Randy LaJoie

Randy LaJoie
Born	(1961-08-28) August 28, 1961 Norwalk, Connecticut, United States
Achievements	1996 Busch Series Champion 1997 Busch Series Champion 1985 NASCAR North Tour Champion 1981 Danbury Fair Racearena Modified Sportsman Champion 1997, 1999, 2001 NAPA Auto Parts 300 Winner
Awards	1983 NASCAR North Tour Rookie of the Year
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career
44 races run over 12 years
Best finish	40th (1995)
First race	1985 Coca-Cola 500 (Atlanta)
Last race	2005 Advance Auto Parts 500 (Martinsville)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 3 0
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
350 races run over 19 years
Best finish	1st (1996, 1997)
First race	1986 Dixie Cup 200 (Darlington)
Last race	2006 O'Reilly Challenge (Texas)
First win	1996 Meridian Advantage 200 (Nazareth)
Last win	2001 Sam's Town 250 (Memphis)
Wins Top tens Poles 15 118 9
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
7 races run over 2 years
Best finish	38th (2004)
First race	2003 Las Vegas 350 (Las Vegas)
Last race	2004 O'Reilly 200 (Bristol)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 1 0
Statistics current as of March 20, 2013.

Randall LaJoie (born August 28, 1961, Norwalk, Connecticut, USA) was a driver in the NASCAR Busch Series (now the Xfinity series), where he is a two-time champion. He is the father of racers Casey and Corey LaJoie.

Early racing career

LaJoie started racing go-karts when he was 12 years old. In 1980 he began racing in full-bodied racecars. He was the 1981 track champion in the Sportsmen division at the Danbury Fair Racearena. When Danbury closed that off-season, he moved to the Waterford Speedbowl where he won Modified Rookie of the Year honors in 1982.

In 1983 he moved to the NASCAR North Tour, and he was the series Rookie of the Year. That season, he made his first attempt at making the Daytona 500, but did not qualify. One year later, he suffered a horrfic crash in Gatorade Twin 125's race and failed to qualify once again, he won the consolation race the following year. In 1985 he scored 5 victories in the North Tour on his way to the series championship; LaJoie was not awarded the championship until 1988, as a lawsuit regarding a disqualification at Catamount Speedway was not resolved until then.^[1]

Early NASCAR career

LaJoie's 1986 Winston Cup car

LaJoie made his NASCAR Winston Cup debut in 1985 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Driving the #07 Snellman Construction Chevrolet owned by Bob Johnson, he started sixteenth and finished fourteenth. He ran his next race the following season at Pocono Raceway, where he finished 29th after suffering engine failure. He also made his Busch Series debut that season, running four races in his own #03 Pontiac, posting a tenth-place finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He ran another race in 1987 at Dover International Speedway and finished tenth. After a third-place finish the following season, he joined Frank Cicci Racing mid-way through 1989 and had a career-best second-place run at Hickory Motor Speedway. He ended the season 26th in points.

He did not return to Cicci in 1990, and ran a handful of Busch Races in his own #71, his best finish 23rd at Richmond. He did not run another NASCAR-sanctioned race until 1993, when he got selected to run the 20 Fina car owned by Dick Moroso at Talladega. This would turn out to be a career eye opener for LaJoie where he ran upfront mixing it up with the leaders all afternoon wounding up finishing an surprising 2nd. This got LaJoie 5 more races for Moroso and one for BACE Motorsports in the Busch Series. His best finish was second, twice. In 1994, he was a thought by some a dark horse to be a favorite for the championship. He drove for Moroso full-time in the #20 Fina Lube Chevy this season posting seven top-tens. LaJoie even lead the point standings early in the season before a string of bad luck, also a lack of performance dropped him to sixteenth in the final point standings. He also ran three Cup races, finishing in the top-20 in all three of them that season.

1995–2002

In 1995, LaJoie was called up to Cup again, driving the #22 MBNA Pontiac Grand Prix for Bill Davis Racing. LaJoie ran 13 races for Davis in his rookie season before he was released midway through the year. Following his departure, he returned to Busch to drive the #64 for Dennis Shoemaker. He had three top-tens and a pole at Richmond in nine starts. The following season, he was hired by BACE Motorsports to drive its #74 entry. LaJoie won five races over the course of the season and clinched his first Busch Series championship. He followed that up with another five wins and his second straight championship in 1997. After falling back to fourth in the standings in 1998, as well as dealing with internal feuds with team owner Bill Baumgardner, LaJoie left BACE at the end of the season. He returned to the Cup Series that season driving nine races for Hendrick Motorsports

He signed to drive the #1 Chevrolet Monte Carlo for James Finch in 1999, despite the fact his team lacked major sponsorship. After a season-opening victory at the NAPA Auto Parts 300, Bob Evans Restaurants came on board as the team's sponsor. Despite the added funding, LaJoie dropped to tenth in points. He moved up to seventh in the standings the next season with one win, but chose to depart the team at the end of the season for NEMCO Motorsports. Driving the #7 with sponsorship from Kleenex, LaJoie won two more races, but again fell to twelfth in points. He had fourteen top-ten finishes in 2002 and moved up one spot in the points.

Recent years

LaJoie returned to the 7 team in 2003, and won two poles, but was dismissed from the ride midway through the season. He filled out the year with one race apiece for Innovative Motorsports and FitzBradshaw Racing, as well as Craftsman Truck race for Kevin Harvick Incorporated. He began the 2004 season in FitzBradshaw's #82 car and ran five races with a best finish of 13th, before moving on, running one race each for Marsh Racing and Tommy Baldwin Racing. He also teamed with HT Motorsports in the Craftsman Truck Series for six races, finishing eighth at Gateway. In the Cup Series, he had a 43rd place finish for Hover Motorsports at Richmond, and also ran two races in the #98 Ford Taurus for Mach 1 Racing, his best finish 36th.

Mach 1 switched to the #34 Chevy in 2005, and he began the season with them before he was released. He reunited with Cicci in the Busch Series with Dollar General sponsorship and posted three top-ten finishes, finishing 19th in points. Dollar General left the team at season's end, leaving LaJoie without a full-time ride. He had signed to drive for Mach 1, which was under new management again in 2005, but was replaced early in the season by teammate Chad Chaffin. He drove one race apiece in the Busch Series for Davis Motorsports, Jay Robinson Racing, and Vision Racing. He also was a test driver for Richard Childress Racing, filling in for Kevin Harvick in the #21 United States Coast Guard Chevy during practice and qualifying sessions.

LaJoie has not run a NASCAR-sanctioned race since 2006, focusing on team ownership for his son Corey, who finished second in the 2012 K&N Pro Series East championship to Kyle Larson despite five wins in the series.

Television work and suspension

In addition to his racing seat business, LaJoie was also a part-time co-host of The Driver's Seat with John Kernan on Sirius Satellite Radio's NASCAR channel 128. He also did television commentary for the ORP and Montreal Busch Series races.

On June 22, 2010, LaJoie was suspended indefinitely from NASCAR for violating NASCAR's substance abuse policy while working as a crewman on the #18 Nationwide Series car. He smoked marijuana with some race fans following the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte and took full responsibility for his actions.^[2] On August 25, 2010, LaJoie was reinstated by NASCAR after a 2-month suspension.^[3]

Career results

* Season in progress
¹ Ineligible for series points

NASCAR

Sprint Cup Series

Busch Series

Craftsman Truck Series

References

1. ↑ Mitchell, Charlie (April 27, 1988). "After 3 years, LaJoie given NASCAR ring". The Hour (Norwalk, CT). p. 13. Retrieved 2013-09-17. 
2. ↑ "Randy LaJoie fails NASCAR drug test, suspended". ESPN. 23 June 2010. Retrieved 18 March 2012. 
3. ↑ "NASCAR.com", June 22, 2010

External links

• Official website
• Randy LaJoie driver statistics at Racing-Reference
• Randy LaJoie at NASCAR.com
• The Joie of Seating