Corey LaJoie didn’t win Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. He didn’t finish second or notch a top-10 finish. He finished 18th. But you know what? He had the coolest finish in the field.
LaJoie was involved in “The Big One” on the final lap of the race when race leader Michael McDowell went for the double block on Brad Keselowski as the two approached the checkered line. McDowell couldn’t clear Keselowski and catapulted up the racetrack and into the outside wall, collecting a good chunk of the field with him.
One of those drivers involved was LaJoie. LaJoie’s No. 7 Chevrolet ended up on its side and proceeded to stay that way as he came across the checkered line.
Tyler Reddick wins GEICO 500 at Talladega after final lap crash
While LaJoie was on his side coming to the checkered line, another was celebrating inside his racecar as the winner. That was Tyler Reddick, who raced past Keselowski after McDowell spun out. The victory is the sixth of Reddick’s career and first this season for 23XI Racing. Among the first to greet Reddick in victory lane? 23XI co-owner and NBA legend Michael Jordan.
Talladega was the first race Jordan witnessed a victory from a 23XI Racing driver.
“As you know, this is the NBA playoffs right now. To me, this is like an NBA playoff game,” Jordan told Jamie Little of FOX Sports after the race. “I am so ecstatic for the fans who support the sport itself. We’ve been working hard trying to get ourselves up to compete against all the top guys in this sport. But we’ve done a heck of a job just to be where qe are.
“For us to win a big race like this, it means so much to me for the effort that the team has done. I’m all in. I love it. It replaces a lot of the competitiveness that I had in basketball. This is even worse because I have no control. If I was playing basketball, I have total control, but I have no control. I live vicariously through the drivers and all the crew chiefs and everybody.”
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