Insider Acquits John Hunter Nemechek After Violent Phoenix Wreck Out Leaves Joey Logano & Corey Lajoie Fuming

The renovated Phoenix track had a lot of attention days before the clash of the Shriners Children’s 500. While most of the race remained clean, the violent wreck that occurred on lap 204 came out of the book when Legacy MC‘s John Hunter Nemechek bumped his #42 Toyota into two-time Cup Series champion Joey Logano’s Ford Mustang. The bump further involved Corey LaJoie, Carson Hocevar, Derek Krays, and Josh Berry. However, out of the bunch, it was Hocevar who not only managed to survive but also made his way to the top 15.

Rightfully after the race, Joey Logano and Corey LaJoie did not back out of criticizing the Legacy MC driver. Even an open apology from the latter did not amend things. Just then, NASCAR Insider Brett Griffin cleared Nemechek of purposely creating the ruckus at Phoenix Raceway.

John Hunter Nemechek didn’t intend the ‘Big Mistake‘

In a recent Door Bumper Clear episode, veteran NASCAR spotters and insiders Brett Griffin, T.J. Majors, and Freddie Kraft discussed last weekend’s race, when, quite interestingly, they cleared John Hunter Nemechek of any accusation and empathized with him for the Phoenix accident. However, they do admit that it was a mistake on Nemechek’s end, but they also say that he did not mean to cause it purposefully.

“It was a pretty big mistake on John Hunter’s part but you know you run in that area you know running good to begin with in that area, that’s where you get a trouble. So, I don’t think John Hunter Nemechek meant to do it,” said Griffin.

He further added, “I think John Hunter still has one more race, he still has one more moment. Just tries to do something instead of being methodical, take one at a time. Just shape you as, tried up too much one time. Yeah he put to some other restart, then he collect relay cars. I got the 7, the 4, I think Zane drove in their as well. I know they had nowhere else to go, I mean it’s pretty hard there. It was very very violent.”

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

John Hunter Nemechek drove to end his Phoenix race at P25 and also expressed his regret over wrecking into Logano’s #22 car. He even mentioned reaching out to Logano, Paul Wolfe, and Roger Penske to apologize. Apart from that, the 26-year-old wished that their next Cup Series race at Bristol would be drama-free.

Joey Logano and Corey LaJoie slammed the Legacy MC star post-wreck.

Post-race, John Hunter Nemechek said that he applied the brake pedal really hard, but it did not slow his car down. He, however, accepted that as his mistake and spoke of treating the incident as a lesson to learn from it. But then he said something that angered Joey Logano more. Nemechek claimed that Logano’s car slowed down a bit at that moment at Turn 1, thus creating the wreck.

“I didn’t slow a bit. You gotta lift to make the corners. You can’t hold it wide-open around Phoenix, and maybe he should take a look and realize he can’t do that, too. He drove straight in the back of me, and he needs to be man enough to own that,” said an enraged Logano.

Read More: Infuriated Joey Logano Ruthlessly Trashes John Hunter Nemechek’s ‘Slow’ Claims in 7-Words

On the other hand, Spire Motorsports’ Corey LaJoie is frustrated due to the fact that the wreck ended his 44-race stint without a DNF.

“I just saw the 22 (Logano) going backwards in a hurry and had nowhere to go,” he said. Even after the disappointing wreck that got him out of the race, LaJoie was happy about his teammate Hocevar, who managed to get through.

Wonder what awaits the drivers in the next race at Bristol Motor Speedway as they look forward to improving their ranks in the Cup Series.