Randall Joseph LaJoie (born August 28, 1961) is an American former stock car racing driver and businessman. He won the championship in 1996 and 1997. He is the father of NASCAR driver Corey LaJoie and owns The Joie of Seating.
Early racing career LaJoie started racing go-karts when he was eleven years old. In 1980, he began racing in full-bodied racecars. He was the 1981 track champion in the sportsman 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, LaJoie 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 horrific crash in the Gatorade Twin 125's race and failed to qualify once again, he won the consolation race the following year. In 1985, he scored five 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.
Early NASCAR career
LaJoie made his NASCAR Winston Cup debut in 1985 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Driving the No. 07 Snellman Construction Chevrolet owned by Bob Johnson, he started sixteenth and finished 14th. 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 No. 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.
LaJoie did not return to Cicci in 1990, and ran a handful of Busch Races in his own No. 71, his best finish was 23rd at Richmond. He did not run another NASCAR-sanctioned race until 1993, when he got selected to run the No. 20 Fina car owned by Dick Moroso at Talladega. This would turn out to be a shrewd career move for LaJoie as he ran up front with the leaders all afternoon and finished a surprising second. This got LaJoie five 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 to be a dark horse for the championship. He drove for Moroso full-time in the No. 20 Fina Lube Ford that season posting seven top-tens. LaJoie led the point standings early in the season before a string of poor results, also a lack of performance dropped him to 16th 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 the Cup series again, driving the No. 22 MBNA Pontiac Grand Prix for Bill Davis Racing. LaJoie ran thirteen 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 No. 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 No. 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 a feud 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.
LaJoie signed to drive the No. 1 Chevrolet Monte Carlo for James Finch in 1999, despite the fact that the 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 No. 7 with a sponsorship from Kleenex, LaJoie won two more races but again fell to 12th in points. He had fourteen top-ten finishes in 2002 and moved up one spot in the points.
Recent years
LaJoie returned to the No. 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 a Craftsman Truck race for Kevin Harvick Incorporated. He began the 2004 season in FitzBradshaw's No. 82 car and ran five races with a best finish of thirteenth, 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 No. 98 Ford Taurus for Mach 1 Racing, his best finish being 36th.
Mach 1 switched to the No. 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 No. 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.
In 2016, LaJoie was inducted into the New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame.
Television work and suspension In addition to his racing seat business, The Joie of Seating, 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 their substance abuse policy while working as a spotter on the No. 18 Nationwide Series car. He had smoked marijuana with some race fans following the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte and took responsibility for his actions. On August 25, 2010, LaJoie was reinstated by NASCAR after a two-month suspension."NASCAR.com" , June 22, 2010
Motorsports career results
NASCAR (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Nextel Cup Series NASCAR Nextel Cup Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Pts Ref 1984 Bob Johnson Racing 07 Chevy DAYDNQ RCH CAR ATL BRI NWS DAR MAR TAL NSV DOV CLT RSD POC MCH DAY NSV POC TAL MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR CLT NWS CAR ATL RSD NA - 1985 DAYDNQ RCH CAR ATL14 BRI DAR NWS MAR TAL DOV CLT RSD POC MCH DAY POC TAL MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR ATL RSD NA 0 1986 DAYDNQ RCH CAR ATL BRI DAR NWS MAR TAL DOV CLT RSD POC29 MCH DAY POC TAL GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR ATL RSD 107th 76 1988 Wawak Racing 74 Chevy DAY RCH CAR ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL CLT DOV RSD POC MCH DAY POC TAL GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV37 MAR CLTDNQ NWS CAR PHO ATL NA 0 1989 Pontiac DAYDNQ CAR ATL RCH DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL CLT DOV SON 83rd 79 Rosenblum Racing 63 Chevy POC28 MCH DAY POC TAL GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR CLT NWS CAR PHO ATL 1990 Linro Motorsports 13 Buick DAY RCH CAR ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL CLT DOV SON POC33 MCH DAY POC38 TAL GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO ATL 73rd 113 1991 DAY RCH CAR ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL CLT DOV SON POC29 MCH DAY POC TAL GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT 50th 304 Cale Yarborough Motorsports 66 Pontiac CAR24 PHO32 ATL31 1994 Moroso Racing 20 Ford DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL SON CLT20 DOV POC MCH DAY NHA20 POC TAL INDDNQ GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO 48th 312 Taylor Racing 02 Ford ATL19 1995 Bill Davis Racing 22 Pontiac DAY29 CAR25 RCH27 ATL39 DAR16 BRI12 NWS23 MARDNQ TAL13 SON32 CLT23 DOV23 POC40 MCH41 DAY NHA POC 40th 1133 Dick Brooks Racing 40 Pontiac TAL40 IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO ATL 1997 BACE Motorsports 74 Chevy DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR TEXDNQ BRI MAR SON TAL CLT DOV POC MCH CAL DAY NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH NHA DOV MAR CLT TAL CAR PHO ATL NA - 1998 Hendrick Motorsports 50 Chevy DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR38 BRI10 TEX25 MAR5 TAL10 CAL36 CLT38 DOV43 RCH31 MCH POC SON NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI NHA DAR RCH DOV MAR CLT TAL DAY PHO CAR ATL 49th 768 1999 No Fear Racing 14 Ford DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR TEX40 BRI MAR TAL CAL RCH CLTDNQ DOV MCH POC SON DAY NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH NHA37 DOV MAR CLT TAL CAR PHO HOM ATL 61st 95 2004 Hover Motorsports 80 Ford DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX MAR TAL CAL RCH43 CLT DOV POC MCH SON DAY CHI NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH NHA DOV TAL KAN CLT MAR 68th 126 Mach 1 Motorsports 96 Ford ATLDNQ 98 PHO42 DAR36 HOMDNQ 2005 34 Chevy DAYDNQ CAL42 LVS36 ATLDNQ BRIDNQ MAR42 TEXDNQ PHO TAL DAR RCH CLT DOV POC MCH SON DAY CHI NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH NHA DOV TAL KAN CLT MAR ATL TEX PHO HOM 66th 134 2006 Front Row Motorsports 64 Chevy DAYDNQ NA - 34 Dodge CALDNQ 64 LVSDNQ ATL BRI MAR TEX PHO TAL RCH DAR CLT DOV POC MCH SON DAY CHI NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH NHA DOV KAN TAL CLT MAR ATL TEX PHO HOM
Daytona 500 Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish 1984 Bob Johnson Racing Chevrolet DNQ 1985 DNQ 1986 DNQ 1989 Wawak Racing Pontiac DNQ 1995 Bill Davis Racing Pontiac 24 29 2005 Mach 1 Racing Chevrolet DNQ 2006 Front Row Motorsports Chevrolet DNQ
Busch Series