“That's why he's back in the Truck Series”: Norm Benning doesn’t hold back as his team incorrectly names Corey LaJoie as the culprit

Norm Benning spun out from an early race contact at Martinsville Speedway, but his team mistakenly blamed Corey Lajoie for the incident. Frustrated by the outcome, the veteran driver shared a blunt remark over the team radio.

Benning is coming off a fiery incident during last weekend's Truck Series race at Talladega Superspeedway. He was taken to the infield care centre after his engine failed and caught fire.

Friday's Slim Jim 200 delivered yet another blow for the 73-year-old Pennsylvania native. On lap 41, Brenden Queen made contact with Benning's No.6 Chevy and sent him spinning.

Benning promptly took to the team radio and said(via X/DaltonHopkins,

"That was awfully nice of him. ... What a stupid ass. I was giving him the outside"

His team named Corey Lajoie as the culprit, and Benning had some choice words for the former Cup Series driver.

"Stupid a**. That's why he's back in the Truck Series," he said.

Dalton Hopkins

@PitLaneCPT

Team tells Norm incorrectly that it was LaJoie who hit him. But it was actually Queen "Stupid ass. That's why he's back in the Truck Series" - Benning #SlimJim200 #NASCAR

Norm Benning retired from the race with a 33rd-place result, while Corey LaJoie finished fifth. Notably, the race marked Benning's 260th Truck Series start.

LaJoie, on the other hand, is on a nine-race deal with Spire Motorsports this season. He was previously ousted from the team's Cup Series effort midway through the 2024 season.

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Corey LaJoie comments on increased horsepower for 2026

NASCAR has announced new horsepower rules for the 2026 season. Tracks shorter than 1.5 miles will require cars to run 750 hp. The move is seen as an effort to mitigate the drawbacks of the Next Gen package.

In a recent episode of his Stacking Pennies podcast, LaJoie weighed in on the proposed change, saying,

"It is a change in the right direction. Yeah, I think it's marginally better. I don't think somebody sitting in the 12th row of the Grand Sands is going to notice anything different, but when you fire up Twitter and the fans collective narrative say, "Oh, they got more power." Then maybe it's better." [3:59 onwards]

"But until they make the cars lighter, which I don't see a a clear path for them to be able to do that and to take tire away from it and just take overall traction away from the cars, I think what we have is what we have for a while."

Corey LaJoie is also on the hunt for a Cup Series ride for the Daytona 500 next year. The 34-year-old competed in this year's Daytona with Rick Ware Racing. He had a notable start at 12th on the grid, as he went on to lead 10 laps and finish 22nd on the running order.

LaJoie pooled some of his own funds to secure the RWR ride. He was later relieved of the financial burden when sponsorship backing came through on the last minute.