With only seven races remaining on the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedule, Corey LaJoie and his No. 32 team for Go Fas Racing will make the long trek to Nevada for the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Sunday’s race will mark the first of three races in the Round of 12 of the playoffs. Following the 400-mile race at Las Vegas, the series will head to Talladega Superspeedway for a chaotic show on the high banks before four more drivers are eliminated after the Bank of America Roval 400.
For LaJoie, he heads into the weekend on the heels of a tough night at Bristol Motor Speedway where his night ended early due to a steering issue and ready to replicate the strong outing that he and crew chief Ryan Sparks had at the 1.5-mile Las Vegas oval in February.
LaJoie secured his second 16th-place result at the track when the circuit visited Las Vegas for the second race of the year following the Daytona 500. The 28-year-old also finished 16th in 2018 edition of the South Point 400.
The red, white and blue Trump 2020 paint scheme returns to the No. 32 Ford Mustang for the final time this weekend as part of the team’s partnership with Patriots of America, a political action committee calling for the reelection of Donald Trump.
Now under 45 days until Election Day, LaJoie and his team are hoping to help get NASCAR fans to the polls in November.Out of an estimated 75 million NASCAR fans, about 15 million are not registered voters.
Don’t miss out on all the excitement in Vegas by tuning in on Sunday, September 27, at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN.
LaJoie on the upcoming race:“We’re winding down on the end of this year and I’m really looking forward to racing at Vegas because we’ve shown a lot of speed at these mile and a half tracks. The playoffs always make for exciting races and hopefully we can have good speed and capitalize on some of the chaos that these playoffs can bring. As the season comes to an end, we definitely want to end on a high note and get back in our rhythm and there is no better place than Vegas to turn our luck around.”
LaJoie’s Cup history at Las Vegas Motor Speedway:Starts: 5Best Finish: 16th (2018, 2020)Average Start: 31.8Average Finish: 25.2
Looking back on the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race:After starting at the rear due to a pre-race inspection penalty, Corey LaJoie drove up to 30th in the Schluter-Systems Ford by the lap-28 caution, and pitted for four tires, fuel and an air-pressure adjustment. LaJoie restarted in 27th on lap 41. LaJoie fought hard over the balance of stage one to secure the free-pass position, finishing 28th.
Under caution, LaJoie made his way to the attention of the No. 32 pit crew for service and kicked off stage two in 28th. After contact on the restart, LaJoie’s car obtained fender damage, causing a tire rub that forced the 28-year-old to pit under green for right side tires. On lap 232, a caution slowed the field while LaJoie was in the 31st position. He did not pit and took the wave around. He restarted in 30th with eight laps to go in stage two. LaJoie finished the segment in 29th, four laps down on lap 250.
Crew chief Ryan Sparks called the North Carolina native back to pit road for additional damage repair prior to the green flag for the final stage. On lap 395, LaJoie was scored in the 28th spot in the Schluter-Systems machine. Under caution on lap 407, LaJoie radioed to Sparks that his car was “tight entry to center.” A handful of laps later on lap 415, he reported a loss of power steering and went behind the wall on lap 440. The Go Fas Racing Ford was credited with 33rd-place when the checkered flag flew.
Go Fas Racing PR
