Corey LaJoie Fires Back at Kyle Busch’s “Liar” Comments, Calls Out Top NASCAR Drivers’ Retaliatory Tactics

Tensions between Corey LaJoie and Kyle Busch have reached an all-time high after the Richard Childress Racing driver’s appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. Busch accused the Spire Motorsports star of being a liar and changing his story multiple times. It all started after LaJoie wrecked the two-time Cup Series champion at Pocono. At the time, the #7 driver believed that he did not do anything wrong on track. However, his perception changed when he revisited the incident after the race.

“I understand he has every right to be mad, but for him to go on the biggest talk show in the country and call me a liar, it pisses me off,” LaJoie told The Athletic. Busch did not respond to LaJoie’s attempts to communicate but on McAfee’s show, said, “Payback is coming.” However, the Spire Motorsports driver is not too worried about the same as a blatant wreck would see Rowdy slapped with a penalty. The catch is that drivers as experienced as the two-time champion know how to make it look like an accident.

“A guy like him and a guy like Denny (Hamlin), we’ve seen it where when those guys crash you, they’re good enough to where it doesn’t look like it’s intentional,” he added. The driver of the #7 car will be anticipating such an incident if they are close to each other at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday. Even if it is blatant, he believes that top drivers such as Busch have enough monetary backing to retaliate or get into a fight and yet be able to afford the possible fine that may follow.

It has been a year to forget for Rowdy and perhaps he is has developed a ‘nothing to lose’ personality for the rest of the season. At Indianapolis, he was only fast enough to qualify P34 which is not going to do him favors. Passing on the oval is expected to be difficult come Sunday and it is only going to add to his frustrations.

Will Kyle Busch take a page out of Denny Hamlin’s book?

Drivers making intentional wrecks look like accidents have been commonplace in NASCAR for several years. Denny Hamlin did something similar with Ross Chastain a couple of years ago. Once again at Pocono and at the time, the two drivers’ rivalry on track saw Hamlin getting the better of Chastain. The two drivers’ often wrecked each other during the 2022 season. However, the #11 was on the receiving end in most cases. On this occasion, the Joe Gibbs Racing star played it cool and did what he felt was right.

With 19 laps to go, there was a restart where the two drivers were on the front row. Hamlin was on the bottom and he drove up the track, squeezing the Trackhouse Racing driver.

As a result, Chastain made contact with the outside wall in a bid to avoid the #11 and wrecked. The JGR star said that it was hard racing as he raced the #1 aggressively with a victory on the line. The move earned plaudits from Kyle Petty and Chase Elliott afterwards owing to the clever nature of its execution, leaving the fans hanging on whether to blame Hamlin or not and still achieving the end goal. 

We might see something similar from Rowdy if the situation presents itself. However, owing to his fiery personality, it maybe just be the opposite.