Pocono Raceway brought drama to the NASCAR Cup Series. The race saw fireworks ignite between several heated drivers.
One of those incidents involved Corey LaJoie and Ryan Preece. For those two, is ended in a post-race altercation.
With 2 laps to go, LaJoie and Preece were running side by side “for around 20th”. However, Alex Bowman stuck his nose inside of both of them and looked to be making it a three wide battle for the spot.
LaJoie recently had a run-in with Bowman and thus he elected to give him the inside lane. Preece however wasn’t made aware of that. So, Preece entered the corner expecting to be 2 wide while LaJoie expected a three-wide scenario.
In other words, both Preece and LaJoie turned in for the middle lane. They came together and Preece was sent spinning.
After the race, Preece climbed from his car in a hurry. He then sprinted to the driver’s window of LaJoie’s machine. A bit of shoving and a whole lot more name-calling took place between the two.
Spire Motorsports crew members came into the scene and pulled Preece away from their No. 7 driver.
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Ryan Preece attacks Corey LaJoie after Pocono Raceway (Video)
Corey LaJoie comments
“I was attacked in my car after the race,” Corey LaJoie stated via his Stacking Pennies podcast.
“The No. 48 makes it three wide on the bottom. I’m thinking, ‘Ok, him and I got into it at Chicago. Is he going to stick it in there or is his going to not crash all of us?’ “
“I leaned by way of, ‘I think he’s going to stick it in there.’ Because he was frustrated with me from a couple weeks ago.”
“At the time we made it to the corner, he was letting us make the corner, two wide. I was committed to making the corner, a lane off the bottom, because I thought the No. 48 was going to be in there.”
“The No. 41 spotted didn’t say that the No. 48 was looking. So, Ryan entered as though we were two wide. Where I entered as if we were three wide. We’re both fighting for the same real estate.”
“He entered on my right front. So, I was in a bad air spit, got into him and turned him around.”
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Corey LaJoie reacts to the post-race altercation
“He came around on the cool down lap and pulled in front of me,” LaJoie opened.
“I was like, ‘I guess we’ll get to talk about it.’ “
“We get parked. I can see seatbelts flying and I can see him frustrated. I’ve got my belts off, undoing my hans clips, got my visor up and I’m ready to get out and get an expected ass-reaming for spinning him out. Which I probably deserved. Not on purpose.”
“But then, I see the aggression at which he gets out of his car. I’m like, ‘Oh, he is not wanting to talk. He is running at me.’ “
“As I saw him coming, my visor was open, so I shut it to make sure he didn’t Captain Insano, poke me in the eyes.”
“That would have been a great move to start. But, I didn’t allow that because I shut my visor.”
“Then, he reached in the car and I grabbed his left hand and put it against the steering wheel. He slapped around the helmet a couple times.”
“Then, my fearless leader, Ryan Sparks came and wrapped him up Bowman-Grey style. He called me a, ‘piece of shit.’ “
LaJoie added, “And, that was the last I saw of him.”
Pocono Results: July 23, 2023 (NASCAR Cup Series)
Ryan Preece attacks Corey LaJoie after Pocono Raceway (Video)
Corey LaJoie on Ryan Preece
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Austin Dillon throws his NASCAR helmet at Tyler Reddick (Video)
