LaJoie rates another 10 Randy LaJoie (No. 59 Harris Trucking Dodge) scored his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series top-10 finish at Gateway on July 17 with an eighth-place finish, giving him at least one top 10 in each of NASCARs three national series. LaJoie, a two-time NASCAR Busch Series champion, has made five starts in his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career. His previous best was 13th at Las Vegas in 2003. He has also participated in 38 premier series races, with two top-10 finishes during the 1998 season.
Bill Lester and Toyota celebrate diversity in auto racing Bill Lester (No. 22 Toyota Tundra Toyota) will be a special guest of Toyota during the National Urban League (NUL) Conference this week in Detroit, Mich. Lester will meet and greet NUL attendees at the Toyota exhibit on Thursday from 4 5 p.m. and on Friday from 2 4 p.m.
Etc. Jon Wood (No. 50 Roush Racing Ford) made his 75th career series start at Gateway. He has two wins, two poles and six top 10s this season. David Starr scored his second series career win at Gateway. Starrs first victory came at Las Vegas in 2002, where he also recorded the first pole of his career. Until Starrs victory, no driver had won a race at Gateway starting outside the top eight; Starr started 14th. David Reutimann (No. 17 NTN Bearings Toyota) has been the highest-finishing Raybestos rookie in six races this season. Dennis Setzer (No. 46 Chevrolet Silverado Chevrolet), who leads the championship standings by 64 points over Bobby Hamilton (No. 4 Square D Dodge), also leads the series in top-five finishes this season with six. Matt Crafton (No. 6 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet) leads the series with nine top 10s. The off-week provides a bit of respite from the tight points race where just one point separates fourth-place Crafton from fifth-place Chad Chaffin (No. 18 Dickies Dodge) in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series standings, while only seven points separate sixth-place Ted Musgrave (No. 1 Mopar Dodge) from seventh-place Rick Crawford (No. 14 Circle Bar Motel & RV Ford) heading into the next event, July 31 at Michigan.
Fast Facts
Next Race: Line-X Spray-On Truck Bedliners 200.
Where: Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Mich.
When: 1 p.m. ET, Saturday, July 31.
Track layout: 2-mile banked asphalt.
Race length: 200miles/100 laps.
Posted awards: $557,694.
TV: SPEED Channel, 1 p.m. ET.
Radio: MRN, XM Satellite.
2003 winner: Brendan Gaughan.
2003 polesitter: Jason Leffler.
Pre-race schedule (all times local): Friday Practice 10:35 a.m. 12:30 p.m. Qualifying 3:10 p.m. Final practice 5:15 6:15 p.m., time permitting.(NASCAR PR)(7-23-2004)
