023 Geico 500 race, Kyle Busch was amidst a hot winning streak. After winning the race at the Auto Club Speedway, he followed it up with his second RCR win at Talladega Superspeedway. But prior to grabbing the checkered flag there, he had beef with the Stacking Pennies podcast host. Corey LaJoie even admitted publicly that he intentionally bumped into Rowdy at Martinsville Speedway.

So in Talladega last year, Kyle Busch addressed that situation on a harsh note. “He [LaJoie] has been a pain in the d**k to race with and pass for years, just coming up and lapping him and things like that,” Busch explained to reporters prior to the race. “Every time I’m around him, it’s like he tries an extra 20 percent harder to make sure I stay behind him.”

However, today, a year later, Kyle Busch showed a starkly different response, contrary to LaJoie’s exclusive revelations with EssentiallySports. Even after Corey LaJoie pushed him further into an abyss of race misery, Richard Childress’ star seemed to accept his fate.

Asked if he would settle the score with LaJoie, Busch simply said, “Nah.” He, instead, went on to thank all the sponsors who have stood like pillars of support behind his winless streak [could be a sarcastic Busch, but if not, then we are finally entering a different era].

Kyle Busch’s words: “Nah, I just want to thank all of our partners and everybody that’s been behind our program at RCR, ECR Engines, obviously Zone nicotine pouches and Cheddar’s, Lucas Oil, everybody for their support and continuing to back us and be behind us, and of course the fans and Rowdy Nation as well, too.”

So maybe the Busch-LaJoie beef would not develop into something like the Busch-Stenhouse fiasco. We can only wait and see how the conflict will unfold.