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NASCAR: Corey LaJoie Says Sunday ‘Was a Good Day’ After Atlanta Motor Speedway Wreck

NASCAR racer Corey LaJoie was involved in a wild crash at Atlanta, but the driver said Sunday “was a good day” with his fifth-place finish.

The 30-year-old North Carolina native went airborne through the infield during Sunday’s Cup Series race at the upgraded track. Tyler Reddick’s blown tire near lap 146 created that anticipated “Big One” wreck with LaJoie getting its brunt.

But he still finished in the Top 5.

LaJoie joked about his sponsor, The Fraternal Order of Eagles, making his car faster. He said he felt like he “was flying there when he went through the grass.”

Twelve cars got caught up in the melee, but LaJoie felt like his Next Gen car held up pretty good. Nothing like a Top 10 finish to help you forget about all the things that could’ve went wrong Saturday.

NASCAR.com reported on Corey LaJoie’s post-race emotions.

“I was worried about the diffuser,” LaJoie told NASCAR.com” but iwas intact and we were able to have a good day.”

NASCAR Corey LaJoie Feeling OK After AMS’ Big One’ Sunday

The North Carolina driver spent most of the day staying out of trouble. That’s usually the Spire Motorsports plan after racing at Daytona and Talladega. 

On Sunday, he went from 26th place in the first stage to 23rd by the end of the second stage. But thing got even better at the newly-improved NASCAR track in Hampton, Ga.

But, as the race wound down to 25 laps, LaJoie started picking up positions. He benefitted from a Bubba Wallace-Ryan Blaney-Chase Briscoe incident with the final lap starting. After that, another crash helped and Christopher Bell’s infraction resulted in his fifth-place showing.

LaJoie said with all the wrecks, it was like the movie Days of Thunder came to Atlanta.

The racer said “luckily, we were in the right spot at the right time.”

Corey LaJoie Living Right With Great Season Start

LaJoie’s finish was his best Cup ending ever. And that’s out of 193 starts. His previous best finish came at Daytona two years ago when he earned a rain-shortened sixth-place finish.

Luck definitely seems to be on the NASCAR driver’s side with three top-15 finishes in only five races this far. The Spire Motorsports team has to be thrilled after LaJoie had only three great finishes last season.

LaJoie joked if someone told him he’d have this much success in 2022 this soon, he would’ve laughed at them.

“We still have a lot of work to do, but today was a good day,” LaJoie said. 

Besides, the racer said his fifth-place showing turned into a better payday than any sixth-place finish would. 

The hot start also means a good position in the Cup points standings. The man is 24th with other big names behind him.