LOUDON, N.H. - Corey LaJoie returned to victory lane in dominating style Saturday night.
LaJoie led the final 34 laps and drove away from the field on a green-white-checkered finish to win the United Site Services 70 at the “Magic Mile.” It was LaJoie’s first win since 2012 when he had five victories en route to a runner-up finish in the series.
The victory came 20 years to the week that his father, two-time NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Randy LaJoie won at New Hampshire. A then four-year-old Corey was in victory lane with his dad that day.
This time, Corey LaJoie was the elder statesman, as the 24-year-old held off 16-year-old Todd Gilliland and 17-year-old Justin Haley.
Kyle Benjamin and Austin Theriault finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
LaJoie was making his first NASCAR K&N Pro Series East start of the season, driving the No. 41 CarQuest Auto Part Chevrolet for Ranier Racing with MDM. He started second alongside teammate Benjamin and took the lead from him on lap 39.
It was sweep redemption for LaJoie, who suffered a mechanical failure while running in the top 10 earlier in the day in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race. LaJoie also twice came close to winning the NASCAR K&N Pro Series race at New Hampshire. He was was runner-up to Kyle Larson in 2012, and wrecked late in the running of the 2010 race while battling for the lead.
Hunter Baize was sixth Saturday night, followed by Harrison Burton, Trey Hutchens, Ryan Preece and Tyler Dippel.
With his finish, Haley was able to keep his lead to 40 points over Benjamin with five races remaining.
The NASCAR K&N Pro Series will next run at Iowa Speedway in the annual combination showdown with the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West in the Casey’s General Store 150 on Friday, July 28.
NASCAR K&N Pro Series East
New Hampshire Motor Speedway – Loudon, NH
United Site Services 70 – July 16, 2016
| Fin | Str | Car | Driver | Team | Laps | Points | B/Points | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 41 | Corey LaJoie | CarQuest Auto Parts Chevrolet | 72 | 47 | 4 | Running |
| 2 | 7 | 16 | Todd Gilliland * | Fire Alarm Services, Inc. Toyota | 72 | 42 | Running | |
| 3 | 4 | 5 | Justin Haley | Braun Auto Chevrolet | 72 | 41 | Running | |
| 4 | 1 | 40 | Kyle Benjamin | FEVR Chevrolet | 72 | 42 | 2 | Running |
| 5 | 5 | 1 | Austin Theriault | Belgard Toyota | 72 | 39 | Running | |
| 6 | 6 | 13 | Hunter Baize * | Bicycle Playing Cards/Pine Mtn Firewood Chevrolet | 72 | 38 | Running | |
| 7 | 19 | 12 | Harrison Burton * | DEX Imaging/Konica Minolta Toyota | 72 | 37 | Running | |
| 8 | 20 | 14 | Trey Hutchens | Hutchens Motorsports Chevrolet | 72 | 36 | Running | |
| 9 | 12 | 31 | Ryan Preece | Whelen Engineering Chevrolet | 72 | 35 | Running | |
| 10 | 10 | 38 | Tyler Dippel * | East West Marine/TyCar Chevrolet | 72 | 34 | Running | |
| 11 | 15 | 55 | Noah Gragson | SPEEDVEGAS/AlertID/Colliers Int’l Ford | 72 | 33 | Running | |
| 12 | 9 | 49 | John Holleman IV * | Midway Mobile Storage Ford | 72 | 32 | Running | |
| 13 | 14 | 7 | Codie Rohrbaugh | Grant County Mulch Chevrolet | 72 | 31 | Running | |
| 14 | 21 | 39 | Chad Finchum | Reynolds Wrap Toyota | 72 | 30 | Running | |
| 15 | 22 | 46 | Brian Henderson * | BDL Motorsports/Verizon Toyota | 72 | 29 | Running | |
| 16 | 26 | 92 | Spencer Davis * | Davis Poultry Toyota | 72 | 28 | Running | |
| 17 | 23 | 29 | Jesse Little | NASCAR Technical Institute Toyota | 72 | 27 | Running | |
| 18 | 24 | 15 | Christian Eckes * | 15/40 Connection Ford | 72 | 26 | Running | |
| 19 | 27 | 42 | J.A. Junior Avila * | Rev Racing Toyota | 72 | 25 | Running | |
| 20 | 16 | 6 | Ruben Garcia Jr. * | Special Smiles Pediatric Dentistry Toyota | 72 | 24 | Running | |
| 21 | 8 | 3 | Kaz Grala | NETTTS Toyota | 70 | 23 | Running | |
| 22 | 28 | 9 | Christian Celaya | Clinica La Familia Ford | 70 | 22 | Running | |
| 23 | 17 | 2 | Collin Cabre | UTI/NTI Toyota | 68 | 21 | Running | |
| 24 | 18 | 8 | Tyler Hughes * | G2 Inc. Ford | 64 | 20 | Suspension | |
| 25 | 25 | 4 | Ali Kern * | Max Siegel, Inc. Toyota | 60 | 19 | Running | |
| 26 | 29 | 71 | Eddie MacDonald | Grimm Construction Chevrolet | 47 | 18 | Brakes | |
| 27 | 13 | 30 | Dominique Van Wieringen * | Durobyte Ford | 32 | 17 | Accident | |
| 28 | 11 | 66 | Reid Wilson * | TruNorth Warranty Programs Chevrolet | 32 | 16 | Accident | |
| 29 | 3 | 21 | Brandon McReynolds | Boninfante Friction Inc Chevrolet | 21 | 15 | Electrical |
RACE STATISTICS
Fastest Qualifier: Kyle Benjamin, Time: 29.948 Seconds, Speed: 127.180 mph
Time of Race: 50 mins, 45 secs Average Speed: 90.060 mph Margin of Victory: 1.069 Seconds
Caution Flags: Laps 33-37 (Turn 1 – #66 & #30 – FP #71); 61-64 (Turn 1 – #08 – FP #46); 67-69 (Turn 1 Debris – FP# 42). 3 for 12 laps.
Lap Leaders: Kyle Benjamin 1-38, Corey LaJoie 39-72.
Total Laps Led: Kyle Benjamin 38, Corey LaJoie 34. 1 changes involving 2 drivers.
Top 10 Driver Points: Justin Haley 375, Kyle Benjamin 335, Noah Gragson 327, Spencer Davis * 319, Austin Theriault 317, Hunter Baize * 296, Tyler Dippel * 295, Harrison Burton * 281, Collin Cabre 275, John Holleman IV * 264
* Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender
