LaJoie Saves Best For Last At Langley
HAMPTON, Va. – It took Corey LaJoie 24 starts to get his first NASCAR K&N Pro Series East victory. It took only two more races to get No. 2.
The 21-year-old from Concord, N.C., became the first repeat winner of the season with a victory in the Visit Hampton VA 175 at Langley Speedway on Saturday.
It wasn’t without a fight from Brett Moffitt, who led a race-high 115 laps only to settle for second when LaJoie made a late charge. The two swapped the lead four times officially but waged a side-by-side battle throughout the night and traded the lead back and forth over the course of a single lap numerous times on the .4-mile oval. LaJoie took the lead for the final time on Lap 165 and held on in a late-race restart to score his second career series win.
| POS | DRIVER |
|---|---|
| 1 | Corey LaJoie |
| 2 | Brett Moffitt |
| 3 | Chase Elliott |
| 4 | Brandon Gdovic |
| 5 | Sergio Pena |
It was a much different win than LaJoie’s dominant performance in his first career victory June 2 at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C., where he led 118 of 152 laps. LaJoie finished with 40 laps led at Langley.
Chase Elliott, who earlier in the day set the record for youngest pole winner in series history, rebounded from an early race spin to finish third. The result allowed LaJoie to move within one point of Elliott for the series lead after seven of 14 races.
Brandon Gdovic was fourth, followed by Sergio Pena.
Rev Racing rookies Bryan Ortiz and Kyle Larson finished sixth and seventh, respectively, while teammate Jorge Arteaga was 10th. Travis Pastrana was eighth, followed Eddie MacDonald.
The Visit Hampton VA 175 will be televised on SPEED at 3 p.m. ET on June 28.
The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East returns to action Saturday, July 14 at CNB Bank Raceway Park in Clearfield, Penn., with the Samuel 150.
