Corey LaJoie had a wild ride at the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway, flipping on his roof during the third stage.
While racing Noah Gragson for a top-20 spot, LaJoie made contact, tipped sideways and rolled over. It was actually the second rollover of the race weekend after Kyle Sieg rolled over in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race.
Speaking to the media afterward, LaJoie gave his perspective on the situation, taking the lion’s share of the blame but wondering if Gragson could have given him a little more room on the track.
“That’s the way the year has gone,” LaJoie, disappointed with another tough finish, said, speaking to NBC Sports after leaving the Infield Care Center. “You know, we have a good car and I find a way to turn it around. We’ve been upside down twice this year and I’ve never been upside down in my whole career. Unfortunately, that’s the way the year has gone for our No. 7 team. We were fast but didn’t manage to put it all together. But the No. 10 caught me a couple of times, especially after (Turn 2) and I had a run and I don’t know, I haven’t seen the replay yet. Whether he pulled it off the wall when I was trying to get to his left rear. … It was a great ride, buddy.
“Sparks, dirt, everything is flying in. I just hate that our Garner Trucking Camaro got a little dented. I think we had a car in the top 12 or 10 today. I hate that we ended up on the roof. … Hats off to NASCAR for building safe cars. … That’s a lot of praise.”
