LaJoie-ous Win In Busch Race

Randy LaJoie knew a third trip to the Daytona winner's circle wouldn't be easy.

Then his boss, Joe Nemechek, handed him an unexpected bonus: a free pass to victory in the season-opening Busch Series race Saturday.

With LaJoie in the lead on the next-to-last lap, Nemechek wrecked on the backstretch, eliminating the rest of the contenders. The race finished under a caution flag.

"I got a heck of a break for the first time," LaJoie said.

Matt Kenseth, the defending champion of the NAPA Auto Parts 300, was third behind LaJoie and Nemechek as the cars raced down the backstretch. Kenseth tried to pass Nemechek, who moved low on the track to block, and they made contact.

Nemechek spun and hit Jeff Purvis, who had dominated the race in a tuneup for a rare Winston Cup appearance in the season-opening Daytona 500.

"They always seem to pick on the Busch drivers, and this is our living," Purvis said. "I'm going to run Winston Cup tomorrow, and if I wreck some of them they better not say anything."

After the accident, all LaJoie had to do was race a final half-mile to the line for what he considered an improbable victory.

He fell to the back earlier in the race because of a shuffle during a pit stop that came right before a one-hour, 28-minute rain delay. Then it got worse.

A tire got away during another pit stop and he was sent to the back of the field again because of the penalty to his crew.

Winston Cup regular Nemechek said he wasn't surprised LaJoie was able to fight his way back from the rear of the field twice.

"We hired him because he can win, and he's going to win a lot of races this year," the boss said.

The victory was the 14th for LaJoie, a two-time series champion who also won the race in 1997 and 1999.

"I think I'll take next year off and come back here in 2003," LaJoie said, joking about his ability to win in odd-numbered years.

Nemechek started on the pole and led early, but gave way to Purvis. Still Nemechek was never far from the front, racing in the top three for most of the day.

He said he would have tried to make a ove on LaJoie if he hadn't wrecked.

"Ain't nobody going to give a race away," Nemechek said.

LaJoie certainly wasn't.

"My leg was so long, it almost went through the firewall," he said.

Nemechek and Kenseth agreed that their wreck was just an accident between two drivers running hard to win.

"I had a good run on him, and Joe tried to block me, but it was too late, and I already had committed," Kenseth said.

The victory was the first in the race for a Pontiac since Dale Earnhardt in 1986.

Kevin Harvick was second in a Chevrolet, followed by that of Kenseth. Defending series champion Jeff Green finished fourth in a Ford, extending his winless streak at Daytona to eight races.

The winner averaged 135.152 mph in a race slowed six times by 23 caution laps. There were eight lead changes among seven drivers.

©2001 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed