Austin Cindric isn’t pleased with Corey LaJoie following Monday night’s last-lap Daytona 500 crash. Cindric took issue with how LaJoie was pushing him as the pack took the white flag and feels LaJoie’s racing resulted in a crash that ended the race. LaJoie, for his part, isn’t taking the blame.

Cindric, the 2022 Daytona 500 winner, was running in third on the bottom lane as the leaders approached the white flag. LaJoie was behind him. Lajoie appeared to go for a gap on the bottom lane as the pack came off turn four. Cindric looked to block the move, putting LaJoie’s front bumper on his left rear. The subsequent push caused Cindric to move up the track. Meanwhile, Ross Chastain attempted to move to the bottom line but wasn’t clear of Cindric’s car. Chastain and Cindric made contact, and both cars spun into the infield. The wreck brought out the caution moments after leader, and race winner, William Byron took the white flag. As such, the moment of caution ended the race.

LaJoie narrowly avoided the melee to finish fourth. Cindric placed 22^nd.

Cindric noted his frustration with LaJoie following the race. The Team Penske driver said he was in a great position to win the race with outside lane “breaking up.” He suggested LaJoie was overzealous in his pushing, causing the race-ending incident and dashing his hopes of another Daytona 500 win.

“He tried to fit a car where there wasn’t a car and just continued to push through my left rear ‘till I wrecked,” Cindric said.

The driver of the No. 2 Ford Mustang Dark Horse said he understands LaJoie’s attempts to move him out of the way. However, the result of a last-lap Daytona 500 crash when he was in position to win “really sucks.”

LaJoie, driver of the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, is unwilling to take the fault.

“When I went to fill the bottom, [Cindric] left an entire lane open,” LaJoie said. “And then he threw a lazy block and wrecked a couple cars and himself.”

LaJoie further justified his move to the bottom and took a jab at Cindric blaming him for the incident.

“It’s the last lap,” LaJoie said. “I’ve seen him do a lot of dumb things, too, and we are not friends. So, that’s that.”

Cindric’s results continue a frustrating stretch for the 25-year-old. Cindric earned a single top-five finish in his 2023 sophomore season. He won the 2022 Daytona 500 and racked up five top-fives in his rookie campaign.

LaJoie’s top-five, meanwhile, is worth celebrating at the Spire camp. It marks LaJoie’s fourth top-five finish in the Cup Series in over 230 starts. He earned two last season at Atlanta and Talladega, both “drafting style” tracks.