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Herm & Schrader
Randy LaJoie: 2-Time NASCAR Xfinity Champion & Pioneer In Racing Seat Safety
01:16:33
Our latest Kenny Conversation guest, Randy LaJoie, is on the ballot for the 2026 NASCAR Hall of Fame
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- [00:01]
Kenny Wallace
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- [01:32]
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- [02:03]
Kenny Wallace
Hello everyone and welcome back to Kenny Conversation brought to you by jegs, the leader in high performance aftermarket car parts. Remember to go to JEGS.com for everything you need to fix your everyday vehicle up or even your hot rod. Well, you're looking at him, a longtime friend of mine. We did a lot of racing together and he is a two time NASCAR Xfinity champion. Randy Lajoy. Randy, how you doing buddy in the house.
- [02:34]
Randy Lajoy
Herman man, can't wait to get talking.
- [02:38]
Kenny Wallace
Well listen, you have made world news and I called you and I said let's celebrate this. Lately here you made big news because you were put on the ballot for the 2026 NASCAR hall of Fame. What does that make you feel like?
- [02:59]
Randy Lajoy
It gives me goosebumps just saying that. It's what an honor. I mean at the end of the day when we started doing all this racing stuff and wherever we were racing, whatever part of the country, you sure didn't think you were doing it. To be in a hall of fame and, and now to get nominated for this, it's, it's pretty darn humbling, that's for sure.
- [03:29]
Kenny Wallace
There's so much to talk about and we're going to get to it all. I, I have a method to my madness. But let, let's talk about you just a little bit. Let's celebrate you. I do this with all the great drivers. I'm going to tell you how great you are. And then when we're done, I want you to answer. So Randy LaJoy from Norwalk, Connecticut, 63 years old. Randy is a two time NASCAR Xfinity champion. 1996, 1997, 15 wins. This is a big one here. 118 top tens, 1985 NASCAR north champion. Dan Barry Fair Race arena champion, modified sportsman champion, 1997, 99 and 2001 New England Auto racers hall of fame. And of course the big one. In 2023, NASCAR voted you as one of the 75 greatest drivers. Now that's not all, Randy. You made 350 Xfinity starts, 44 cup races, seven truck races for a total of 401 total NASCAR starts. Now, as I read all that off to you, that's a lifetime of achievement. What do you think about?
- [05:03]
Randy Lajoy
Well, you read the numbers in you. You lose more than you win. But I did have an opportunity to win and it was wonderful. And you know, every series I went to, I really enjoyed the Busch series, which is today the Xfinity series, which is totally different than it was. You know, I happened to be watching the Dale Jr. Download with him and Todd Bodine, the Onion.
- [05:32]
Kenny Wallace
Me too.
- [05:33]
Randy Lajoy
Yeah. He and Dale Jr. Was very complimentary of the Busch series in the late 90s. You know, mid to late 90s. It was, it was amazing time to be in NASCAR because I tell people, you don't understand. You know, they built a lot of grandstands in the 90s and every weekend was a spring break weekend.
- [05:59]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah, no doubt. I want to talk to you about something that, it seems like a silly controversy to me and I, I guess it just marks its era. But you know, when we have years like 19, 96, 97, 98, that's how I define racing, by the year. Some people, Randy, make this big deal out of like, well, that was the bush series days. And then I respond to them. Hold on. We had nationwide do and now we have Xfinity. To me, Randy, it's all the same. It's just a different sponsor. How. What is your take on that?
- [06:37]
Randy Lajoy
You know, it is the same, but the difference where we both have seen coming up in the 90s was the quality of the ownership groups. You know, I mean, hell, when we raised. When you were with Phil Mar, I was with cc, you know, went over to Bum Gardner at base. There were so many owners in the Busch series. It was awesome. I mean, but now everything's kind of got refined to a. That's the cup light series and because of the cup teams and that's why. That's one of the things people didn't realize. When we raced against the cup guys, they were in the similar equipment than we were. Nobody had engineers, nobody had. You know, we're all the same. And it has changed for sure. I say mid 2000.
- [07:30]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah, no doubt. I agree with you. When we were racing, Dale Earnhardt, senior, Harry Gant, you know, all the big boys.
- [07:43]
Randy Lajoy
That darn Winn Dixie car.
- [07:45]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah, it was just a lower level. There was no engineering involved. And there's no doubt. I agree with you 110%. Nowadays we got major cup teams which are. Yeah, that. It was, it was. It was much more of a level playing field back then. Okay, let's stop there for a minute and let's. Let's talk about your early beginnings. I want to paint the picture and I want to get you. I want to help get you in the 2026 NASCAR hall of Fame, man. You're a gangster. I mean, you, you. You are a grinder. You work your butt off. Let's go back to your early days in Norwalk, Connecticut. Now, I read everything. It says you started out as a go kart racer. Let's go back home. Randy, tell me about your early beginnings.
- [08:36]
Randy Lajoy
Well, I mean, my dad was a racer, so we came from a racing family. Had an older brother.
- [08:43]
Kenny Wallace
I never knew. What was his name?
- [08:46]
Randy Lajoy
Ronnie.
- [08:46]
Kenny Wallace
I'll be darn.
- [08:48]
Randy Lajoy
But I lost him. We lost him when he was 17. I was 15.
- [08:53]
Kenny Wallace
I'm sorry.
- [08:54]
Randy Lajoy
And he was. You know, it's amazing to me, When Corey turned 17, it was like I was looking at my brother and talented. Could build anything, you know, I mean, it was amazing how smart he was and, and this and that. And hopefully I got some of that from after he passed. But him looking over me because, you know, it didn't matter. Before every started to race, before every restart, I would always. I always carried a rosary bead in my pocket. And I would say a little prayer and say, come on guys, let's go for a ride. And it was fun.
- [09:41]
Kenny Wallace
I like you saying that because when I race my dirt car, I have a picture in my car. It's a decal. I put it in every new car I get. It's my mom and my dad and me as a child. And people say, is that your dad? I said, yeah, that reminds me why I race. And I say a little prayer too. Did you find that when you would say those little prayers that would calm your nerves a little bit?
- [10:08]
Randy Lajoy
Yeah, it just put me back to square one. Brought you into a zone, you know, it just, it just made you focus a whole lot more after I did that. I just did that my whole career. And, you know, I think, I'm not sure what happened to the rosary beads, but I should have gave them to my kid because he could use them.
- [10:34]
Kenny Wallace
Hey, I hate to do this, you know, I do love you because we've done a lot together. And when I say I love people, it means I care about them. What happened to your brother? Can I ask that?
- [10:49]
Randy Lajoy
Yeah. Hell, he was 17. He just built himself a Mach 1 Mustang. Just built the motor himself, just put tires on it. Just did the whole thing. I, I remember the night like it was yesterday. And we're at my dad's junkyard and he's getting ready to go out for the night and, you know, we're talking, he goes, hey, how's school doing? I says, that's okay because we went to different schools. Just remember. He says, how many friends you got? I said, I don't know. He goes, you never have enough. He goes, be nice to everybody. And that's pretty much the last thing he said to me.
- [11:31]
Kenny Wallace
Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry.
- [11:33]
Randy Lajoy
The streetcar wreck, him. And yeah, I don't know if they're a racing or whatever, but him and his buddy, it was three of them in his car. His passenger passed the kid in the back seat. They did get him out. So it was. And the worst thing was the address of the accident was 711 Main Street. Well, 711 has been in my family forever. That was my dad's racing number. So it's crazy how the numerology game works in this business.
- [12:09]
Kenny Wallace
Right? Well, I'm sure that had to affect you. I know my brother Mike lost his two year old child. And I know, you know, whenever you go through that, I'm really sorry, Randy, but that also helps paint. Paints a picture of your early beginnings. So your dad was a Racer, your brother was smart, you loved him. You go through that tragedy. And when did you, when did you first get into racing? How did you drive your first race car?
- [12:41]
Randy Lajoy
Well, back in those days you had to be 18 years old, right? Yeah, you couldn't jump in a car when you were 12. I mean that's what go karts were for. So it's like go kart race. Matter of fact, the same place where Parker Kligerman started and all a go kart club down at the beach. I think they still are racing there. But. So When I turned 18, my dad said, hey, I, I got on, I bought a, he has a junkyard. So somehow he ended up with a race car, a repossessed race car. He goes, if you want to use that thing, it's outside over there, go get it, rebuild it over the winter. You're old enough, the beginning of the year, you could start. Okay. And that's, and that's what I did. And you know, me and a bunch of guys from school will work on the car. My dad, he's a multi time champion at Danbury, you know, him and his guys will work on his car. The other party to shop, me and my guys would hang out and do what 18 year olds do. And you know, after about halfway through the season, you know, my dad told me, hey, have you done this? Have you done this? Have you done this? It's like, no. And he says, okay, we'll help you. So you know, they spent a lot of time, went over stuff that I didn't know nothing about. And my dad says, I'll take your car out Saturday night and I'll try it. I said, okay. First practice, he jumps in it, runs it around, you know, a couple tenths quicker than I was.
- [14:18]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah.
- [14:19]
Randy Lajoy
Comes in, he says, give me a, give me a paper. Well, he gives me a list a mile long of what I needed to fix. But I remember him saying, you could probably run this place wide open.
- [14:33]
Kenny Wallace
Oh my.
- [14:34]
Randy Lajoy
And I was like, that's all I heard. Okay, my turn. I jumped in, pull on the track. Last thing I remember was you could probably run this place wide open. One and two wide open, coming out of four sideways, it'll look like a Daytona wreck. I overcorrected it and I stuffed it in the fence. I mean it took the right front, shoved it into the motor and I was like, I can see the start finish line. I almost made it wide open. Well, my dad's division, we were the sportsman cars, my dad's, the modifieds. They were in the lineup shoot, getting ready to pull out. Well, they ended up getting them out of the chute because they had to stop the event to fix the fence. So my dad come in and got out of the car. He says, man, somebody cleaned that fence out. And they said, go check your kid's car. So he come over, he goes, what happened? I said, I didn't make it, pop. He says, you didn't make what? I said, I couldn't do wide open all the way. That's as far as I made it. He's like, oh, boy. So that year was. Was interesting. I ended up winning one feature and they were like 15 lap races. That's all we were allowed to run back then. Well, the next year they brought them up to 20 lap races. I think we won 13 out of 20. The Point Championship and ballooned up after that. Because once you have a season like that, you know, people start looking at you, they start calling you, they say, okay, let's go do something else. And terrible that the Dambray closed down. So at the end of my championship year, you know, they closed it down to build a shopping mall. So we had to look at some other tracks, which, thank God, in a couple hours away. You know, we had Stafford. We would go to Stafford on Friday night. Saturday night was New London, Connecticut. And hell, I raced two nights a week just having a great time. And at the New London track, the promoter, old Dick Williams, they had the old NASCAR north guys come in a special event. So the, the NASCAR north guy, Tom Curley, the director, asked the promoter because, hey, you got anybody we could put in this house car? You know, let them run, bring people in, you know, so people can watch him, your local guy, because, yeah, we got this kid doing a good job. Well, you know, they put me in the car. It was old CA Crouch's car. Robbie Crouch's dad, Robbie's a legend up there in New England, Great race car driver, and went into his dad's car, qualified well. I think within 10 laps, I was leading. Well, it was 150 lapper.
- [17:38]
Kenny Wallace
Wow.
- [17:38]
Randy Lajoy
I think it was lap 50. I think I got lapped for the second time. I was like, what the heck? I mean, it's the first time in a full body car. So at the end of the race, I am slapped, wore out. You know, I didn't have my style seat in the car. Had her standard seat. So I was trying to stay in the car first. But after the race, Oca Crouch, just like the days of thunder, he goes, randy, I could tell you what happened? I said, okay, what happened? Ca. You know, I wanted to tell him what happened. Yeah, your car's no good. He says you were driving the car too fast through the corners. Well, it took me a long time to realize, boy, that man was right. So, I mean, that, that opened the door. That opened that door to that NASCAR north stuff. Yeah, because at the time, my dad and Bob Johnson, local crew chief up there, Ronnie Bouchard's crew chief, were partners in a speedway modified. And they had it sitting there and he says, you know, I think I could take that old speedway modified, take the body off, put a different body on it, and we could race that and just NASCAR North. And that was 82, 83, 82. And we went to Dover and loved it. I had the best time. I think we finished fourth. And that just, it was, that was neat from what that guy did to me at New London to get me to switch up to the NASCAR North. And then we went NASCAR North Racing. 83, 84 and 85. Won the 85 championship. And I really thought we were going to just keep that trajectory going. But then again, there was a big lawsuit over there over the championship. I think we won it. NASCAR was on my side. They, the second place guy took everybody to court and it took a couple three years to get the thing out of court and give me my championship ring. I think I got my championship ring three years later. And in that, it just, they put the K box. The partners I was with, they got all pissed off and they stopped racing. So from 85 to 88, I didn't do a whole lot of racing.
- [20:20]
Kenny Wallace
Hey, it's Dale Jr. Did you know that we've got brand new merch from our Star Stripes and beers collection available now? We've got tanks, tees, beach towels and more just in time for summer. Check it all out at shop.dirtymomedia.com creativity.
- [20:36]
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- [21:07]
Randy Lajoy
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- [21:38]
Kenny Wallace
Let'S, let's slow our roll right there. I want to let you know, I read that and I thought, I'm not going to bring that up. Just, you know, people sue each other every day and it's, you know, it's just nasty and. But when I listen to you, I listen to you as a racer and us Wallaces and I think the Lajoys are similar. It seems to me like you guys made chicken salad out of chicken. You were con. You. I'm listening to you say Bob Johnson said I can take, make this car into this car. I mean, was it like that with the Lajoy family you, you made do with? I mean, you were fabricators. You work. Is that the way you were brought up?
- [22:24]
Randy Lajoy
Yeah, absolutely. And being brought up in the junkyard, that's it.
- [22:31]
Kenny Wallace
Yep.
- [22:31]
Randy Lajoy
We had every competitor, you know, always coming down for I Lincoln uppers. We would have Chrysler lowers. And back in those days, you could still use a lot of stuff from out back and on the race cars, whether it was the hubs and stuff like that. Leaf springs was my first car, but we did pretty much everything ourselves. And we definitely made a pretty good chicken salad a few times.
- [23:05]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I think we painted the picture. Everybody we know about Randy's early beginnings, he's gone through some sad times. He was winning and, and let's listen. I, I read and I know everything about you, but let's just skip right here. Randy, let's go to 1985. You go to a cup race in Atlanta. Bob Johnson owns the car now. Tell me if I got this right. The great Bob Johnson, he was Ronnie Bouchard's crew chief when they won the cup race at Talladega. That Bob Johnson, right? Number 47, right?
- [23:46]
Randy Lajoy
Yeah. Race Hill Farms. Yeah. Bob is a, a master mechanic from Connecticut. He had his, his purple number 17 modified. Was one of the fastest in New England with Richie Evans and Jeff Bodine and you know guys, Bugsy Stevens, Freddie Desero, they had to beat that 17 car for a Bob Johnson's. That purple car. It, he was just a mastermind of. He would watch the car and tell Me, what was wrong with it?
- [24:18]
Kenny Wallace
I love those. I love those crew chiefs. Yeah.
- [24:22]
Randy Lajoy
And if I would explain something to him, he goes, well, it doesn't look like that. It looks like this. Yeah, you're right.
- [24:30]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah.
- [24:31]
Randy Lajoy
So. Yeah, just a very smart racer.
- [24:36]
Kenny Wallace
Okay, so Bob Johnson put you in his Winston cup car, I believe. 1985, Bob Johnson put you in his Winston cup race car. You go to Atlanta. You start 16th, and you finished 14th. Tell me about this.
- [24:53]
Randy Lajoy
Yeah, it was. I've never been to Dover. Yeah, we had gone to Dover, and they were. So we're gonna go down to Atlanta. Okay. So we go down there. We qualify. Well, one of the worst things that happened that day was as we were going, my legs start to tingle during the race. What the heck. I'm starting to have trouble feeling the clutch pedal. And don't use a lot of brake there in Atlanta. And pit stops, I'm trying to get the clutch down and what the heck is going on? Well, come to find out, you know, my old tub, fiberglass seat that we had, the gentleman that my dad got to manufacture them, you know, every one was always a little bit smaller. Well. And then I was getting a little bit bigger. Well, it had pinched the nerves of my legs to cut the blood flow off. So the end of the race, I said, guys, I mean, we probably could have run top 10. And that was a great day. I mean, sit there racing with these guys. And I remember going, and I think I'm, I'm fast because no windows, lot of wind. Okay. And you hauling. But in Atlanta. And I think I am the fastest thing out there. All of a sudden, you know, hey, here comes the leaders. Get the passing flag, and Cal Yarv will come by me in a Hardee's car. And I thought he was fighting inside the car. Oh, my. He would. And I was like, maybe that's why he's leading. Because I was a whole lot more comfortable. And I was like, okay, okay, I better get after it, because that sucker sure is. And it taught me a lesson that, you know, if you think you're good. Yeah. There's always somebody better.
- [26:53]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah. I, When I was reading up on your career, I started knowing you, you know, 89, 90. I had no idea that you had started in Cup. And I, I think that's very telling. Okay, so we're just going to go like this. 1987, 1989. You're. You're grinding. And I, I, I call you a grinder. I've always known you as a grinder. You You're a never give up person, but you, you go to. To. You go back to race for Frank CC and, and this is kind of where I know you. So we've gotten Randy's career right now to basically, if you all want to say Bush series, even though you were in cup, you know, 85.
- [27:43]
Randy Lajoy
Only once.
- [27:44]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, and that's what I find amazing. And, and follow this, everybody. 1985 Winston cup race, you finished 14th. That's 85. Now 86, 87, 88, 89. You're. You're doing your deal okay. And you're in your car, you're out of your car. And that's what I read. Race with Frank Cece then went back to your own car. Tell me about what I call that. You know, you're great now. You're. You're. You're one of the best now. But tell me about that dead period in your racing career. What was going on right there?
- [28:27]
Randy Lajoy
Well, I mean, I had thought once we did that Atlanta deal. Yeah. We would run a bunch more. It was Bob two partners and, you know, that the lawsuit was going on. We're trying to win the championship, you know, after 85.
- [28:46]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah.
- [28:48]
Randy Lajoy
From 85 to 88, it was all. And it turned the guys off on racing.
- [28:53]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah.
- [28:53]
Randy Lajoy
And I think Bob went elsewhere. Bob got a great job to go race hill farms, I do believe, with Harry and Ronnie Bouchard. So, you know, he moved on. He moved south. I didn't do a whole lot, you know, a couple of short track stuff. I didn't know what was going on. Get married. 88, you know, not doing a lot. I go to Pocono just to go hang out. It's a couple hours from the house. And as I'm walking around Pocono talking to everybody. Jimmy Spencer. I'm talking with Jimmy. He's a junker. They got a junkyard. We're going back and forth. I rented one of his cars to go to Dover and race and did well. He said, hey, Randy. He says, I'm leaving Frank and I'm going to drive full time cup. He says, frank's gonna need a driver. He said, I'll put a good word in for you. It's okay. So I called Frank the following week and I said, frank, you need a driver? Can I help? And he said, sure. And he says, here's my shop. Go down there. I'll hire you $300 a week and I'll let you drive my car. So I went back to the old junkyard. I Said, hey, Dad, I got an opportunity to move south here and talk to the wife. And I said, I want to try this. I want to go down there and see. It was six months after I was married, and I packed my car and I moved south. My wife stayed up top. She still had jobs and this and that. She had to come down and find us a place to live. And that's my. We got hooked up with Frank. First race out was Hickory Run. Second.
- [30:46]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah.
- [30:48]
Randy Lajoy
Second race, I think was Talladega Run. Second. And it was. It just went from there. And, you know, then the reality set in the end of the year. Somebody come in with more money.
- [31:03]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah.
- [31:04]
Randy Lajoy
Well, okay, Randy. He says you could continue to work on the cars, but I got a different driver. Okay, so what do you do?
- [31:14]
Kenny Wallace
Right. So let's stop right there for a minute. We're painting this picture and this. And now everybody is understanding why I call you a grinder, a never give up person. I want to talk about that. It was very famous when I, you know, move to Charlotte. And it's. It's simple. It's called we're going south. Whether you were from St. Louis, Missouri, or you were from, you know, Norwalk, Connecticut, that, that. That phrase, I'm going south in our local racing. When you said you're going south, that was pretty simple. You were going down for a dream, leaving your wife back there.
- [31:58]
Randy Lajoy
She.
- [31:58]
Kenny Wallace
I love your wife. She's a wonderful lady. She helped you get hooked up here. So, you know, technically, so we could do this. She had to really support what your dream was. Tell me about that time of. And that whole phrase of, I'm moving south.
- [32:15]
Randy Lajoy
And it worked out okay because at the same time, her mom and dad were fixing to relocate to Florida. So.
- [32:26]
Kenny Wallace
95 South.
- [32:28]
Randy Lajoy
Yeah. Correct. Well, you know, they sold their house. They put it on the market. Sold it. Well, they. Their house in Florida wasn't ready for another six, eight months. So for my benefit, they moved in with Lisa.
- [32:43]
Kenny Wallace
Wow.
- [32:44]
Randy Lajoy
So when I left, her parents came in, and you talk about support, you know, and once she moved down, and then the other guy come in with his money, and I was like, what the heck am I going to do now? Yeah, you know, I started fabrication shop. You know, she was a travel agent by trade, so she was paying all the bills. I was working at an old tiger, Tom Pistones, with a little fabrication shop and drove a car.
- [33:14]
Kenny Wallace
Grinding.
- [33:16]
Randy Lajoy
Yeah. Drove a couple of cup races with. With. I think it was Linro at the time, which is a guy still racing. And it. She Supported me more than I could ever thank her. And racing is a tough business.
- [33:37]
Kenny Wallace
No doubt.
- [33:38]
Randy Lajoy
Yeah, it is. If it wasn't for her, I mean, it was a few times I said, honey, let's. Let's go home. Yeah, I can't do this no more. Let's. Okay, My dream's over. Let's go. We'll go. We'll go make memories in Connecticut.
- [33:53]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah.
- [33:53]
Randy Lajoy
And no, no, I think she said, you know, she always said, I feel like something's gonna happen. I feel like something's gonna happen. Well, sure enough, Dick Moroso called.
- [34:05]
Kenny Wallace
Okay, let me stop you right there. Right there. Okay, then in 1993, Dick Moroso chooses you to drive the number 20 fina car at Talladega. And I'll let you finish it there. And was this your big break? But tell me about. Yeah, tell me about that race. Okay, go ahead.
- [34:29]
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- [35:02]
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- [35:32]
Randy Lajoy
So, I mean, I show up at Dick Shop, you know, terrible when people lose children.
- [35:39]
Kenny Wallace
Yes.
- [35:40]
Randy Lajoy
I. I hope I'm never walking those shoes so you don't ever know what you're dealing with when they have that. And Dick and Robbie were connected at the hip. So anyways, he goes, hey, I got this deal. So I go to the shop, meet the one guy that's working on it. Very talented Dick. Dick Myers. And we're getting ready to go. And Moroso's like, make sure you call NASCAR and have them come put templates on that thing so we don't have no troubles. Okay. I mean, back in the day, those old long wood templates, they'd come by your shop.
- [36:21]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah.
- [36:23]
Randy Lajoy
So we're we're trying to. One old Dick, he was. He was a. A master fabricator, you know? And I. So I called nascar and I said, hey, can you guys come check our car? Yeah. Well, who do they. Who do they send? But old Chip. Chip Warren, he ended up to be the flagger. He was at the time, just an inspector.
- [36:46]
Kenny Wallace
I liked him.
- [36:47]
Randy Lajoy
Yeah. So he comes rolling in, and old Dick Meyer, he had a funky hairpiece, you know, him and. Him and old Mike Fryer were close.
- [36:57]
Kenny Wallace
Oh, yeah. It was a little loose timing, the motor raining.
- [37:02]
Randy Lajoy
Yeah. And so I remember him, and he is. His eyes get real big and freaking head is spinning around. I was like, what the heck is. What's the problem? You know? Okay. So the guy checks the car. Yeah, yeah, looks good. And he leaves. So what's the matter, Dick? He says, are you kidding me? And if you remember. Remember the. Back in the days, used to cut the trunk lids and get the swell and the thing. Oh, yeah, he was a master of that. So we did that. We go there. I think we qualify third, and I run second with old man Earnhardt. Schrader, you know, I was like, wow. And I'm sitting. Wow. Running wide open. I was, okay, this is great. And I remember going down the back stretch, I'm third in line and ain't nobody behind us. I said, boy, this is gonna be a good day. And I look going down the back stretch, and I see Schrader's fingers are cupped out the window, you know, right out the window net. I was like, what the heck is he doing? So I pull over a little bit, and I look, and I see Earnhardt's hand is cupped out the window. What the heck? So I get back in line. I was like, suckers are cheating. I said, well, then I just start to sweat. I was like, oh, maybe they're scooping some air. Okay, so I go next lap, I go down the back stretch. Well, instead of sticking my hand, my fingers out the window, I put my whole arm out. Well, that sucker wrapped around the window net. It was slapping me in the head. I said, jesus. I said, I'm not gonna do that again. And we ended up finishing second. It was an amazing day, and that secured a ride with the Fina people, you know, for a few years later down the road.
- [39:04]
Kenny Wallace
Okay, so here we go. This is where you turn into a champion. It's taken us 35 minutes to get here, you know, and this is the way life works. It was. This was not overnight. This was a lifetime. You end up. You Know, getting, you know, through the next year, couple years. You end up driving for BASE Motorsports owner Bill Baumgartner and crew chief Steve Bird. Birdie, you. You set the world on fire. You do it all. You win 15 races. You win the 1996, 97, you know, NASCAR Xfinity Championships. Not to be technical. Were those Nationwide championships? What are. You know, what. What was the sponsor of the Bush Series?
- [40:02]
Randy Lajoy
Yeah, the Bush series. I think 99 nationwide came in, I want to say.
- [40:07]
Kenny Wallace
Okay, so you were truly a Bush man. They had great trophies, didn't they?
- [40:11]
Randy Lajoy
Oh, yeah. Good beer, too.
- [40:15]
Kenny Wallace
Okay, what do you. What do you remember about your time at base? I know later on, you know, everybody moves on in life. I don't think that's necessary. We need to. We need to celebrate this two years of greatness that has you, you know, where you're at today with the hall of Fame. Once again, everybody, if you're listening up, Randy Lajoy, the man you're looking at, made big news over the last month. He was put on the ballot for the 2026 NASCAR all of hall of Fame for all the reasons. He's a grinder, never gives up. Northeasterner comes down Interstate 95, and we. We get him here to this year. Tell me about that incredible run with. With BASE Motorsports.
- [41:09]
Randy Lajoy
Okay, well, they had Johnny Benson. Johnny Benson, yeah.
- [41:14]
Kenny Wallace
Forgot about that.
- [41:15]
Randy Lajoy
You know, Johnny Benson won the 95 championship. Well, 95 after the. Dick Barroso ran a couple years for Dick and Fina, you know, I went cup racing. I got a deal to run after Bobby Labonte moved out of Bill Davis's. He needed a driver, Pontiac. I was. I was hooked up with Pontiac at the time. They said, hey, why don't you go talk to Bill, okay? I did. I said, okay, I'm gonna go cup racing and. Pretty much the worst experiences of my life. It was not a lot of fun. We weren't fast. We were slow. You know, I remember they used to call my dad Tire Patch Don because he would read a tire like. Like you do with short tracks, you know, tires, what meets the road. And they tell you a lot.
- [42:10]
Kenny Wallace
Camber gain, right front, the whole deal.
- [42:13]
Randy Lajoy
Well, I remember we were in Atlanta, and I just couldn't get comfortable getting in the corner. Mean, I was more comfortable 15 years ago, and my first time there could never. So it was after happy hour, and I see my dad in a heated conversation with the crew chief and Bill Davis, and he come back, he goes, son, you're in trouble. So why? What's the matter? He Says, these people don't know what they're doing, so why not? He says, I showed him the right front tire. He goes, you're using half of the right front tire. The other heart's not even on the racetrack. Because how can you feel comfortable when your tire's not on track? Well, you know, then you ask the question. You're like, well, you know, that's a setup that this guy uses, and he's okay with it. Well, you know, halfway through that season, I get fired. So my. My first year cup racing, halfway through the year, I'm done, and say, okay, now what? So luckily, I made a bunch of calls. Dennis Shoemaker from Maryland, he had that Duralube 64 car. Put me in that thing for the rest of the year, which was very enjoyable. Ran well. That's where I got to know all of the Busch series guys. Well, then I spotted for Todd Bodine, so you get to watch. I spotted a deer for Todd and when he was in that fiddle fattle car. And I learned a lot about the drivers. You learned a lot of who you can mess with, you know, who's gonna give you a break, you know, who you can rough up, and they're not gonna rough you back. So that helped me. And I was all in memory bank, and Steve Bird called. They had Jack Sprague. No, no. At the time. Yeah, they had Jack Sprague. Yeah. And they fired him. And they needed a driver for Rougemont, North Carolina.
- [44:23]
Kenny Wallace
Oh, yeah.
- [44:24]
Randy Lajoy
Yeah. I'll go. Let's go. Well, we went up there, and I never met Bill or his family. Get ready to get in the car before the race. And he comes in. He's smoking a pipe. How you doing? I'm Bill. Good, good. Wife, kids. Yeah, great. He goes, you know, I'm gonna fire you after this race. I said, yeah, okay. You want to put it that way? That's okay. So I says, well, you mad at what this thing looks like when I come back? He said, not really. So we ended up getting spinning out early, making up a lap. I probably passed every race car on the track once or twice. And he. He was hoarse at the end of the race. He said, randy, that's the best race I've ever seen. He said, if you ever need a job, you need to call me. It's okay, you know? So away we went. Well, that was 94, 95. I. Midway through the year, I needed a job.
- [45:25]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah.
- [45:26]
Randy Lajoy
So he was my second call. First call was the lawyer. Second call was to him. I said, hey, Bill. I need a job. He goes, well, I, I'm going to need a driver. Johnny's leaving the end of the year. I was like, wow. He goes, but I'm also losing lifting. T. Okay. I said, well, I said, let me. You know, this is two years removed from Moroso and I had great relationships with the Fina people. Boy, what a great company they were. They did wonderful hospitality events with all their divisions, their oil and their fuel, their chemicals. So they always were very good on how they brought customers to the track. Well, my third call was to the CEO of Fina and he goes, man, he says, we're thinking about getting out of the sport. We're not having a good time. You know, they were still Moroso's. And he says, we're, we're. He's a matter of fact, he says, you know, the end of this week we're having our company meetings and I'll probably announce there that we're getting out. I was like, oh boy. So I get my old phone, phone deal out. He's okay, where's Fina? Fina. Fina. Okay, here they are. I called everybody I knew in Fina and one of the gentlemen, he was a big distributor for him down in Florida, Steve DeLuca.
- [46:52]
Kenny Wallace
He started, I remember that name.
- [46:54]
Randy Lajoy
Yep. He started with The Philip silly 66. He had like 30 gas stations branded Phillips while he rebranded them all Fina, he was very big into the Fena racing stuff, called him. He called the others. The following week the president of Fena calls, he goes, we didn't get out and we would love to come with you in base. Wow. And that was a, a great four year run. I mean, it was, it was good times.
- [47:31]
Kenny Wallace
And I want to say this. Listen up, kids, it is a different time. But Randy, that, that's exactly the way I did it. You know, people, you know, we joke, how the hell did Kenny Wallace stay in the sport so long? Because I definitely didn't have enough talent. I, I sold my ass. I wanted to be a race car driver. And right there, what you did is what I did. You know, that's the way I was able to, to stay there and once again know if I was ever to headline. This incredible conversation with you is you're a grinder and you never give up. Good work. I never knew that, Randy. That, that is badass. And you, so you, you put yourself in a position to get with bas, you bring them the damn sponsorship and then you deliver by winning two championships. So let me ask you a question. And I mean this In a positive mental attitude. For me, Steve Bird was a game changer because I didn't know what I needed because I came from ASA and I was used to coil springs, rack and pinion. I got down to those big old cars, and I'm like, I'm. I'm chopping the corners because that's how we grew up doing it. And I was chasing the car the first couple years, you know, David IFT and me, and we had moderate success. But when Birdie became my crew chief, man, he set those cars up differently than I ever set them up. He used that string like a magician. Was. I know you're a good driver, but was Birdie a game changer for you?
- [49:14]
Randy Lajoy
Oh, absolutely. Well, the team was. It was. You know, whenever. I always thought, okay, Johnny Benson just wins this championship. What kind of. What did he do? Okay, because you don't ever want to do worse than the guy. So I said, okay, at least I want to equal what he's done. And, you know, Johnny won two races and the championship in 95. So. Okay, so same team. I mean, all we did was change the seats, change the color of the car. And Billy Nazowitz, the former Richie. Richie Evans, crew chief, car builder. And I've known Birdie for a long time. I met Birdie probably when I was 12 years old. When he was up, he was with Bob Johnson. Yeah, yeah, because he worked with Bob. And then before Bob, he was a crew chief fro the Traveling man beat fian DACA number 135, as Bernie would say.
- [50:15]
Kenny Wallace
Peter. Peter Fiandaka. Yes, Peter.
- [50:19]
Randy Lajoy
So I've known him for forever. You know, he worked for Moroso when they won the dash championships and the Busch championships. So I was, okay, this is good. You know, and we had a great relationship. We all got along well. We come out of the box, and we win five races in the championship. Like, wow, okay.
- [50:39]
Kenny Wallace
Badass.
- [50:39]
Randy Lajoy
Yeah. Well, okay. At that time, you think it's going to last forever. And the next year, we did the same thing. I was like, wow, this is cool. I mean, we weren't changing a whole lot. Well, that was a problem because we weren't changing a whole lot. And then we had this kid called Dale Earnhardt Jr. Matt Kenseth. Those guys came in with total different thinking. So instead of winning a championship, you run third, you know, and then the next year, you run fourth. And it's getting harder and harder to compete, and you're like, what the heck is going on? I'm not changing this thing. And that the race team and Birdie. It seemed like the, the, the longer we went, the more issues we had. It was like, okay, because somebody has to 24,7 this thing with nothing but racing. If you don't pay attention, somebody else is. And that hurt us in 98, 99, the last couple years with those guys.
- [51:52]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah. So I believe that's competition and that's, you know, you and I are of age now. When we look back, that's, that's just the way it goes. And hell, I'm happy I'm going to be 62 years old. And you look good for 63. You had a hell of a journey. And once again, everybody, Randy Lajoy's on the ballot for the 2026 NASCAR hall of Fame. But you're right, it's not a bed of roses. I want to, I want to talk about what I think now. This is my opinion. It's all about you, Randy. But 1999, you win the NAPA Auto Parts 300 at Daytona. Was that the biggest win of your career? Or if not, what was the biggest win of your career?
- [52:40]
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- [53:02]
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The heart of everything you do, and Adobe Creative Cloud helps you take your projects to the next level. No matter what you're working on this semester. Build pro level skills and create your best work with Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, and over 20 other paths. Powerful creative apps. Students save over 65% on Adobe Creative Cloud. The go to toolkit for everything from class projects to standout portfolios. Make your ideas shine in and out of the classroom. Visit adobe.com students to save big today.
- [53:32]
Randy Lajoy
Well, we got three Daytona wins, 97 with the FINA card, which was awesome. And then we put the thing in the corner, covered it up, and we're gonna go to Talladega. Okay, we won Daytona. We'll be good. I think we run 15th in Talladega, so we didn't do that good. Yeah, well, 99, I go work for James Finch, you know, in the one car, and they've always had speed. We win that race and it's. You're like, wow, this is cool. And come back in 01 and win the race in the 7 Kleenex car, you know, so I won the Daytona race with three different owners. And that was a really weird weekend. I mean, here we were. We won the Saturday race Sunday, the whole family. There's probably 30 of us at an amusement park. I'm talking on the phone, you know, to Timmy Fedawa and these guys. Hey, what's going on? The track. What's going on? You know, keep me updated. Okay, well, on the ride home, Timmy called, and then he said, hey, it ain't good with Earnhardt.
- [54:54]
Kenny Wallace
Oh, no.
- [54:55]
Randy Lajoy
And then. So, okay, we lose Earnhardt. And I remember we were flying that Steve DeLuca would give us his house in Flagler Beach. Whole family would stay there. We flew out of Jacksonville. Well, here I am with my trophy, and I wanted to hide it because it was such a weird feeling to lose Dale. And then the somberness. Oh, my God. I mean, the people on the plane and, you know, I said, hey, can we put this in the back somewhere? I don't. I didn't want people to know who I was because it just felt wrong because we lost the best we ever had. Right.
- [55:41]
Kenny Wallace
Well, I think the whole world, not just America, but Earnhardt, was a man's man. We all wanted to be Earnhardt, you know, and, you know, there's a song, the Day the Music stopped, you know, and that's. That's. That's the day that racing changed forever. It's never been the same. You know, Randy, that's something I was never going to talk about. But, you know, they always say there, nobody's bigger than the sport, man. It just seemed like Earnhardt was, because when we lost him, the trajectory of our sport changed forever. You know, he was our Michael Jordan. He was even bigger than Michael Jordan. I totally understand why you wanted to hide that trophy. It was. It was one of your biggest moments. Now, let's go back to when I said the reason I thought the 1999 win at Daytona was big, because you split with base, you're with another team, and you're like, take that. You know, it's the first race of the year, you know. So what do you think the biggest win in the Bush Series was for you? Or can you not. Do you not know one?
- [57:01]
Randy Lajoy
It's tough to say because you never know when the next one's gonna come.
- [57:08]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah, right.
- [57:10]
Randy Lajoy
I don't know if I want to say if it's Memphis, which was my last one.
- [57:16]
Kenny Wallace
Oh, yeah, good one.
- [57:17]
Randy Lajoy
I enjoyed all of them, but just some paid better.
- [57:23]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah. Yeah. Okay, everybody, we are going to switch gears, and we're going to start with a Cliche. This is Randy Lajoy's second phase of his life. And if Randy does not get into the 2026 NASCAR hall of Fame. And let me say this, too. You know me, I'm very opinionated. No matter what happens, it is incredible honor for you to be voted so, period. Just no matter what happens, you're already a hero. But this second phase of your life. There's your T shirt right there. Can we. This is The Kenny Wallace YouTube show, the Joy of Seating. Okay, now let me just say this. Darrell Waltrip said to me, the great Darrell Waltrip, he said, you know, I won all those championships, all those NASCAR races, and in the end, everybody knew me for being in the animated movie the Cars. So here, here. Daryl Waltrip did it all. His heart and soul was racing racing. But in the end, all the kids know him. They didn't know him as a race car driver. They known him as being on the Cars animated movie in the theaters all over America. It kind of reminds me of you a little bit. You're a champion, and you have changed grassroots racing forever. Sometimes we do things in life that is bigger than us. We would go to these local racetracks, and these drivers were getting killed. They're falling out of their seats. They're building these race cars, and they're not even paying attention to the damn seat. And here you come, along with the joy of seating. I'm almost done bragging on you, but you. You start. You start the Safer Racer Tour to improve safety in grassroots racing. I feel like this is a monumental. You're a race car driver, then you get thousands and thousands of drivers. You save their lives. You. You keep them safe. Now, you talked about seats a couple times, and I heard you. What made you go to seats after your career or, you know, towards the.
- [59:52]
Randy Lajoy
End there in 1994, NASCAR came in and they said, listen, we're not going to let you use your fiberglass seat anymore. We're not going to allow fiberglass seats in nascar. I said, okay. I says, can I do it out of carbon fiber? They're like, no, we don't know what that stuff is. We ain't messing with it. I said, okay. Well, I brought it to the local builders building aluminum seats, and neither one of them wanted to try it. They said, that's too hard. I'm not going to do that. No. Steve Richardson helped. I happen to live right next to him. We built one. It took us half the darn winter to build the thing. Try to. Try to make something round out of something. Flat. Well, he's like, Randy's. I don't want to mess with these things. Well, it's okay. How do you. How do you make something round out of something flat? You have to stamp it. Well, my dad had come down, and he's driving around. He goes, the old carpenter's, which is right across the street from the racetrack down there, they have stamping facilities. And he goes, hey, that guy wants to. I talked to that dentist, and he said, he'll look at that thing, so bring it. Bring it down to him. So I grabbed my fiberglass seat, I brought it down to him. He says, leave it here for a couple weeks. He said, I'll see what I can do. Okay. A couple weeks later, I go down, I pick it up. He says, randy, he says, I don't want to mess with you because I really don't want to do any outside work. He goes, and you're looking at a $250,000 investment for the tooling.
- [61:31]
Kenny Wallace
Holy crap.
- [61:32]
Randy Lajoy
To do all this. And I was like, oh, boy. Okay. I can see we're not gonna do this right away. So I. Luckily, I had old Dick Meyer. He would take that fiberglass seat and take pieces of aluminum and English wheel. I mean, he'd go. And he form it. Well, at least it fit me. But we had 30 pieces, you know, and, okay, as long as I needed one seat a year, I was good. We built two or three of them, and we played with how strong we should put them. We didn't know. I mean, there wasn't a whole lot of sled testing. Well, at the same time, when we're coming up with this aluminum seat to try to make it comfortable and similar to the old Mark Donahue style that I was used to, nascar, we started paying attention to the seats, how strong they were, driver movement.
- [62:25]
Kenny Wallace
I want to interrupt you. I want to interrupt you. I don't like to interrupt you. I heard something Mark Donahue style. Tell me, what are you talking about?
- [62:35]
Randy Lajoy
That seat. My dad was a racer, and I remember 1971. We go up to Hartford, Connecticut, to a trade show car show. Mark Donahue was the Trans Am champion at old blue 68.
- [62:53]
Kenny Wallace
Yes. Camaro famous.
- [62:56]
Randy Lajoy
Yeah. Dad's looking at it. He goes, hey. He says, can I climb in there? And now my dad's been a champion for a couple, three years. And Mark's like, yeah, sure, go ahead. So my dad sat in this guy's car and said, oh, my God, you're just beautiful. Mark says, hell, he said, I build them myself. I'LL sell you one. So my dad bought one and he put that in his cars. And in 1972, he would make it. He made it a lot shorter because Mark had leg supports on it, head supports. It couldn't fit in the modified car. So he just kept cutting stuff off and moving stuff. And once he was happy with it, he didn't change the design of it. Just it made it a lot smaller to fit in the modified car. So when I started, he said, hey, this is the seat you're going to use. Okay.
- [63:44]
Kenny Wallace
So I'll be doing.
- [63:45]
Randy Lajoy
How smart mark donahue was back in the day.
- [63:49]
Kenny Wallace
He drove for Roger penske, one of the great racers of all time. You just taught me a lot. But I assume that seat fits your ass really well because I see the workmanship you put into it.
- [64:02]
Randy Lajoy
Yeah. And I was the biggest. You know, it fits your hips. Your hips are really tight. You know, I was putting a round plug inside of a round hole. Everybody else, you're sitting in a square milk crate. Yeah. So there was always room for your hips to move. It didn't matter. You get out and clean it and. But there was pockets of dirt in the corners. So with. With that style bucket seat that I had, there was. There was much more percentage of your body was in contact with the seat. So instead of being 80% contact in the seat in a different style seat, a rib supported seat. Hell, I was 95 in contact with the seat because it wrapped my shoulders. And that was one of the things, when I first started driving other people's cars, you would sit in their car, you know, the old rib supports. Okay, let's go. And I went to Dover with old Bobby waywack and had one of those banjo Matthew seats. And I already run. I won over. I won the Busch north race up there. So I knew how you drive down in the corner, and I knew all that. And I took that car and I drove it in the corner. And when I went down into turn one, I thought I was gonna fly out the right side window. It was nothing to support me. And I was like, what the hell? I qualified. I wrapped a couple of lap belts around the door bar around my chest to hold me.
- [65:42]
Kenny Wallace
Oh, my gosh.
- [65:43]
Randy Lajoy
And luckily Schrader was there and I took the seat out of his Busch car and put it in the guy's cup car for that Sunday. But I just couldn't believe how much better the shoulder supports held you in the car. And through the 90s, NASCAR is starting to push. Hey, guys, you know, let's get these things stronger. Let's do some sled tests. Well, Tom Gideon, who ended up working for NASCAR, he was working for Chevrolet. Dr. John Melvin. They were all hooked up with the ASA guys, and he said, hey, we want to test one of your seats. I said, okay. So I happen to have one. Gave it to them a couple weeks later, they come in and it was bent. You know, I was like, okay, I bent it like that I could straighten it out. And he said, well, let's watch this video. Okay, we put the video in, hit start. And at the time, I just started building seats. I had one employee, and I watched that video. Now, here's this dummy sitting in my seat. Cameras straight down. It was side impact, 35 mile an hour. The center line went from here to over here. And it was violent. And I remember I thought I was gonna puke. It just upset me. I was like, what? So I shut the TV off, I go walk them out, and they're like, where you going? I said, I'm shutting down. I'm gonna kill somebody. And they said, no. He said, turn it back on. He said, you got a good one. Yeah. So the center line of the body moved a lot less being held by your shoulders than your ribs. And that's. The light bulb went on. Okay. You know, at the time, you think you're going to drive forever, but of course, my dad's in this year saying, what are you going to do here in a couple of years? You better. Better start doing something. And you're like, okay. Well, that started taking my thought process from, okay, this might be something I could look into. Well, you know, here we are. We're still doing it 30 years later. And it was. It's quite amazing, you know, Melvin and old Steve Peterson from nascar. Now it's John Padillac. The amount of knowledge they have on how the body works, it's insane. And you just don't think about the stuff until something happens. And then 2001, after Earnhardt, you know, yes, we lost the greatest we had. But I always wondered, in the back of my mind, there was five guys before Dale. We didn't do nothing.
- [68:44]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah.
- [68:45]
Randy Lajoy
Why? Why? Yeah, you know, it just didn't make no sense. But, you know, Big E made this sport so much safer. Oh, his legacy race car driver. You know, he. He saved my kid's life. He's saving these kids lives every darn weekend. And that. That's a tribute to NASCAR for the amount of money they put in to find out why.
- [69:12]
Kenny Wallace
And I'll. I Said it this way and I said it on national TV when I was working for Fox. And we, when I said it, I was hoping everybody would understand it. Dale Earnhardt senior did not die in vain. Be because people like you said, oh, my God, we're, we're Dr. We're literally racing. You know, we build this great race car and we put a milk crate in it. Let me, let me say this step by step. You got to where you're at with the joy of seating. I want to switch. Spend about five minutes on when you started this Safer racer tour. What is the worst you. You now, I would see it. I'm like, oh, my God. This guy just spent $40,000 on a race car and his seat is being held in. My buddy, Nick Hoffman. Nick said, herman, he said, this guy had quarter inch bolts holding his seat in. This is like three months ago. What is. Are racers just that dumb? I don't mean to be mean, but are they that they don't care about themselves, do they?
- [70:25]
Randy Lajoy
If you don't make them do something, they're not going to do it. And it's crazy. You know, we've probably all been there. I practice cars without fire suits, without helmets. What could possibly go wrong?
- [70:43]
Kenny Wallace
Not smart.
- [70:44]
Randy Lajoy
What could possibly go wrong?
- [70:46]
Kenny Wallace
Not too smart.
- [70:47]
Randy Lajoy
And a quick story about. Here I am, the seat guy, trying to sell seats, 1998, 99. I get a call, hey, come drive my Busch north car up here at Oxford, Maine. Okay? There was a double event, Busch North NASCAR modifieds. Jimmy Spencer's the reigning modified champion. He's got two brand new cars sitting there, two Hunter motors. I go over to the guy's car that I went to drive and I look in it. I was like, oh, boy. The guy he fired was 145 pounds, and I'm not. So I opened up the ribs and jump in it to practice and go out there and practice, and boy, that thing hooked the bottom and went. I said, wow, this thing's fast. I said, I can't drive it. Seats too small. Walk over to dispensers. I said, jimmy, can I take your seat out of your backup car and put it in and use it? Yeah, go ahead. Good. Do that. Finish second in the feature. Taking pictures. The modifieds are getting ready to pull around the racetrack. Jimmy's brother says, hey, get your helmet, get your gloves.
- [72:04]
Kenny Wallace
Let's.
- [72:04]
Randy Lajoy
Let's go. What are we doing, Eddie? They ain't got enough cars. So I entered you 800 bucks to start. I'm all pumped up. I get over to the car. He's got the window net down, the thing's running. And he shoves me in the window net. I climb in the car and I put the belts on. I'm hooking all up. I look at him, he's putting the window net up. I said, eddie. He goes, yeah. I said, it doesn't have a seat. He goes, they're not gonna check. And he clicked the window net.
- [72:36]
Kenny Wallace
Oh, that backup car you took the seat out of.
- [72:40]
Randy Lajoy
Yep.
- [72:42]
Kenny Wallace
Holy crap.
- [72:44]
Randy Lajoy
Now here I am in this modified. I haven't driven one in a few years. Brand new, hunter brand. I was like, oh, my God. The yellow come out with about 10 laps in. Eddie spencer was on the back stretch. He stopped the race. He's get off the dart track. He wanted me to be a starting part, But I was having so much fun. Yeah. Without a darn seat. So that's one of the things I've seen crazy people do. Another time I was at linear or wherever.
- [73:15]
Kenny Wallace
That is nuts. That's actually nuts.
- [73:17]
Randy Lajoy
Yeah. Racing with corey now we go to a k N race down there at lanier maybe, or one of those racetrack. So I just go walking around the pits and I'm looking, you know, now I'm starting to pay attention to people's safety. If I could help them, I'm going to give them some information. Because I'm in the NASCAR R&D Were involved with that. I'm getting a lot of information. It's okay. I don't. I don't want to keep it to myself. I want to help everybody. Well, I looking at this guy's car and I was like, huh? The seat belt is pop riveted in.
- [73:57]
Kenny Wallace
What in the world am I listening to?
- [73:59]
Randy Lajoy
And I was like, this ain't right. So I look, sure enough, it's popular. So the guy comes over, I just tell me that's not pop riveted. He goes, it's a steel pop rivet.
- [74:13]
Kenny Wallace
Oh, my God.
- [74:15]
Randy Lajoy
I mean, that's what races, lord help us racers do. I was like, oh, my goodness. And it. It's crazy what I've seen. You know, I've been to over 180 racetracks. You know that safer racer deal I come up with Once I started getting out of racing? I was like, okay, there's two things I need this to do. One is it has to showcase my product because guys have never seen what I have. And two, it needs to bring information to these guys and show them information they've never seen. Well, you know, we had all those crash test Videos and the old Johnny Benson video and him blowing out the seat. And people just don't see that. They don't see the sled test. And it opened a lot of people's eyes. And we're still not there on the short track series yet. It is still a very long way away. And it's sad that the industry must have to wait till they hurt people before they push safety stuff.
- [75:27]
Kenny Wallace
Randy, I firmly believe if the local racers are educated like you and I were when we lost Earnhardt, you know, we would have the safety meetings we all went to. Obviously you and I were in these meetings. You know, I'm not privy. I don't even pretend to know what you know. You know way more than anybody. But the safety meetings for us drivers is what I'm talking about. And I would see those videos and I would run back and I would tell my local dirt racing friends on me, oh, my God, buddy. If you would see what I see, you, you'd spend, you know, $5,000 on a seat because you'd take that seat from car to car for the rest of your life, most likely. Listen, Randy, we're at an hour and 12 minutes. I think we did it, my friend. Number number one, I want to congratulate you on your 2026. You're on the ballot to be in the NASCAR hall of Fame. Congratulations. I hope you're voted in. If not, it doesn't even matter. Congratulations, because you are the ultimate racer. And now what you've done with the joy of seating. So you've done a lot. And if anything, you should be in two hall of Fames. You should also be in the Pioneer hall of Fame because you pioneered, you know, what you've done for grassroots racing and, and making these boys straighten up and realizing how, you know, dangerous they are. They need a seat. And you are, you are as well known for your seat company as you are as a NASCAR driver.
- [77:11]
Randy Lajoy
You're you. Like you said earlier, Daryl, watch up. Saying, you know, he's known as the cars guy.
- [77:17]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah.
- [77:18]
Randy Lajoy
Yeah. So here, here. Okay. I think I did pretty good racing. And people come here in the shop and they, oh, there's a seat guy.
- [77:30]
Kenny Wallace
Listen here, you son of a. I'm a two time champion.
- [77:34]
Randy Lajoy
Yeah. It's amazing. I mean, and it's so cool. Now it's generational, you know, doing this stuff. 30 years.
- [77:41]
Kenny Wallace
Yes.
- [77:42]
Randy Lajoy
You know, I got the kids coming. First it was the dads, you know, now it's the kids. And it just shows that we are getting older and we Both have been very blessed in that. The reason I did that Safer Racer Tour, because I don't care what day of the week you race on, if you climb into a race car and you're going in to have fun, you need to climb out. And there's enough information out there today that should really help you do that. And it's aggravating at times, and it's very satisfying at times. You know, when you get a Monday morning call and the mom or a dad say, randy, you know, my son, my daughter just flipped all the way down the back stretch and he got out and he's playing out in the car. And you're like, yeah. You know, it's something that you're very proud of, you know, helping the industry, you know, maintain. People just don't realize the less the driver moves, the better they're going to be.
- [78:50]
Kenny Wallace
Right. Okay, everybody, it's the same deal. First of all, I want to say I enjoyed racing with Randy Lajoy. I had a lot of fun with him, especially in my early days, because we, we. We battled a lot. And you're a great race car driver. All right, that's it. Randy, you got anything else?
- [79:10]
Randy Lajoy
You know, I. I went by your old house the other day where the old go kart track was, and some of the greatest memories are go kart racing out there on Sunday with the bunch of us of it just. Oh, my God. Just laugh and good time. And it's. We've made great memories, that's for sure.
- [79:29]
Kenny Wallace
That's there. That's a whole nother storyline. Birdie. And I do want to say this now that. Listen up, everybody. Now that Randy Lajoy said that we're not going to go because it could be another hour. We spent a lot of time with each other, and he just mentioned. And Steve Bird, he told everybody, Hickory. I went to go to the bathroom at Hickory during a bush race, and. And in the bathroom was go kart race at Kenny Wallace's house. I'm like, what the hell? Bernie did it. I said, bernie, did you just invite everybody to my house? Yeah, it's gonna be a good time. I'm like, you just invited everybody to my house. And we had the best time ever. I love Birdie. I see Birdie down in Florida a lot. He's so much calmer now.
- [80:19]
Randy Lajoy
Well, pro. You are, too, and I might be, too. It comes with a little bit of age.
- [80:24]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah. I'm happy to see Birdie calmer, though, because he was more jacked up on Sundrop than you and IO is that.
- [80:33]
Randy Lajoy
Was that in the middle of Light Cave?
- [80:36]
Kenny Wallace
So I have a little bit of comedy because you know the movie. I'm jacked up on Mountain Dew. Well, because Dale Junior's from the south, you know, it's sundrop. So I, I usually say jacked up on Mountain Dew or sundrop. It means where you're living right now, right there, you know, But. All right, everybody, listen up. There he is, the great Randy Lajoy. His. His story is a cautionary tale. A cautionary tale means it's not a bed of roses. And he's the grinder. He made it happen. He's the ultimate racer. Until the next Kenny conversation. We'll see you all next time. Goodbye, everybody.
- [81:19]
Randy Lajoy
Thank you.
- [81:26]
Kenny Wallace
Check out Dirty Mo Media on Twitter, Facebook, TikTok and Instagram.
- [81:32]
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