LaJoie's Car Under Cover Until Birmingham 500K


      LaJoie's Car Under Cover Until Birmingham Auto Dealers 500K

     TALLADEGA, Ala. (April 9) -- Randy LaJoie's BACE Motorsports team 
placed a cover over its superspeedway car in mid-February and the team hasn't 
touched it since.

     It's not that the two-time defending NASCAR Busch Series championship 
team 
doesn't care about the next scheduled superspeedway event -- the April 26 
Birmingham Automobile Dealers 500K presented by EasyCare at Talladega 
Superspeedway -- it's quite the opposite.

     LaJoie dominated the Gargoyles 300 NASCAR Busch Series season opener at 
Daytona International Speedway earlier this year in a car he called 
"perfect." 
That same FINA Chevrolet has been under wraps since winning at the "World 
Center of Racing," but it will be pulled from the covers again for the 
opening racing event of "Track Attack Weekend," April 24-27 at Talladega.

     "We haven't uncovered that race car since we got back from Daytona," 
said 
LaJoie. "As we get closer to race time, we'll uncover it, put a motor in it 
and let it eat.

     "We have finished second and third at Talladega and I'd love to step 
that 
up a notch. The Busch Series race at Talladega is probably the most exciting 
of 
the year. Competition-wise it's great and I know the action is super for the 
fans."

     Along with a proven race car, LaJoie has history on his side as well.

     Three of the last four Daytona winners, or winning cars, also have won 
at 
NASCAR's "Most Competitive Track." Dale Earnhardt started the streak in 1993, 
followed by Chad Little in 1995 and Greg Sacks in 1996. Sacks didn't win in 
Daytona, but drove the same Diamond Ridge Motorsports car Steve Grissom drove 
to victory in the 300-miler at Daytona.

     LaJoie finished third last season behind Sacks and Joe Nemechek. He 
finished second to Earnhardt in 1993.

     Since the NASCAR Busch Series began racing at the "World's Fastest 
Speedway" in 1992, it has never had a two-time winner. The only other 
Talladega 
event to go its first five outings without a two-time winner was the Sears 
DieHard 500. It went 13 races before Darrell Waltrip won it for the second 
time, in 1982.

     "Maybe luck is on our side," LaJoie said. "If all circumstances work out 
like they did at Daytona, then we could be in victory lane again. We had a 
great run at Talladega last year. I've come close there several times.

     "Hopefully, we can go to Talladega and pick up where we left off at 
Daytona. That was a very high point of my career, winning at Daytona. I'd 
like nothing better than to add a Talladega trophy to my collection."

     Like most NASCAR Busch Series events that are run in conjunction with 
NASCAR Winston Cup Series races, LaJoie will go up against Winston Cup 
veterans like Mark Martin and Jeff Burton.

     He went head-to-head with those same drivers in his previous victories 
this season at Daytona and Darlington.

     "Racing against those guys just makes you better," said LaJoie, who is 
currently second in the NASCAR Busch Series standings. "And when you beat 
them, that's a great feeling.

     "When you get to Talladega, so much depends on what happens in the 
draft. 
Other drivers are going to help those who have a good car. But they are not 
only helping you, they are helping themselves. It's a two-way street.

     "But just like everybody else has said, when it gets down to those final 
laps, you have to look out for yourself and do what is going to help you win 
that race. When we start smelling that checkered flag, that's when the real 
scrambling starts."

     Busch Pole Award Qualifying for the Birmingham Auto Dealers 500K 
presented 
by EasyCare is scheduled for Thursday, April 24 at 3:30 p.m. Central time, 
when 
positions 1-25 will be set. Second-round qualifying to fill the field of up 
to 43 cars is scheduled Friday morning at 10:30 as part of Advance Auto Parts 
Qualifying Day. Busch Pole Award Qualifying to set positions 1-25 in the 
Winston 500 is scheduled later that day. Both days of qualifying and practice 
are open to the public.

     Plenty of reserved tower grandstand seats remain for the Birmingham Auto 
Dealers 500K presented by EasyCare, scheduled for 12 noon Central time. It 
will 
be preceded by Busch Beer Second-Round Qualifying for the Winston 500, which 
will fill the field of up to 43 cars for round nine of the NASCAR Winston Cup 
Series.

     For tickets call the Talladega ticket office at (205) 362-9064.