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Audacious Chase Elliott ‘Bloodlines’ Comment Lands NASCAR Veteran in Trouble With Corey Lajoie’s Dad
Audacious Chase Elliott ‘Bloodlines’ Comment Lands NASCAR Veteran in Trouble With Corey Lajoie’s Dad
Family ties in NASCAR have played an integral part in helping stock-car racing maintain consistent continuity over seven long decades. After all, the sanctioning body has been under the grips of one infamous family since its inception by Bill France Sr. in 1948.
However, a rapidly evolving field has spilled a lot of water on the ageless ‘nepotism debate,’ especially considering the visually reduced number of drivers with familial ties to the sport in recent times. But outspoken Kenny Wallace has stirred the pot yet again, thanks in part to the father-son duo of Randy & Corey LaJoie. As per Kenny Wallace, his declarations earlier of Mr. Popular, Chase Elliott ending his career potentially as the last driver hailing from a ‘great NASCAR bloodline,’ did not sit right with his former Busch Series rival.
Is Chase Elliott NASCAR’s last royalty? Kenny Wallace certainly thinks so
Emulating the championship pedigree of racing families like the Earnhardts, the Wallaces or the Elliotts has often posed a daunting task for lesser-known generations of speed such as the Gillilands or the Lajoies. Nevertheless, their presence has been equally integral in contributing to the various developments warranted by the world’s premier stock car racing experience.
But from a realistic point of view, only three father-son duos have been able to claim multiple championships in NASCAR. The first family to place themselves in this esteemed group bears the iconic Petty name, with Hall of Famers Lee & his son Richard boasting 10 Bill France Cups combined in a dominant display. Ned & Dale Jarrett are only the second ‘lineage duo’ on the list, with three championships shared over thirty years. The most recent family name added to this group was consequently ‘Elliott,’ after Chase continued on his father’s ‘Million Dollar’ Bill’s 1988 Winston Cup win by becoming the third youngest champion in Cup Series history in 2020.
This fact was assumedly not lost on Kenny Wallace when he declared Elliott ‘the very last of a great bloodline’ following the #9’s triumphant Texas advance earlier this season. Representing the lesser-known father-son duos of the current NASCAR spectrum, two-time Busch Series champ, Randy Lajoie allegedly told Wallace, “I got a beef with you,” with regard to the earlier ‘assumptions.
In recent clarifications on his YouTube channel, Kenny outlined the interactions in question: “He (Randy) said: ‘You said that Chase Elliott was the last of the great Bloodlines.’ I said ‘Yep.’ I said, ‘Okay so you think Corey is another one of the great Bloodlines?’ Now, Randy didn’t hate me but his feelings were hurt.”
He then took a moment to explain his thoughts better while highlighting some resonating flaws in his former rival’s resume and comparing it with his own ‘not-so-impressive’ records. “So I just want to say this. I’ve already said it, I’m repeating myself. Randy LaJoie is a great race car driver, He’s one of the 75 greatest race car drivers. He’s a two-time champion in the NASCAR Xfinity Series but my point is this. I was an okay Cup driver okay? I’m going to put the dagger in my back… I was an okay Cup driver. I ran 350-something Cup races, ran second three times. But never got what I wanted ….Randy Lajoie is a great race car driver but he was not a great Cup driver (either)…“
After laying out the proper context, Kenny made another bold declaration, stating, “I guess I’ve told you a hundred times. Randy’s a great driver and he’s one of my very dear friends. I’d do anything for Randy. However, Randy is not a Bill Elliott…“
“When I said what I said, I was talking like Dale Earnhardt Sr you know, Bill Elliott, we’re talking Wood Brothers… you know what I’m saying,” concluded Wallace on an interesting chain of thought. To add to his assumed ‘criteria of selection’, the 1989 Busch Series ROTY took a few other examples with his evolving monologue: defending Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney & his father Dave Blaney.
According to Kenny, an interaction with a fan drew his disbelief when the loyalist vaguely deducted Ryan Blaney as another “one of the last of the great Bloodlines.” To which Wallace reasoned, “I love Dave Blaney. Dave Blaney is one of the greatest race car drivers of all time, but damn it, I’m talking about NASCAR guys that have won seven championships. 22-time most popular driver.”
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![Inspiredlovers Untitled-design-15-1-42-80x80 “Karma Caught Up With Ross [Chastain]”: Chase Elliott Avenging Kyle Sports Chase Elliott](https://inspiredlovers.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Untitled-design-15-1-42-80x80.webp "Inspiredlovers Untitled-design-15-1-42-80x80 “Karma Caught Up With Ross [Chastain]”: Chase Elliott Avenging Kyle Sports Chase Elliott")
Max Verstappen has once again claimed that he is the target of ‘British bias’ in the media after watching the fallout from his battle with Lando Norris. The three-time world champion’s defending was criticised by a number of drivers, including Lewis Hamilton.
Verstappen and Norris shared a titanic battle at the Circuit of the Americas last weekend, but the flashpoint came at Turn 12 as the Dutchman deployed a signature tactic, lunging deep into the corner to get to the apex first before running both himself and his title rival off the road.
Norris opted to keep his foot in and overtook the Red Bull driver around the outside, although this decision landed him a five-second time penalty that dropped him back behind Verstappen in the general classification. This sparked a major debate with other drivers – Hamilton included – calling for the FIA to take action and outlaw this style of defending.
Verstappen has been frustrated by this debate. Quizzed by Viaplay in Mexico on whether he’d like to see the rules changed, he replied: “No, not really. But I have the wrong passport.” Asked if he was referring to a British passport, he confirmed as much.
“Yeah, it’s the wrong country, on that aspect… with complaining” he replied. “I love my passport but on that aspect, I should have had a different passport, actually.” The Dutchman also complained of ‘British bias’ earlier this season following comments made by Adrian Newey.
When asked about the debate surrounding Verstappen’s on-track conduct, former title rival Hamilton was quick to point out that the Dutchman has been employing these tactics for some time, dating back to their no-punches-pulled fight in 2021.
“It’s always been a grey area, that’s why he’s got away with it for so long,” Hamilton explained ahead of the Mexican Grand Prix. “They probably need to make some adjustments for sure.
“Also, we do have inconsistencies through rulings, weekend in, weekend out, obviously depending on which years it is. I mean, as a sport, we do need to level up on all areas and if you look at other global sports, they have full-time refs, for example, and I’m sure that wouldn’t be a bad thing for our sport.
“I experienced it many times with Max, you shouldn’t be able to just launch the car on the inside and be ahead and then you go off and still hold your position. So, they need to definitely work on this.”
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$200M Jeff Gordon teams up with Chase Elliott and Co. to decode the HMS driver behind the “Don’t judge me” old tweet
Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman Jeff Gordon teamed up with Chase Elliott and other HMS drivers in a lighthearted fun exercise for fans where they attempted to solve the mystery behind an old tweet from their current driver.
The anonymous tweet reads, “Don’t judge me, but I can’t wait to see the new twilight movie haha,” and it’s believed to belong to one of the HMS’s driver lineups, which includes Elliott, Kyle Larson, William Byron and Alex Bowman.
Jeff Gordan, who has a net worth of $200 million (according to Celebrity Net Worth), and HMS drivers tried to guess, but none of them were correct. Bowman and Elliott named Byron, while Byron went with Elliott, but it was Larson. He accepted that it was his tweet in 2011 and revealed that he likes Catherine Hardwicke’s Twilight movie.
HMS shared the video of the fun investigative activity on Instagram with a caption:
“Hold on tight, spider monkey”
Watch the Jeff Gordon and HMS’s guesses below:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBjQ7EzP3A7/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=e5182e01-3688-440a-ae00-0bf669973e15&ig_mid=01331E07-1F15-4C86-B3DB-7587302F0125
Three out of four HMS drivers are still in contention for the 2024 NASCAR Cup championship. Larson and Byron are in good position in the playoffs points table, with 35 and 27 points above the cutline.
However, 2020 Cup champion Elliott is in danger of getting eliminated from title contention, as he’s 53 points behind the cutline heading to this weekend’s Homestead-Miami race.
In an interview with NBC Sports earlier this season, Jeff Gordon spoke about the competition between their two best drivers, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott, for the regular season championship. Gordan wanted to see both top drivers perform well and race aggressively against each other while maintaining sportsmanship in their chase for the regular season title.
However, neither Larson nor Elliott won the championship; it was Tyler Reddick who clinched the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series regular season championship. Speaking to NBC Sports, the four-time NASCAR Cup champion Jeff Gordon said:
“I think it’s pretty clear at Hendrick how we expect teams and drivers to race against one another and how they’ve got to go and compete not only against their competitors but against one another.
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“Kyle Busch is an a**”: Brad Keselowski publicly chastised his fierce NASCAR rival in front of over 150,000 spectators
Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski birthed one of the fiercest rivalries in NASCAR. The duo had multiple run-ins throughout their careers, but the seed of their feud was sown at the 2010 Xfinity Series race hosted by the Bristol Motor Speedway. In the aftermath, Keselowski publicly castigated Busch in front of over 150,000 fans during driver introductions.
Busch kicked off his Food City 250 from third place in his #18 Toyota while Keselowski began in 13th. However, as the 250-lap battle inched closer to its conclusion, the then-Penske Racing driver held the domination while the former #18 Joe Gibbs Racing driver fought hard for the lead.
After struggling to overtake for nearly a dozen laps, Busch, with 31 laps until the checkered flag dropped, lunged ahead of Keselowski, only to be wrecked from behind and lose the spot again.
However, the JGR driver quickly retaliated and spun out Keselowski’s #22 Dodge. The move propelled the #18 Toyota to the victory lane while the Penske driver fell from a potential win to settling in 14th place.
The bitter feeling inside Brad Keselowski surfaced during the Bristol Cup Series race driver introductions the following day. After Kyle Busch introduced himself, his fierce rival took the mic and blasted Busch with his “a**’ comment.
“Brad Keselowski, driver of the Penske Racing Dodge. Kyle Busch is an a**,” he said.
However, when asked why he slammed Busch, Keselowski said that Juan Pablo Montoya challenged that he can’t call the JGR driver an “a**”. It’s worth mentioning that the crowd’s roar on the Penske driver’s introduction notched 104.2 decibels.
“Sometimes you just don’t like a guy”: Kyle Busch publicly slams Brad Keselowski during their 2017 title fight
The bitter rivalry between Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski was such that both made unapologetic comments about the other from time to time. Despite the latter publicly extending an olive branch to the former in 2015, their relationship remained sour.
Max Verstappen addresses ‘British bias’ at Mexican GP after Lewis Hamilton put-down
$200M Jeff Gordon teams up with Chase Elliott and Co. to decode the HMS driver behind the “Don’t judge me” old tweet
