In the wake of Corey LaJoie tangling with Kyle Busch at Pocono Raceway in the NASCAR Cup Series, should NASCAR implement more in-race penalties for aggressive driving?
Luken Glover: Absolutely. No matter what Corey LaJoie and his team said about how the incident occurred, it was unacceptable. There have been several instances where aggressive driving between two drivers ends up involving more than bargained for. You have at-track crew members, shop crew members, sponsors and more who are all involved in a car being on track. When an innocent bystander is wrapped up in someone else’s mess, which ended up being seven total as a result of the LaJoie-Kyle Busch contact, it casts an even larger shadow on the whole deal. Let’s also remember Layne Riggs was held two laps for reckless driving at Nashville Superspeedway in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, and while we don’t need an extreme amount of policing, this is another area that needs more consistency.
Wyatt Watson: Most of the time in the lower series, NASCAR wastes no time dishing out penalties for reckless driving and parking drivers for two laps when deemed necessary. Why NASCAR isn’t doing it in the Cup Series is beyond me. It decided to wait to penalize Carson Hocevar until the week after his offending race, and LaJoie got away scot-free after clearing not lifting Busch’s back bumper into turn 1 at Pocono — Pocono, of all places! LaJoie should have been penalized for what he did. A shove doesn’t get any more egregious or intentional than that.
Mike Neff: The current in-race penalties for rough driving are sufficient. The incident between Busch and LaJoie was a racing deal. Busch made an aggressive block. LaJoie had to get back up to a reasonable angle to make the corner. You had two people who were at a point in the race when they weren’t in the mood to give. The result was a wreck. It wasn’t aggressive driving, it was hard racing.
Samuel Stubbs: As much as I love the boys-have-at-it mantra, you can’t let any driver — especially a repeat offender like LaJoie — cause a crash like the one we saw Sunday without any semblance of repercussions. Hold the driver for one lap and pay Mike Helton to yell at them in the NASCAR hauler post-race.
Whose legacy would benefit the most from winning the Brickyard 400?
Austin Bass: My immediate reaction was to nominate Denny Hamlin, because he has made it known how much he values race wins, and in particular, how badly he covets the chance to kiss the bricks of the famed oval. Aside from winning a championship, it’s the last major accomplishment left unchecked on the future Hall of Famer’s bucket list. However, that championship means more than a Brickyard 400 trophy when contemplating a driver’s legacy, and that thought led me to Joey Logano. He’s a two-time Cup champion with 33 wins, including a Daytona 500 and two Bristol Motor Speedway night races, as well as winning the first modern-era dirt event, two All-Star Races and 2009 Rookie of the Year honors. Further diversifying the crown jewel portfolio of his decorated career would significantly boost the value of his Hall-worthy stock.
Andrew Stoddard: Kyle Larson has taken NASCAR by storm the past few years, especially with his 10-win championship season in 2021. On the other hand, outside of a Coca-Cola 600 win in 2021 and a Southern 500 victory last season, Larson could use some more crown jewel wins on his racing resume. Winning the Brickyard 400 and kissing the bricks on Sunday would move Larson’s legacy up another level in NASCAR history. To be clear, Larson has already a Hall of Fame career, but a win at arguably the most prestigious track in motorsports would be another notch on his belt.
Stubbs: Without a doubt, Hamlin. I would venture to say Larson, but he has much more time left than Hamlin. Even if Hamlin doesn’t win a title, he could at least say he’s won all the crown jewels, something very few other drivers can say.
Neff: It seems obvious, but Larson would benefit greatly from winning Indy. He is going to do the double more times. He would benefit immensely by winning both major events at Indy.
Door Bumper Clear reported that Corey Heim will return to TRICON Garage in 2025, which suggests that Riley Herbst will be the driver of the third 23XI Racing car. Is Herbst ready to compete full time in Cup?
Stoddard: Riley Herbst has certainly gotten better since his first full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series season in 2020. Last year, Herbst not only collected his first career NXS win, he also set a career high in top fives (10). However, in five full-time seasons, Herbst has also failed to make the Round of 8 in the Xfinity playoffs, let alone the Championship 4. Simply put, there are many other drivers in both the Xfinity and Truck series who are more worthy and ready for a promotion to Cup than Herbst. In the Toyota stable alone, you have Corey Heim, Chandler Smith and Ryan Truex; the latter has more career NXS wins (two) than Herbst despite only one full-time season (2018 with Kaulig Racing). Herbst is showing improvement, but until he can win more consistently in the Xfinity Series, he should be nowhere near a Cup ride.
Glover: When Rick Ware Racing had Herbst compete in the 2023 Daytona 500, I was admittedly skeptical. At the time, his Xfinity ride with Stewart-Haas Racing was one that visited victory lane eight times in 2020 with Chase Briscoe, yet Herbst had not won in two full seasons. However, he scored a top 10 in that race, setting up a four-race schedule last season when he finished in the top 10 twice and pieced together a solid 19.3 average finish. If Herbst indeed goes to 23XI and finds success, he wouldn’t be the first driver to not meet expectations in the lower series only to find success on the big stage. Still, he missed the playoffs entirely a year ago while his teammate won the Xfinity championship, and most of his Cup starts came on superspeedways. It will take some time before we can get a full picture of his ceiling.
Watson: No. Sure, he sits seventh in Xfinity points right now, but he only has one Xfinity win and zero victories from his time in the Truck Series. Many drivers should be way high in line to inherit a third ride for 23XI. Within Toyota’s pipeline, Smith seems like a better option to go with if Heim is truly off the table to make the jump to Cup. Sheldon Creed, despite not winning in the Xfinity Series yet, is a Truck champion and at least made the playoffs last year (unlike Herbst), nearly sneaking into the Championship 4 had he won at Martinsville Speedway. Herbst might have more Monster Energy money to offer for 23XI, but as for his racing talent, he doesn’t seem like the best fit to elevate its program.
Stubbs: The better question: Is his family’s wallet ready? Herbst is a serviceable, playoff-caliber driver in the Xfinity Series, but I expect his Cup career to crash and burn, if it gets off the runway in the first place. Money may talk, but leaving Heim to babysit in Trucks is a massive mistake by 23XI.
Bass: The progress Herbst displayed last season compared to previous years was as impressive as it was surprising. Whether his race craft is blooming later than most or his cars were much better prepared at the end of the 2023 campaign, it was shocking to see him demolish the field at Vegas to earn his first Xfinity win. Nonetheless, he is the distant number two within his current organization behind Cole Custer, the defending series champion and winner of the most recent race in the series. Herbst has made a handful of starts in the Cup Series, mostly on drafting tracks, in which he led some laps and ran near the front of the field. But there is nothing else he has done in his career to warrant a spot on the Cup grid.
Which driver is most in need of the Olympic break?
Neff: Pretty hard not to pick Busch. The Richard Childress Racing organization needs to look at its simulation package, because it is unloading like garbage almost every weekend. This is strikingly similar to RFK Racing many years ago when its sim program got away from it. A couple of weeks of intense simulation work would be very good for the RCR race teams.
Stoddard: Aside from Busch, Bubba Wallace could use some time away from the racetrack. He has been hovering around the playoff cut line for months now, which has got to be a stressful situation for him and the No. 23 team. Seeing drivers around him on the cut line win races to lock up playoff spots probably doesn’t help the mindset, either. Wallace’s frustration boiled over after the Chicago street course when contact with Alex Bowman on the cooldown lap led to a $50,000 fine from NASCAR. Wallace and the No. 23 team will hope for a great run at Indianapolis to go into the Olympic break on a positive note.
Glover: Busch can have his name put in pen here, so I’ll go with another driver. Ross Chastain needs some time to breathe. Just a month ago, Chastain was fairly comfortable in his playoff positioning, sitting 12th on the playoff grid, 73 points to the good. Since then, however, Ryan Blaney, Logano and Bowman have all won, leapfrogging Chastain. To make matters worse, Chastain has just three top 10s in the last 15 races, and he has crashed out in two of the past three events. It has proven extremely difficult for someone outside the cut line to point their way back in, but Chastain doesn’t have room to relax with Wallace sitting just 27 points behind him. With his Trackhouse Racing teammate Daniel Suarez already locked in, pressure is on to get both cars into the playoffs.
Bass: William Byron has three wins this year, but they were so long ago that any momentum built from them has certainly dissipated. There is also something to be said for where his victories came: a drafting track, a road course and a paperclip. These styles of racing aren’t a great barometer for the overall speed a team possesses, and we’ve seen that play out with Byron. He’s had some decent finishes since he last won at Martinsville Speedway, but that was 13 races ago. In that time, he’s led just three races, while all three of his teammates have visited victory lane. The No. 24 team has not displayed winning speed anywhere since early April, and some of its best finishes recently are better than its performances would suggest. Byron is the slowest of the four Hendrick Motorsports drivers at the moment and will need to come back from the Olympic break the way he came out of the gates if he wants to rejuvenate his hopes for a shot at the title.
Watson: LaJoie no doubt needs this break following his run-in with Busch. The good news of his 2025 pairing with Rodney Childers was quickly forgotten by the move into turn 1, and his performance this season except for the Daytona 500 has been lackluster at best. Taking two weeks off should help quench the flames LaJoie is in right now.
About the author
Mark Kristl joined Frontstretch at the beginning of the 2019 NASCAR season. He is the site's ARCA Menards Series editor. Kristl is also an Eagle Scout and a proud University of Dayton alum.
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Aggressive driving is different than what we’ve been seeing lately. Aggressive driving between two professionals racing hard – showing mutual respect in the heat of battle while showcasing their skills – is exactly what fans want to see.
Retaliatory contact and dumbassery are different and what needs to be penalized. Where’s Red Forman when you need him?
Totally agree Jeremy.