June 24th, 2010 
Journo Randy Lajoie made a stupid decision. And he got caught. He quickly admitted to it, and deftly handled the situation.
Thankfully everyone seems to be moving on.
From the outset, Lajoie took his crisis management skills into overdrive. He skillfully got in front of the story, and was able to effectively shape the message. There was no time for speculation, and he gave interviews to explain his side of the story.
While I certainly don’t condone the behavior, I respect Lajoie for taking responsibility for his actions. The fact is, none of us are perfect – we all do stupid things sometimes. I think we all can empathize with how difficult it is to admit our mistakes. And I’d be willing to bet none of us has had to admit a mistake on such a public stage.
In an industry where we so often see people try to pass the buck or make excuses when they do something stupid, I think this was a remarkable, and refreshing event.
In stark contrast, for example, earlier this week Front Row Motorsports, during their penalty appeal, argued that ‘rogue elements of the team’ developed the bleeder valves. Rogue elements? I didn’t know a crew chief could be a rogue element. Shockingly, the commission didn’t buy the story. I digress.
I know there are some out there who don’t buy Lajoie’s story. And that’s fine. I even found a story today that made some pretty serious, but of course unsubstantiated innuendos about the event (sorry I’m not linking to it). I think the person who wrote that though, and all those concerned with the back story, are completely missing the point. It doesn’t really matter what led up to the bad decision. What matters is what happened after Lajoie got caught.
Before I go, let us recap the lessons of this suspension. First, if you know there is a chance you’ll be taking a random drug test at some point in the not too distant future, don’t use controlled substances. Second, if you have a crisis like this, make sure you tell your story before someone else does. And finally, no matter what anyone else does, honesty is always the best policy.
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“I have this day sought to enroll in a substance abuse program. My use of marijuana was an isolated incident following the Coca-Cola 600″
If it was an isolated incident why a substance abuse program?
If I have a beer does that mean I need to enroll in AA?
I gotta admit, this story is so insider that I had no idea what you are talking about, and in your article you only talk about how he reacted but you did not say what he did, soIsearched it…….
Are you talking about him failing a drug test and the alleged drug marijuana? Did he make a mistake? or just fail a test??
I will not delve too far into the stupiditity and double standards of what is legal and what is not legal in this country …….. I will just mention that if anything should be illegal it is cigarettes and alcohol.
Cigarettes are only legal so the tabbacco companies can pay money fines to the states and THAT IS INSANE and based on greed.
It is a clearly established FACT that cigarettes are a product of death AND SHOULD BE BE BANNED and if NASCAR is actually worried about people’s health, and not just posturing for the cameras then NASCAR SHOULD ALSO TEST FOR SMOKING CIGARETTES. If something like marijuana is banned so should cigarettes.
Now lets discuss the ROOTS OF NASCAR…..
WHAT ARE THE ROOTS OF NASCAR???
NASCAR is rooted in the distilling and transportation of white lightning. What do you suppose is worse??? …. a person smoking marijuana or drinking white lightnening? WHICH IS MORE HAZARDOUS TO USE AND THEN …… uh …be a TV analyst ..are they kidding?? ESPN fired him? that is hilarious…
This is a great example that when 51% of the people are “cheating” or breaking a rule then maybe society should examine the rules.
I do not drink alcohol or smoke marijuana, but I understand that a lot of people do, and from what I see ….. this is all getting pretty stupid.
ESPN FIRED HIM TOO?? wtf??
He smoked a joint, he got popped on a drug test, he owned up to it and said he’d do whatever they wanted.
It’s a non-story, non issue as far as I see it… strictly speaking as a fan and observer of the whine fest that NASCAR sometimes becomes.
I mean… back in the day when the drivers were more manly, they had drinks of booze… IN the race car.
Ya know, in case they got thirsty.
In my opinion, he took his man pill.
That is more than most people are doing these days.
-W
Michael: I believe part of the process for NASCAR to reinstate someone, is they must complete a substance abuse program. Even if it was only once. So while I don’t know specifically if he did it more then that one time, the fact that he will enter a program doesn’t necessarily mean he isn’t being honest.
Maybe Jeremy Mayfield could take a lesson here…
What he did was stupid but how he handled was smart. Honesty is the ONLY policy in this. Randy LaJoie is a good man and will not lose my support, I hope to see him back to his ESPN jobs in due time. In fact, I will be VERY upset if they don’t let him come back.
Randie LaJoie gets my vote for honesty, much better person than the guys who said they would cheat for the team if the owner/crew chief would stand behind them if they go caught!
I was shocked at the number of guys who said they would cheat on this site. I bet I know which end of the grid they are working, and it’s not the front!
An amazing double standard around here, well done for owning up to smoking a joint, but I will cheat if the boss is behind me!
@Michael
Keep in mind that it’s the trend these days to go to rehab when you get caught doing something bad no matter how much or how little of the bad thing you are doing whether it be drugs, booze, sex, pornography, public/private racist tirades, straight men caught with the cabana boy, or farting in an elevator.
It seems that if you are in the public eye & you get nailed, the thing to do is apologize then go to rehab. For what, I don’t know.
Like T.C. said too, I’d imagine that reinstatement would have to include some type of treatment program.
@windowlicker:
Did I do it? Yes.
Is it wrong? Probably.
But I refuse to go to rehab for farting in that elevator. Shun me if you will, but that’s going too far!
Good for Randy.
No lawsuits, no allegations, just an apology, and the understanding that he needs to jump through whatever hoops he’s required to in order to get reinstated as quickly as possible.
I hope the story itself goes away. Whatever the circumstances surrounding the error in judgement are really don’t matter. This was about Randy LaJoie, he admitted it, and that should be the end of it, as far as the public is concerned, until we hear about his reinstatement.
…” ‘rogue elements of the team’ developed the bleeder valves. Rogue elements? I didn’t know a crew chief could be a rogue element…”
That is definitely PR talk. Rogue elements?, what a crock!
Yo, Garry – how many years did NASCAR have WINSTON, (+30 yrs)as its primary sponsor and BUSCH beer as a primary sponsor for the now Nationwide series? It’s all about the bucks, baby.
hello,
i also think it was bad to do it.
but ask him or any athlete why he or she does cheat in some form.
is it the pressure of media, fans or the team
and also nobody offers some kind of help instead fire him and leave him alone with his problem
this is also a bad think to do
enjoy the weekind at the magic mile
While I applaud Randy for not going the Mayfield route, I do take issue with him saying it was an isolated incident. Not that I have proof but human nature tells us someone his age doesn’t up and decide, “Whoo yeah I’m gonna smoke up for the first time EVER tonight.”
What Mayfield did and what Lajoie did are on seperate sides of the moon. Doing something insane like meth regularly(maybe addicted) is no where near the same as smoking marijuana or taking a drink. The two should not even be in the same conversation.
I understand 100% about Busch and Winston and NASCAR and that is why I am laughing at these PR Shenanigans. “I smoked smoked some marijuana with some fans, one time, a month ago. It was the only time I did it, but now I am going to rehab, so I can recover and be a decent human being and a safe ESPN TV analyst”.
omg, if this was not so sad, it would be funny.
I thank the men who run this site, and I understand they are just reporting on a story ….. but this is a story which should have never seen the light of day.
NO ONE has EVER died from smoking marijuana, but thousands ( millions?) have died from alcohol and cigarettes. Oh well,
the roots of double standards and hypocrisy run deep in this country.
All the headlines I’ve read have said “NASCAR analyst busted for drug use.” Makes it sound like it was heroin. Good grief.
I agree with Garry, no one has died from smoking weed. And rehab? For what? All you have to do is not smoke anymore. There are no withdrawal symptoms. Poor Randy just has to play the rehab game.
I just hope this doesn’t affect his seat business. He’s done good things for the sport.
Garry so you contend someone who violates a known policy, and knowing the penalties associated with ignoring that policy is a non-story and should have “never seen the light of day?”
How so? It’s not news? Or just not important to you? It’s unimportant that a major player in the sport did something that is ILLEGAL?
And BTW, your proof those under the influence of pot have never killed anyone either directly or indirectly is what?
Frankly that line of “reasoning” is pure unadulterated bunk.
Garry: For the record, we didn’t make this a story. Randy Lajoie did when he called into Dave Moody’s NASCAR radio show on Sirius and confessed. We were just commenting. A past champion and a regular TV commentator getting busted for drug use is going to be a big story, no matter how you slice it. So yes, it should have seen the light of day.
T.C.
I did not say you brought this forward, I was referring to NASCAR and ESPN pushing this. They could have quietly told Lajoie what the score was and to deal with it. He is a minor player in this game and posses not danger, this did not need to become a major issue.
My understanding is that Randy made his statement before NASCAR made any announcement about the issue. I cannot recall whether the NASCAR substance abuse policy requires public disclosure of those who have failed a test, but in today’s environment NASCAR has no alternative but to disclose the names of all who fail a test, otherwise the all-knowing media will allege that NASCAR is keeping secrets and showing favoritism to some.
In any event, I believe the episode probably demonstrates that there must be a lot of pot smoking among the media since several media members cannot believe that someone could just try pot once.
Richard in N.C. – from the coverage on tv, various channels and the badly written ‘articles’ about races I see or browse…
… I am seriously inclined to think that the media is smoking joints while they are watching the race, or later when they go to write up there reports.
*end satire*
Best of luck to LaJoie, he owned up to it, no one is perfect.
-W