On Tuesday, it was announced that Corey LaJoie would not face any punishment for what appeared to be an intentional wreck of Kyle Busch at Pocono on Sunday. NASCAR deemed it a racing incident, though Sr. Vice President of Competition Elton Sawyer noted they would sit down and speak with LaJoie to make sure he was “in a good place.”
NASCAR has come down decisively in recent weeks against drivers taking retaliatory action, albeit at much slower speeds. Should NASCAR have intervened and drawn a line in the sand? This week Steve Leffew and Vito Pugliese compare recent events and NASCAR’s verdicts in 2-Headed Monster.
This Aggression Will Not Stand…Man
LaJoie escaped the punitive arm of NASCAR enforcement on Tuesday, when the sanctioning body neglected to fine him following the incident with 40 laps to go that collected six different cars, including the object of his anger — Busch.
Putting the “ire” in “Spire” feels a bit ironic with LaJoie; usually one of the more affable and roundly-liked drivers on the circuit, his brand has been tarnished a bit this season dating back to Las Vegas in March, when he was involved in what looked to be accident that didn’t need to happen with Brad Keselowski.
This latest incident with another Cup Champion in Busch was certainly not a good look, particularly coming off the heels of NASCAR slapping Bubba Wallace with a $50,000 fine for post-race contact with Alex Bowman at the Chicago Street Course – and that was below 50mph, not where cars are typically at max speed entering turn one at one of the longest frontstretches in motorsports.
Should NASCAR have taken action? In this instance, they should have.
I will preface this by saying I have long been an advocate for LaJoie in the Cup Series. Many have derided him for not having won in any of the three touring divisions. Which is technically true, but given the equipment he has helmed, was he really expected to be ripping off four in a row like Harry Gant in his 50s? When you address a potential fine, I think a few things have to be taken into consideration.
The first of which is intent. Did he mean to spin Busch in front of the field? The fact he dented his rear bumper in his contact would indicate that he did.
The second thing I would look at was if the severity of the action warranted an equitable reaction on NASCAR’s part.
Sending a competitor at the fastest part of the track at Pocono is not something that…
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