Corey LaJoie will have to watch his back whenever he’s racing around Kyle Busch. Busch joined the Pat McAfee Show on Friday morning, and McAfee asked Busch if he spoke to LaJoire following the incident. Busch said he refused to return LaJoie’s attempts to reach out due to how LaJoie handled the incident and the aftermath, and Busch also promised that there would be retribution for the incident.
[Corey LaJoie] texted me, and then he called me, and I didn’t even reach back out because he changed his story four times. So, I’m like ‘you’re just a liar. You wrecked me. I get it. It’s fine, whatever. Payback’s coming.’
Kyle Busch
Watch the Full Clip of Kyle Busch and Pat McAfee Below:
The incident in question happened in the final stage at Pocono. Here is the full clip of LaJoie hooking Busch into the infield after Busch aggressively blocked LaJoie to the bottom of the race track.
The incident itself was controversial, but how LaJoie and his team reacted to it pushed it over the top. Despite LaJoie being the one who turned up into traffic and spun Busch into the infield, the No. 7 team blamed Busch. LaJoie declared that Busch “Hooked himself,” and another crew member came over the radio saying Busch “Got what he deserved.”
LaJoie doubled down in a post-race interview with Jessie Punch, saying he wouldn’t have handled that restart differently. He later broke it down on his podcast, “Stacking Pennies,” saying that Busch unexpectedly lost momentum due to sticking in fourth gear in traffic instead of shifting to fifth, which ultimately preceded the contact.
Fans were not on LaJoie’s side for this incident. Ultimately, he was the one who turned into Busch and caused the melee.
Busch was disappointed but did not say much in interviews following the incident. When talking to Kim Coon during the USA broadcast, he merely thanked his sponsors and, when asked whether he feels there needs to be a conversation with LaJoie, Busch simply responded, “Nah.” When talking with more media following the USA interview, Busch was more creative, yet still somewhat vague, with his language.
The Pat McAfee show was Busch’s first public appearance since Pocono, and that’s where the “Liar” and “Payback” comments came from. He will certainly cash that payback check sometime in the future.
Most recently, he found himself at odds with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on the opening lap of the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro. After contact in turn two on lap one, Busch pushed Stenhouse Jr. around in turn one the next lap, sending the No. 47 into the wall. Stenhouse Jr. later retaliated by parking his car in Busch’s pit stall and, after the race, started a massive brawl in the infield.
It’s not the first time Busch has been at odds with other drivers this year, and this story is probably not over yet.
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iRacing’s new arcade-style racer, titled iRacing Arcade, has released a new trailer ahead of its highly anticipated release next week.
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In the summer of 2000, NASCAR was forced to confront something it had long treated as an unfortunate reality of racing. When Kenny Irwin Jr. lost his life at New Hampshire — just eight weeks after Adam Petty’s fatal crash at the same track — the conversation around safety could no longer be quietly pushed aside. What had once been viewed as an isolated tragedy suddenly felt like a pattern.
From his rise through USAC competition to his breakthrough Truck Series win at Homestead-Miami Speedway, to the highs and lows of his NASCAR career, this story traces how one heartbreaking summer became a turning point. The aftermath would ripple through the garage, eventually reshaping the sport in ways few could have imagined.
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After two weeks of drafting this week the NASCAR Cup Series goes road course racing at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA). This will be the second year running this specific layout. Starting in 2025 NASCAR is running on a shorter 18-turn, 2.356-mile circuit rather than the full 3.426-mile 20-turn loop. Goodyear is also bringing back the same tire that debuted here last season.
This week Shane Van Gisbergen has opened as a heavy favorite at all books. Last year he won the last five road/street courses of the season. However, at COTA Van Gisbergen had what was, by his standards, a disappointing weekend. Van Gisbergen qualified and finished sixth.
After COTA however, Van Gisbergen ran off five straight road/street course wins. So respect is certainly deserved, but at least in my simulations, not at the level the books are giving. This does open up theoretical value on outright bets, that said, I’m looking for markets where I don’t have to directly bet against Van Gisbergen.
Chase Briscoe’s first four seasons at the Cup level while driving for Stewart-Haas Racing were not inspiring. Over 21 road/street course races he had only six Top 10 finishes and no Top 5 finishes. However, last season, driving with Joe Gibbs Racing, Briscoe had three Top 10 finishes and two Top 5 finishes. Briscoe’s success with Joe Gibbs Racing is hardly surprising though. In 11 road course starts in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series while driving top tier equipment Briscoe had eight Top 10 finishes, four Top 5 finishes, and two wins.
In addition to his 50% Top 10 finish rate in 2025, Briscoe’s in race performance was outstanding in 2025. He completed nearly 60% of his laps on road/street courses inside the Top 10. That includes running over 50% of his laps at COTA inside the Top 10.
At Win The Race our 100,000 simulations have Chase Briscoe finishing in the Top 10 this weekend over 54% of the time. That translates to fair odds of -118. At Caesars Briscoe is +110 to finish inside the Top 10 which translates to implied odds of 47.62%. This means that we have quite a lot of room to be over optimistic on Briscoe and still have value on this bet. I would bet this down to even money.
