HARRISBURG, N.C. — Show me a person who believes history doesn’t repeat itself and I’ll show you a person who doesn’t know much about auto-racing history.
On Sunday, June 4, third-generation driver Corey LaJoie substituted for Chase Elliott in the Enjoy Illinois 300 NASCAR Cup Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway.
Selected by Hendrick Motorsports to drive the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet while Elliott served a one-race suspension for wrecking Denny Hamlin during the Coca-Cola 600, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the 31-year-old son of two-time NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Randy Lajoie.
“At the end of the day, when I sit in that thing, I don’t know that NAPA is on it or the No. 9 is on it. I’m going to drive it like I have been driving the No. 7 Chevy and putting that thing 19th in points,” said LaJoie, who normally wheels the No. 7 Cup Series car fielded by Spire Motorsports. “It’s been a super fun, successful year so far, and we have a lot of work left to do and things to accomplish over there. But the opportunity to drive for Mr. Hendrick, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Rick Hendrick orchestrated a similar opportunity 36 years earlier when he gave longtime independent racer Jimmy Means a one-off ride in the No. 52 Folgers Coffee Chevrolet for the Oakwood Homes 500 on Sunday, Oct. 11, 1987, at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Means, who normally did most of the work on his own car in addition to driving it, admitted things were quite different with legendary crew chief Harry Hyde leading the operation.
“Well, right now my hands are clean, and it hasn’t cost me anything,” Means said after qualifying fifth at 168.274 mph. “The car was very loose both laps, and I let it get sideways the second time around. It wanted to go up the track and I had to follow it.”
What about the pressure of running well?
“What pressure? This is no pressure,” Means told longtime SPEED SPORT NASCAR writer Benny Phillips. “Usually, the kind of pressure I’m under is 35 cars have already made the field, and I’m among the 15 left trying to get one of the final five positions. That’s pressure.
“And, yes, I think this car is capable of winning the race, but I don’t know if I am.”
Means’ last victory in a late model sportsman car came in 1976 at a quarter-mile
track in Huntsville, Ala.
“This is a great opportunity, and I appreciate Rick Hendrick providing the ride. Hopefully, this will lead to me getting my own sponsor for next year,” Means said.
Unfortunately, the best ride of Means’ career came to a crashing conclusion after only 20 trips around the 1.5-mile track.
The multi-car wreck was triggered when Derrike Cope slid into Dale Earnhardt. They spun and Ken Schrader crashed into Earnhardt. All hell then broke loose as the second wave of cars approached.
Buddy Baker’s car was destroyed as was the Hendrick Chevrolet driven by Means. Greg Sacks’ Pontiac suffered serious damage.
“Derrike tried for 15 laps to crash,” Schrader said. “Then he did, running into Dale, and then it all started happening. There wasn’t anything anybody could do.”
Means ended up 40th in the 42-car field.
His final NASCAR Cup Series start came six years later — on Oct. 24, 1993 — at Rockingham Speedway in the sandhills of North Carolina. Means never got another opportunity in a championship-caliber car, and he ended his 18-year Cup Series driving career without a top-five result.
Fast-forward a few decades and the Hendrick Motorsports crew was able to roll the No. 9 Chevrolet into the transporter following LaJoie’s drive in the shadow of the Gateway Arch. However, the end result was not what many expected from the Alan Gustafson-led team.
Their weekend started on a sour note when LaJoie brushed the wall during qualifying, putting him 30th on the 36-car grid.
Turns out qualifying was only a preview of things to come as the team struggled with an ill-handling car throughout the 243-lap race en route to a 21st-place finish.
Rick Hendrick gave Jimmy Means a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in 1987, and the Hall of Fame team owner handed Corey Lajoie a similar chance 36 years later. Despite confirming our earlier theory about history repeating itself, neither effort produced a storybook ending.
This story appeared in the June 28, 2023 edition of the SPEED SPORT Insider.
