By Adam Fenwick – [email protected]/@adam_fenwick

Rockingham, NC(November 6, 2011) — The last time Corey LaJoie, son of two-time NASCAR Nationwide Series champion Randy LaJoie, visited Rockingham Speedway with the UARA-STARS Late Model Series, he ended the day in victory lane.

That victory, driving an entry fielded by Eddie Sharp Racing, came in April of 2009. Since then LaJoie has focused his time on the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour.

But on Saturday, LaJoie returned to Rockingham behind the wheel of an entry owned by Randy Sears and quickly found his groove again at the one-mile oval known as The Rock.

Paddy Rodenbeck started from the pole after resetting the series track record with a blistering 24.987-second lap at 143.346 miles per hour, more than four tenths of a second faster than second starter Kyle Grissom.

Grissom got the better start entering turn one and took the lead as Rodenbeck fell in behind him. Grissom lead the first four laps before Rodenbeck blew by him in turn one on lap five to take the lead.

Two laps later series champion Brennan Poole’s No. 7 suddenly slowed in turn four when his engine expired, bringing out the first caution flag of the afternoon. The field returned to green flag racing on lap 12 and Rodenbeck quickly drove away from the field.

On lap 16 a massive crash on the backstretch involving Jesse Little and Randy Benson brought out the red flag. Little’s No. 97 climbed over the back of Benson’s No. 02 and Little’s car slid down the length of the backstretch on the driver’s side door. Both drivers walked away from the crash unhurt.

Once the field returned to racing Rodenbeck continued his dominance over the field as Grissom and LaJoie battled behind him for second. LaJoie moved around Grissom for second on lap 23, but two laps later a competition caution was called for by series officials as a result of rain washing out practice and qualifying on Friday.

After allowing the crews to check the tire wear, racing resumed on lap 27 with Rodenbeck again at the point. He quickly left the field in the dust with LaJoie running in second. The top two positions stayed that way before Scott Turlington lost his engine in turn one on lap 40 to bring out the fourth caution.

During the restart on lap 47 LaJoie took a shot at Rodenbeck, getting alongside him entering turn one. They raced side-by-side down the backstretch before Rodenbeck cleared him in turns three and four. LaJoie fell back in line behind him, but the battle wasn’t over.

Rodenbeck put a few car lengths between himself and LaJoie, but soon it became apparent LaJoie was closing on Rodenbeck’s No. 82. Suddenly on lap 70 LaJoie was right behind Rodenbeck and when Rodenbeck pushed up off of turn three on lap 71 LaJoie suddenly found himself leading with only a few laps remaining.

LaJoie quickly pulled away from Rodenbeck, but with two laps left Joey Herques cut a tire in turn one and slapped the wall to bring out the final caution flag of the day. Suddenly LaJoie, who had pulled away to a comfortable lead, had to deal with Rodenbeck all over again.

Getting a good jump on the restart, LaJoie attempted to pull away during the green-white-checkered restart, but Rodenbeck wasn’t going down without a fight. Coming out of turn four he got a run on LaJoie and Rodenbeck pulled alongside him entering turn one on the white flag lap.

With Grissom closing quickly in third, Rodenbeck tried to run LaJoie up the track, but the 20-year-old LaJoie held on to the lead as Rodenbeck slipped back into second. Rodenbeck tried one more time in turns three and four, but by then LaJoie was just too far away to catch.

Rodenbeck settled for second after leading 67 of the 78 laps. Ironically, in 2009 when LaJoie first went to victory lane at Rockingham, it was Rodenbeck whom he beat with a late-race move.

“That’s twice he’s beat us late here,” Rodenbeck said. “This place owes us one.”

The victory was extremely satisfying for LaJoie, who went winless in 14 starts between the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour this season.

“I’m just really fortunate I got to drive a really good car. We were really good all weekend,” LaJoie said. “I felt we were about a tenth better than anybody here in practice but they ended up finding some speed unfortunately, so I ended up working a little bit harder than I expected.

“I just got lucky man. Thank the good Lord, he helped me out. Both my grandmas passed away last month so they were definitely watching over me,” LaJoie said. “I haven’t not won a race since I was six years old in a year and I didn’t win anything in the K&N Pro Series this year, so I had to win something.”

Grissom chased LaJoie and Rodenbeck home in third. George Miedecke, who claimed the UARA-STARS Rookie of the Year title, finished his campaign in fourth with Blake Jones rounding out the top five.

Cory Joyce finished sixth in his first series start. Ronnie Bassett, Jr. overcame a problem in qualifying to finish seventh. Alex Yontz, Tim George, Jr. and Ryan Reed rounded out the top 10.

Results:
1. #34 Corey LaJoie – 78
2. #82 Paddy Rodenbeck – 78
3. #31 Kyle Grissom – 78
4. #9 George Miedecke – 78
5. #80 Blake Jones – 78
6. #83 Cory Joyce – 78
7. #04 Ronnie Bassett, Jr. – 78
8. #77 Alex Yontz – 78
9. #33 Tim George, Jr. – 78
10. #84 Ryan Reed – 78
11. #26 Joey Herques – 77
12. #18 David Roberts – 67
13. #48 Scott Turlington – 41
14. #97 Jesse Little – 16
15. #02 Randy Benson – 16
16. #7 Brennan Poole – 8
17. #88 Chris Davis – 5