Corey LaJoie candid after flipping his car during Stage 3 at Michigan: 'It was a ride, buddy'

Corey LaJoie went for a wild ride during the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway, flipping over onto his roof during Stage 3.

While racing Noah Gragson for position in the top 20, LaJoie made contact, went sideways, and flipped. It’s actually the second flip of the race weekend, as Kyle Sieg went over in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race on Saturday.

Speaking with the media afterwards, LaJoie gave his side of the story, taking a lion-share of the blame, but wondering if Gragson couldn’t have given him some more room on the track.

“That’s just about the way the year’s gone,” LaJoie said, disappointed in yet another tough finish, speaking with NBC Sports after exiting the infield care center. “You know, we have a good car, and I find a way to flip it upside down. Twice this year, we’ve been upside down, and I haven’t been upside down in my whole career. Unfortunately, that’s how the year for our No. 7 team. We’ve had speed, just haven’t been able to put it all together. But the No. 10 chopped me a couple of times, especially off (Turn 2) and I had a run, and I don’t know, I haven’t seen the replay yet. If he pulled it off the wall when I was trying to get his left rear. … It was a ride, buddy.

“There’s sparks and dirt and all sorts of stuff coming in. I just hate that our Garner Trucking Camaro got a little dinged up. I think we had a top 12, top 10 car today. I hate that we ended up on our roof. … Kudos to NASCAR for building safe cars. … That’s a big lick.”

It’s certainly been a tough campaign for Corey LaJoie and the No. 7 team in 2024. As he tries to find a team for next season, he’ll be looking to return to form over the next couple of weeks, looking to convince a team he’s worthy of their backing.

Denny Hamlin: Corey LaJoie should drop down to Xfinity or Truck Series to regain confidence

Denny Hamlin tried to give some advice to Corey LaJoie on the latest episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast, now that it’s been made official the driver won’t be returning to Spire Motorsports in 2025.

It’s certainly a disappointing revelation for LaJoie, who’s been building Spire over the last couple of seasons, but his rough 2024 has led to a dip in confidence, with the team moving in a new direction next season. Moving forward, Hamlin believes he knows the remedy for LaJoie to save his career.

“It’s unfortunate for Corey. I understand why Spire made the decision, right? They felt like, you know, this is a performance-based business, and the performance hasn’t been what they hoped,” Hamlin stated. “I listened to Corey’s podcast to kind of hear what his take was on it. I thought he was very professional, very matter of fact. I think he took it on the chin and took responsibility for what his role was in it. I do think there’s multiple layers to it, as in, like, is it all Corey’s fault? No, probably not, but you do have this obligation to get the best that you can out of your car each and every week. I think he took responsibility there, but I don’t think it’s the end. 

“I think there’s an opportunity for him. What my advice would be is the same that I’ve said for a long time, is, go win, man. Go get your, you know, go get some wins. … He kind of skipped the Truck Series and Xfinity and all that, and just kind of started racing Cup. But, you know, he got a Cup opportunity, you know. He was on a backmarker team, but, like, he got an opportunity to race on Sunday, so he took it. So, you never really got that warm and cozy feeling, what is he able to do, right?

“So, I think this is an opportunity for him to go back down, I think he should go back down a series or two, and win. … You’ve got to do it. You gotta show these people that you can win. And I think that, you know, he’s going to work hard enough, and hopefully he gets an opportunity to show what he can do.”

The opportunity is there for Corey LaJoie to do the same moving forward. It’s up to the soon-to-be-former Spire Motorsports wheelman to take it and run, and prove to the team that they’re wrong for passing him over in 2025.