“The #12”: Corey LaJoie names the culprit in Ricky Stenhouse-Chase Briscoe wreck at Atlanta

Corey LaJoie provided his perspective and blamed Ryan Blaney for the Ricky Stenhouse Jr.-Chase Briscoe collision at Atlanta, which ultimately took out crowd favorite Chase Elliott. LaJoie highlighted how the #12 Penske driver left no room for Stenhouse Jr., forcing him to move up the track and initiate the wreck.

The incident took place on Lap 150 when Blaney was racing ahead of Stenhouse Jr. and Briscoe, who were running side-by-side, with Elliott following behind in the outer lane. The #12 Penske driver cut off Stenhouse Jr., causing him to veer outward, forcing Elliott into the barriers.

After the initial impact with the barrier, Elliott's #9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy suffered a broken toe link as he tagged LaJoie's car and collected Brad Keselowski. Both LaJoie and Keselowski had to retire from the race, while Elliott returned to the track after repairs and finished 20th at the checkered flag.

NASCAR Insider Jeff Gluck asked fans, whether Stenhouse Jr. or Briscoe was to take the blame for the wreck.

"Who gets the blame here between Stenhouse/Briscoe?" he wrote on X.

LaJoie responded to the post by sharing his perspective on the wreck, placing the blame on Blaney, although a majority of NASCAR fans were riled up against Stenhouse Jr.

"The 12. He closed the lane off and the 47 had a headlight in there and Ricky had to crowd the 19." he wrote on X.

Soon after the wreck, Elliott also expressed his frustration with the Hyak Motorsports driver, stating that he shouldn’t have raced alongside the #47 Chevy. He said on the radio:

"I knew better. I knew better than to stay next to that one. I just couldn't get out fast enough." To which his crew chief Gustafson replied, "Yeah, just him and the 19 ran into each other for no reason." (via Jeff Gluck on X )

Elliott managed to secure a 20th-place result in front of his home crowd.

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Corey LaJoie opens up about missing Cup Series action

Corey LaJoie will be running a part-time Cup Series schedule this season for Rick Ware Racing. After competing in the first two race weekends, he will not be entering the Cup race at COTA and opened up about missing the Cup Series schedule.

Following his race-ending wreck at Atlanta, in an interview with journalist Bob Pockrass, he said:

"Yeah, it will be weird next week not competing, but you know it's a weird spot to where it's hard to run good enough. Get in the Cup Series to prove that you continue belong here after two weeks people forget."

"I can compete for top 10s, and hopefully wins one day. But we'll see what's in the car. It's a lot of fun coming up this year, I'm looking forward to it. But yeah, it'll be a little bit different, watching the race," he told Bob Pockrass.

LaJoie was in a position to secure a strong result at Daytona but was caught up in the last-lap crash, ultimately finishing 22nd. He was credited with a 38th-place finish at Atlanta.