LaJoie, the two-time defending Grand National series champion, stepped in to replace Ricky Craven as driver of the No. 50 Chevrolet owned by Hendrick Motorsports for Sunday's TranSouth 400 at Darlington Raceway. LaJoie then qualified the car at 166.811 mph on Friday afternoon, 23rd fastest, to nail down a starting spot and a frontstretch pit stall for Sunday's race. The team announced Thursday that Craven would be out up to three months to be treated for post-concussion syndrome. Craven is suffering from headaches and dizziness believed to be related to a crash last April at Texas Motor Speedway. LaJoie took the driver's seat out of his backup Grand National car and had it installed in the No. 50 Chevrolet.
Life is good right now.
Ron Hornaday, driving the No. 1 Chevrolet in place of the injured Steve Park, hit the wall in turns 3 and 4 in practice and damaged the rear end so badly the team had to go to backup Monte Carlo. Green, whose lap speed was 167.379 mph, was third best among Chevrolets. That went through one ear and out the other. If you don't try too hard in Winston Cup racing, you're not going to get the pole. Earnhardt got the first provisional starting slot and will go off 37th in today's race.