Corey LaJoie, driving the No. 7 NASCAR Chevy Camaro ZL1, went for a wild ride on August 19th, 2024 at Michigan International Speedway, going sideways on the backstretch and flipping several times after making contact with a competitor.
The incident occurred on Lap 135 of the Cup Series race, which was postponed until Monday due to inclement weather in Michigan. LaJoie had been racing Noah Gragson’s No. 10 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for position when he made contact with Gragson’s rear quarter panel. The No. 7 Camaro looked low, skidding sideways before lifting into the air and flipping over like it weighed nothing. He crashed into the grass inside Turn 3, which sent his NASCAR Chevy race car back over before eventually coming to rest on all four tires.
Lajoie was examined and quickly released from the infield care center, unhurt in the crazy crash.
“That was a ride, buddy,” LaJoie said. “There’s sparks, dirt and all sorts of stuff coming in… That’s just about the way the year has gone. 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. That’s just how, unfortunately, the year for our 7 team’s been. We’ve had speed, just haven’t been able to put it together.”
Corey LaJoie was ultimately credited with a 32nd-place result. He wasn’t the only driver to have a blow-over wreck this weekend at Michigan – in fact, his crash was almost identical to that of Kyle Sieg, whose No. 28 Mustang flipped on Saturday during the Xfinity Series race in almost exactly the same place on track. It also appeared that the roof flaps on the No. 7 NASCAR Chevy did not slow the race car sufficiently to prevent the flip.
Tyler Reddick raced the No. 45 Toyota TRD Camry to the win, followed by William Byron’s No. 24 Camaro in the runner-up position. Kyle Larson led 41 laps in the No. 5 Camaro, but he wrecked out after 115 laps and was unable to finish the race.
Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | McDonald's Toyota | 206 | 15 | Toyota TRD Camry |
2 | 9 | 24 | William Byron | RaptorTough.com Chevrolet | 206 | 20 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
3 | 19 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Monster Energy Toyota | 206 | 2 | Toyota TRD Camry |
4 | 13 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Lucas Oil Chevrolet | 206 | 24 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
5 | 15 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Castrol Edge Ford | 206 | 2 | Ford Mustang |
6 | 18 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Fifth Third Bank Ford | 206 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
7 | 27 | 71 | Zane Smith # | Focused Health Chevrolet | 206 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
8 | 12 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Jockey Infinite Cool Underwear Chevrolet | 206 | 7 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
9 | 1 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Yahoo! Toyota | 206 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
10 | 11 | 77 | Carson Hocevar # | Premier Security/Zeigler.com Chevrolet | 206 | 3 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
11 | 26 | 41 | Ryan Preece | United Rentals Ford | 206 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
12 | 25 | 10 | Noah Gragson | Overstock.com Ford | 206 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
13 | 30 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse | Country Crock/Minute Rice Chevrolet | 206 | 2 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
14 | 34 | 21 | Harrison Burton | Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford | 206 | 5 | Ford Mustang |
15 | 6 | 9 | Chase Elliott | NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet | 206 | 29 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
16 | 28 | 43 | Erik Jones | Dollar Tree Toyota | 206 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
17 | 10 | 3 | Austin Dillon | DOW MobilityScience Chevrolet | 206 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
18 | 8 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Menards/Dutch Boy Ford | 206 | 15 | Ford Mustang |
19 | 17 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Martin Transportation Systems Ford | 206 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
20 | 29 | 51 | Justin Haley | Fraternal Order of Eagles Ford | 206 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
21 | 36 | 15 | Cody Ware | Parts Plus Ford | 206 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
22 | 16 | 4 | Josh Berry # | Overstock.com Ford | 206 | 4 | Ford Mustang |
23 | 32 | 31 | Daniel Hemric | Poppy Bank Chevrolet | 206 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
24 | 24 | 19 | Martin Truex | Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota | 206 | 28 | Toyota TRD Camry |
25 | 7 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Busch Light Peach Chevrolet | 205 | 4 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
26 | 5 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | McDonald's Toyota | 205 | 5 | Toyota TRD Camry |
27 | 22 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Chevrolet | 205 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
28 | 23 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Discount Tire Ford | 204 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
29 | 33 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | Mobil 1 Toyota | 202 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
30 | 35 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger(i) | LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet | 200 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
31 | 21 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | HighPoint.com Ford | 157 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
32 | 31 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Garner Trucking Chevrolet | 135 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
33 | 14 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 117 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
34 | 4 | 5 | Kyle Larson | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 115 | 41 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
35 | 3 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Rheem Toyota | 115 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
36 | 20 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Grillo's Pickles Ford | 114 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
Subscribe to GM Authority for more Chevy news, NASCAR news, GM motorsports news and around-the-clock GM news coverage.
Comments
When does Corey LaJoie not wreck?
Fun fact, both races LaJoie has flipped in were won by Tyler Reddick
That’s interesting. The only observation I’ve made is that he works or has a mishap in every race. If I was a betting man. I’d put money on it.
There’s a very good reason Spire doesn’t want him back…