Corey LaJoie will be returning to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Rockingham Speedway next month, Kaulig Racing announced Friday. The April 3 event will be LaJoie’s second straight race driving for Kaulig’s Free Agent Driver Program.
LaJoie’s first start in a Kaulig Ram truck came at Darlington Raceway on March 20. He qualified 20th and finished 21st. Earlier in the year LaJoie ran the Truck Series opener at Daytona International Speedway, finishing 34th for Henderson Motorsports.
“No matter what series in NASCAR, the competition is tough,” LaJoie said. “Having the opportunity to work with [crew chief] Alex Yontz and the No. 25 group in back to back weeks will be great for continuity and building Kaulig’s notebook for their new Ram teams.”
Kaulig Racing’s Ram Truck Program
Kaulig Racing has five full-time entries in the Craftsman Truck Series this year, in their first season fielding Ram trucks. Three of these seats are uninterrupted full-time rides: Brenden Queen (No. 12), Mini Tyrrell (No. 14), and Justin Haley (No. 16). The No. 10 truck began the season with Daniel Dye driving full-time, but Dye was suspended indefinitely this week for insensitive comments on a livestream.
The No. 25 Kaulig truck features a rotating cast of drivers, dubbed the ‘free agents’. NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Tony Stewart kicked off the season at Daytona, followed by Ty Dillon at EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta. Colin Braun raced the St. Petersburg street course before Corey LaJoie stepped in for the following two starts at Darlington and Rockingham.
Corey LaJoie Joins Rare Company
As of Friday’s race at Darlington, Corey LaJoie is one of a handful of current NASCAR drivers with starts in four different manufacturers. Across the top three series, LaJoie has driven with Chevrolet, Ford, and Toyota. Now, he’s one of the first NASCAR drivers to help welcome Dodge back into the sport with their Ram truck program.
“Going around in circles you don’t feel a ton of difference, right?” LaJoie said after Friday’s qualifying session. “Every team, every OEM’s process of how they prepare for a race is a little bit different. So it’s unique to see how [Toyota Racing] prepares, how GM prepares, and how Ford prepares, and just kind of take some nuggets from everybody. Ram’s so new they don’t have very much tools behind the scenes. So it’s a little bit off the hip, little gun-slinging going on here.”
LaJoie at Rockingham
Though LaJoie has limited NASCAR experience at Rockingham, the 34-year-old is no stranger to the track. In his late model career LaJoie won three races at the storied North Carolina facility, and he has a second-place finish there to Tyler Reddick in the ARCA Menards East Series.
“Rockingham is a special place for me with having won three late model races there and running second to Tyler Reddick in the last ARCA East race there,” LaJoie continued. “It’s always nice going somewhere that you’ve been to victory lane.”
