Former Ford owner Junie Donlavey, a Spirit of Ford Award Winner for his contributions to motorsports, passed away last night. Donlavey fielded Ford vehicles from 1961 until his retirement in 2004 and during that time gave many drivers and crewmen an opportunity to compete on NASCAR’s biggest stage.
Edsel B. Ford, member of the Board of Directors at Ford Motor Company, made the following statement about Donlavey: “All of us at Ford Motor Company mourn the passing of Junie Donlavey and we send our thoughts and prayers to his family and friends. Junie was a true gentleman whose legacy won’t be measured in wins on the track. His legacy will be the hundreds of drivers and crew members who he helped that went on to great careers. All of us will miss his friendly smile and engaging stories in the garage.”
In addition, Ford Racing spoke with Jason Hedlesky, who filled a variety of roles with Donlavey from 1998-2004, which included driving, spotting and serving as team manager on the No. 90 Sprint Cup Ford. Hedlesky currently serves as spotter for Carl Edwards on the No. 99 Fastenal Ford Fusion or Roush Fenway Racing.
JASON HEDLESKY, Former Team Manager for Junie Donlavey
WHAT COMES TO MIND WHEN YOU THINK OF JUNIE DONLAVEY? “Anytime I think about Mr. Donlavey the first thing that comes to my mind is what a tremendous human being he was and if it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t have the career that I have now. I was a 24-year-old kid that came from Michigan to Richmond, Virginia and he gave me a chance to not only work on his cars and to drive his cars, but to learn from him. When you learn from a guy like him, who has been in the sport since the very beginning, he’s been around and seen everything. He was in the first Southern 500. He raced on the beach and he had tremendous race car drivers that not only drove his race cars, but worked with him. Through those doors in Richmond there were so many talented crew members and people that were all under his tutelage.
“He didn’t just teach you about racing, he taught you about life and how to treat people and how to respect people. There were so many times when people like myself, who were young and aggressive, wanted to go and talk with a sponsor or a person that we thought might be good to work at the shop, but Junie would never have anything to do with them if they were associated with somebody else. He would never go after somebody else’s sponsor. He would never go after somebody else’s employees. He just didn’t do business that way. He just had so much respect for his fellow man and that’s just the way he was. He was just a tremendous person and a great human being. We’re all going to miss him.
“He’d give you enough rope to kind of feel your own way, but if you got too far out of line he’d pull you back and put you back in check real quick. He had so much experience to lean on and he was always with Ford. He was so loyal, not only to Ford, but to anybody that helped him through the years. They don’t make them like him anymore, that’s for sure.”
IS GIVING PEOPLE AN OPPORTUNITY, WHETHER THEY WERE A MECHANIC OR DRIVER, HIS REAL LEGACY? “Absolutely. I’ve read a few things this morning and they talk about all of his starts and how many of the 50 greatest drivers drove for him through the years, and then they mention how his Cup cars won only one race. There was not a bigger race fan on this planet than Mr. Donlavey. We’d go to Daytona and whether it was the ARCA race or a Dash Series race, it wouldn’t matter, he was up on the truck watching intently. He loved to watch automobile races and getting the opportunity to work for him and get started was an unbelievable opportunity because he taught you how to treat people. He could get grumpy, too. He was stubborn, but I think that’s why he lasted almost 60 years in the sport.”
HOW COMPETITIVE WAS HE? “There was nobody that cared more about running good than Junie, but for a majority of his career the team didn’t have the resources that the multi-car teams had, so he made the best out of what he had. He never once complained about it and just kept trucking along and kept people employed and the company running until he retired in 2004. You can’t say much more than that. He was all-in.”
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE JUNIE DONLAVEY STORY? “My office was right next to his and I couldn’t wait until we were done with work so I could go in there and hear him tell more stories. I heard some of those stories 100 times and they never got old.
“My favorite one involves his former truck driver, Jack McDonald, who passed away a couple of years ago. They were driving to Atlanta after working all day at the shop and it’s about a 10-hour trip. There were about three or four of them in the van and they stopped at a rest area just south of the Virginia-North Carolina state line on I-85 in the middle of the night to use the rest room. Junie had been asleep in the back and got out after the others had gone inside. When they got back, they still thought he was sleeping in the back and Jack left.
“One of the guys said he wasn’t in there, but Jack thought he was sleeping and drove off. When Junie came out, he thought they were playing a joke on him, but after about 30 minutes he realized they were really gone. When the van was almost to Atlanta, Jack told one of the guys to wake up the chief and that’s when they told him that Junie wasn’t in there. Jack started panicking, but the rule was no matter what happened the priority was to get to the race track and get the car unloaded, so Jack went to the race track.
“Junie said he was walking around trying to find a ride and finally found a truck driver that he shared something in common with, so he got a ride with him to Charlotte where Junie called Elmo Langley, who picked him up on his way to Atlanta.
“Jack thought he was gonna get fired, but that was the rule. Elmo told the entire garage what happened, so that night before the garage closed Dick Beatty made an announcement over the loud speaker for the 90 team to ‘don’t forget Donlavey when you leave tonight.’”
