Don Lajoie

Competitor
CLASS OF 2000

Don LaJoie is the all-time leading feature winner at the Danbury Arena, with 58 victories. He won 5 Modified Championships in the span of 6 years (1974-1976, 1978-1979). LaJoie’s racing career started quietly enough, in 1953, in a 1932 Ford dragster that he and his brother Roger owned. Later, Don’s first ride in a stock car would end in a wild, 5 time end over end crash. Don’s driving improved, and he won the 1963 Danbury Arena Rookie of the Year honors driving a ’35 Ford, #11, for co-owners Angelo Ferrente, Paul Hammond, and Rit Rizzi.

In 1971, Don left Danbury to compete on the NASCAR circuit. In the next 3 years, he posted many solid performances at NASCAR tracks, including a top 10 at the Stafford 200 and a top 5 at the Race of Champions, driving a Vega bodied modified with a Chevy 427 ci. motor.

In 1974 the team returned to Danbury, in a AMC Gremlin bodied car with a four link rear suspension and coil over springs. For the next three years, LaJoie was dominant at his home track. He designed most of the suspension parts for his cars himself, and won his 3 consecutive championships during this period.

When Danbury closed it’s doors in 1981, Don (and his son Randy) moved to the Waterford Speedbowl to compete during the 1982 season where he won his last Modified feature. When his son Randy began competing in NASCAR North in 1983, LaJoie hung up his helmet to help support his son’s racing effort. Don is also a member of the Race of Champions Hall of Fame.