Joey Gase Motorsports has called upon Alex Labbé, the 2017 champion of the NASCAR Canada Series, to compete in the NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Circuit of The Americas (COTA) later this month, the organization announced on Tuesday.
A native of St. Albert, Quebec, Canada, Labbé will pilot the No. 35 entry in the Focused Health 250, the fourth Xfinity Series event at the 3.41-mile road course based in Austin, Texas.
Per the organization’s announcement on social media Tuesday, sponsorship opportunities are still available for the event, which will serve as the fifth of the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.
We are excited to announce we will have @AlexLabbe36 behind the wheel of our #35 car next week at @COTA . We still have SPONSORSHIP opportunities available! If interested please email us at JoeyGasePR@gmail.Com ! pic.twitter.com/wBQnb3d3SD
— Joey Gase Motorsports (@J_G_Motorsports) March 13, 2024
The 30-year-old driver is a tenured competitor in the second-tier series, with 152 total starts to his credit since debuting in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with DGM Racing in 2016.
In that time, Labbé has garnered a reputation for outperforming his equipment, putting together an impressive statline that includes one top-five and 13 top-10 results, including a career-best fourth at Charlotte’s ROVAL for DGM Racing in 2020.
Last season, the NASCAR Xfinity Series veteran made a pair of starts for Joey Gase Motorsports — which at the time was known as Emerling-Gase Motorsports — at the Chicago Street Course and Indianapolis Road Course, picking up one of the organization’s best-ever finishes, 11th, in his second race for the team at Indy.
Labbé is the third driver announced as part of the Joey Gase Motorsports lineup in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for 2024. Joey Gase, the owner of the team, has run a pair of events thus far, while Malcolm in the Middle star Frankie Muniz has contested the other two (Daytona and Phoenix).
The organization has successfully qualified for the opening four events of the 2024 season but has only managed a season-high of 29th at Atlanta Motor Speedway by Joey Gase. With more than 38 cars expected, Labbe will likely have to qualify into the field on speed, as points will not be available for him to fall back on.