Does Corey LaJoie Deserve a Penalty in Light of NASCAR’s Bubba Wallace Crackdown?

There has never been a dearth of criticisms against NASCAR for being hypocritical. The past two weekends have stirred the pot once again with the sanctioning body showing some extremeness in its decision-making. The foreword begins with 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace bumping into Chicago-winner Alex Bowman in the cool-down lap. He’d done so in retaliation for being spun early in the race.

NASCAR deemed this a serious offense since drivers unbuckle their seatbelts and bring their window nets down during the cool-down lap. Citing the danger he caused, Wallace was levied a fine of $50,000. Fast forward to this Sunday’s race at the Pocono Raceway and Corey LaJoie can be seen getting off scot-free after spinning Kyle Busch into the midpack crowd and ending the days of many.

The Spire Motorsports driver had been ambitiously attempting to go wide during a restart as the field approached Turn 1, in the final stage. He made the mistake of not lifting off the gas at the right moment and made contact with Busch, who was ahead of him, twice. The No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Camaro buckled the second time and spun to the outside before careening into the traffic.

Harrison Burton, Ryan Preece, and Busch himself among others found themselves unable to carry on with the race after the accident. LaJoie, however, went on to reach the checkered flag in 19th place. He expressed no remorse in his post-race interviews and cast aside the notion of apologizing to the victims of his actions. But what’s more questionable at the moment is not LaJoie’s reaction but NASCAR’s.

NASCAR explains why it couldn’t penalize LaJoie

The sanctioning body’s VP of Competition, Elton Sawyer, spoke to reporters on Tuesday after reviewing the incident at Pocono. He maintained, aware of the accusations of inconsistency in officiating, that what transpired in Chicago and Pocono were different scenarios. He said that Wallace had ample time to calm himself after he was spun but still chose to crash into Bowman after the race.

It was this inability to keep himself in check after a long breather that warranted a penalty from the official viewpoint. The Pocono incident, on the other hand, was seen as a lot less severe since it happened in-race. LaJoie hadn’t displayed any intent to wreck on his radio and this had been enough to let him off the hook. Sawyer is even hoping to have a conversation with the driver to make sure he is in a “good place” before the Brickyard 400.

Iconic racer Denny Hamlin believes that the body is basing its calls on how much attention a particular scenario garners in the media. The heavy advertising that it made of the Kyle Busch-Ricky Stenhouse Jr. North Wilkesboro brawl is a neat little flashback that aids his stand. In the right or wrong so far, it is high time Sawyer & Co. earned some goodwill from the fandom.