Auto Racing Capsules: NASCAR star likes North Dakota dirt
WEST FARGO, N.D. (AP) — Two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Tony Stewart likes racing on his days off — but only on dirt tracks.
Stewart is scheduled to drive Wednesday at the Red River Valley Speedway in West Fargo to help promote the three-eighths-mile dirt track. The speedway is being run this summer by Danny Schatz, whose son, Donny, races for Stewart on the World Of Outlaws circuit and is a four-time champion there.
Stewart, who competes in about a dozen dirt track races each year, said racing in places like West Fargo brings him back to his roots.
“When I get a day off, I want to go dirt racing,” Stewart said. “It’s something obviously I’m very passionate about.”
Stewart said events like the one in West Fargo are relaxing because he doesn’t have to worry about appearances and news conferences. He joked that he won’t be afraid to bump fenders in Wednesday’s race, though “it’s a lot more fun to beat guys without controversy than it is to have to rough a guy up to win a race.”
Stewart, 39, is known for racing just about anything with four wheels. He estimates that he has raced in about 40 states, though this is his first trip to North Dakota.
“I haven’t forgotten where I came from,” said Stewart, who calls Columbus, Ind., his home.
Randy Lajoie fails NASCAR drug test, suspended
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — NASCAR on Tuesday suspended former driver Randy LaJoie for failing a drug test, and he said he’s enrolled in a substance-abuse program.
LaJoie, who has not raced at any of NASCAR’s top three national levels since 2006, said in a statement that he smoked marijuana once in May.
“My use of marijuana was an isolated incident following the Coca-Cola 600,” he said. “I plan to follow the recommendations of the substance abuse counselor and suggestions of NASCAR and hope that someday I can prove to NASCAR and all the people with whom I associate that I have taken such steps to see that instances such as this do not reoccur.”
In an interview Tuesday on SIRIUS XM Radio, Lajoie said he has also been suspended from his role as a NASCAR analyst with ESPN.
ESPN confirmed Lajoie had been indefinitely suspended.
LaJoie was tested by NASCAR because he applied for a license on June 3 to become a spotter for one of Joe Gibbs Racing’s Nationwide Series teams. He said in his statement he voluntarily submitted to the test.
Lajoie raced in 44 races over 12 years in NASCAR’s elite Cup Series. His success was in the Nationwide Series, where he won 15 races over 19 seasons.
NASCAR toughened its drug testing policy before last season, and in May, 2009 suspended driver Jeremy Mayfield for failing a random drug test. He fought it through the court system, but a federal judge dismissed the case last month.
