FORT WORTH, Texas — Ruh-roh, a special delivery has arrived.
Corey LaJoie sent one young fan an autographed piece of the No. 32 Go Fas Racing Ford he drove last weekend to an 18th-place finish, his fifth-best run this season, at Martinsville Speedway. It featured the Mystery Machine paint scheme.
The kid was actually in the stands at Martinsville, pretending to drive the Scooby-Doo car specifically with a water bottle as his gear shifter. His father snapped a photo, posted it to Twitter and tagged LaJoie, who did see and appreciate it.
“I wanted to give something to him whether it be a tweet reply or something,” LaJoie said Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway. “So when I went to the shop, they had all the bent up sheet metal and stuff there. … I was like, you know, I’m going to send a piece to this kid who was driving this thing. So I signed it to Aiden and I direct messaged his dad for their mailing address. Signed the box: ‘Special delivery to Aiden from Scooby-Doo and Corey LaJoie.’
“That was a lot of fun. That look on his face when he opened that box up was pretty damn cool.”
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See how LaJoie’s interaction with the fan started, along with the gift being opened, below.
https://twitter.com/CoreyLaJoie/status/1190364695829663744?s=20
“That’s what this sport is built on,” LaJoie said. “That’s the stuff we got to get back to doing to get the young people involved. You know, we’re not that far removed from where we have been and what has gotten us here in the past. We just need to keep really embracing the fans and keep doing that sort of stuff. I got lucky with a good idea. It got some traction and made a kid’s day. So, I’m thankful to be in a position to do that.”
LaJoie will start 33rd for Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN/NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).