Corey LaJoie explains 'beef' with Erik Jones, says they exchanged words after Atlanta

Despite his two top-5 finishes at the new Atlanta coming into this race, Corey LaJoie found himself in a bit of a spat last Sunday. LaJoie’s underdog run was washed away as he got into it with Erik Jones, spun up the track and took heavy damage. He finished, but the No. 7 Chevy Camaro finished P31 in the NASCAR race.

Apparently, this is not the first time that the two have gotten into it with one another and remembered it. Corey LaJoie was back again this week with another episode of his Stacking Pennies podcast.

Co-host Ryan Flores asked LaJoie about the incident with the No. 43 in Atlanta. The Spire Motorsports driver was not afraid to dive into what went down and their history with one another.

“Yeah, he’s wrecked me like three times and I — I race him hard because he has wrecked me before in the past,” LaJoie said. “Bristol Dirt, Dover last year, a couple other places. He just — I think him and I just race each other super tight but he’s come out the better end of it a couple of times.

“So, if you’re following somebody straight on you’re a little bit tight. But if you start showing your right-front headlight or right-side door, it piles a bunch of front downforce in it, And that’s what makes you looser. So if I was needing to block a run on top I would have to put myself into a worse aero position and less load because the banking, like as you go higher, the load of the car is less and less. So I just couldn’t cover. Found myself in the middle. The 43 tried holding it wide open and got in the left rear and then it was over for us.”

New Stacking Pennies Episode out now!

💰 : Erik Jones Beef
💰 : Bowman Gray Beef
💰 : Extra Beef on the side

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Web: https://t.co/VZkd3OIhyX pic.twitter.com/Ppzt0jIbb4

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 13, 2023

While Corey LaJoie finished the race, he practically limped to the rain-shortened finish. The damage set him back as his team made repairs. Of course, he just didn’t have the speed to keep up after. A tough weekend for LaJoie who is searching for a way to make the playoffs.

Corey LaJoie talked to Erik Jones afterward

Of course, there are a few ways drivers can deal with incidents like Sunday. You can ignore it, talk about it, or fight about it. This season we have seen drivers take all of these routes. We didn’t see LaJoie and Jones fight, and I don’t think they would, but what did go down?

Corey LaJoie went into the postrace stuff soon after his explanation of the wreck. He came across Jones and let him know how he felt apparently. From LaJoie’s perspective, things like that won’t happen anymore.

“Well, so got crashed, right?” LaJoie continued. “Boom, boom. Bounced back and forth. My guys got the toe somewhat back straight and we rode around and finished the race until it started raining. So I get out and I was walking to the pit box and in between the pit box and my car was Erik Jones and his crew. Him and I exchanged some words and I don’t anticipate him driving me quite as hard.”

With this behind him, Corey LaJoie will try to go into New Hampshire Motor Speedway and turn his luck around.