Junie Donlavey would give young drivers a shot, as well as employ veterans nearing the finish line of their careers. Credit: Autostock

Where is ... Junie?

The sport eventually outgrew him, but the friends he made along the way never did.

Junie Donlavey is 83 now, and he still can be found at the Richmond-area shop that he used to field cars for 45 years in the Cup Series. Eventually, his single-car operation was priced out of the sport after decades of memories and countless chassis, but Donlavey feels like he won the battle.

No. 90 Duke's Mayonnaise Ford

For many of his seasons on the circuit, Donlavey raced for the friendships, not flair, and those relationships are what keep him busy today.

Other than a heart ailment in 1998, his health has been sound. "Life has really been fast, I can tell you, but it has been pleasant," Donlavey said.

"I didn't regret one minute of it even though we ran against heavy-backed teams. We still had fun."

Donlavey might be the easiest person in the world to find. Except for a hitch in the Navy during World War II, he has lived in Richmond all of his life. When a sponsor asked him to move his race team from Richmond to Charlotte in 1998, he refused.

Easily reachable by his shop phone, Donlavey spends a lot of time talking to a roster of friends, men who served as the backbone of the sport in the 1960s: Bud Moore, Charlie Glotzbach, Cotton Owens, A.J. Foyt.

Donlavey went out of his way to find Foyt last summer when the Indy Racing League came to Richmond.

"Anytime I can get to A.J., I will do it; he was a real friend," Donlavey said. "We discussed some of the things that happened when he ran Cup cars. He is one fine gentleman. You would think he is really tough, but he is a nice, nice man."

Donlavey may have found Foyt, but the fans usually find Donlavey. Many of them still stop by his shop to see his collection of cars. Donlavey joked that he and his handful of employees don't eat breakfast in the shop, because "none of them cook."

"We seem to stay busy even though we are not really busy," Donlavey said. "We are always fooling with this car and that car and then we have a show car that we take to a lot of church functions.

"We have a lot of fans that come by. They will have their picture taken with the car. Time always seems to roll on and you always have something to do."

Donlavey perhaps is best-known as the owner who would give young drivers a shot, as well as employ veterans nearing the finish line of their careers. He employed 22-year-old Ricky Rudd in 1978 ... and 57-year-old Dick Trickle in 1997.

Trickle nearly won the Bristol night race in 1997, finishing third after a dramatic charge in the final laps.

"He was coming up to [the field] and I can tell you, that was very good," Donlavey said. "That is what I got out of it. I gave a lot of young drivers a chance and I gave a lot of the ones who were on their way out a chance. Everything worked good out of it."

A lack of major funding was always a problem for Donlavey's team. In 1990, he had to release promising Ernie Irvan because Donlavey lacked a sponsor, but he says there are no regrets.

Inside the Numbers Car owner Junie Donlavey Cup Series statistics Races W T5 T10 863 1 60 218 ALSO Jody Ridley won the Mason-Dixon 500 at Dover Downs on May 17, 1981, for Donlavey's only Cup Series victory.  Ridley, who led a season-high 20 laps, beat Bobby Allison to the stripe by 22 seconds.  Donlavey's career spanned from Oct. 15, 1950, at Martinsville (19th-place finish by Runt Harris) to June 9, 2002, at Pocono (29th-place finish by Hermie Sadler).

"I didn't let it get me down and didn't let it get my love of racing down," Donlavey said.

Benny Parsons, who died Jan. 16 of lung cancer, took a turn driving Donlavey's No. 90 Ford, running 27 races in 1988.

"He was a terrific driver, and he did a beautiful job for us," Donlavey said.

Donlavey smiles when he thinks of Ken Schrader, who drove for him from 1985-87. Donlavey Racing didn't enjoy a lot of success -- one victory in 863 starts -- but Schrader won a Daytona 500 qualifying race with the team in 1987.

Donlavey still goes to work every day in his shop, where he keeps a half dozen Fords around.

"We piddle around with them, and I am restoring one that Ken Schrader drove in 1987," Donlavey said. "We have got that one about ready to paint. It'll bring back a lot of memories for the three years that Schrader drove for us."

When Donlavey gets home from the shop on a weekday, he immediately turns on the television, specifically SPEED.

"TV is so good now it takes you wherever you want to go," Donlavey said. "I watch the SPEED channel in the summer months and watch those programs. Schrader is on one of them and I enjoy listening to him. I find out what the teams are doing."

In recent years, Donlavey has spent a lot of time building a vacation home outside Richmond, where he and wife Phyllis spend a lot of weekends. The two will celebrate their 65th anniversary this summer.

Phyllis also accompanies Donlavey to a handful of races each year, usually the Pocono, Dover and Richmond weekends. Donlavey also tries to attend the Daytona 500 every year, but he says it is almost impossible to catch up with old friends in the garage, especially while they are working.

"I really enjoy coming and seeing the guys, but today most of them are so busy that they have to stay in the ball," Donlavey said. "You don't want to take up any of their time."