For the Bojangles, Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, Landon Cassil will pay tribute and honor the memory of J.D. McDuffie, who was a scrappy respected race car driver with an independent steak, who raced the in Sprint Cup for 28 years before he lost his life in a crash at Watkins Glen International Raceway.
The No. 38 Ford Fusion was revealed on August 23 during a Facebook Live broadcast on NASCAR’s Facebook page. The paint scheme will be blue and gold and will be a replica to the paint scheme McDuffie drove in the 1970’s and the 80’s. McDuffie’s sponsors Rumple Furniture and Bailey Excavating will also being included on the car for the tribute.
McDuffie, who owned the car he drove without the resources made available with a bigger team, still raced in 653 Cup races and gathered 106 top-10 finishes, a pole, and finished in the top-20 in points 14 times throughout his career. He holds the record for making the most starts without ever making it to Victory Lane, however he had the respect of race fans and his fellow racing competitors.
In 1991, the 52-year-old was completing Lap 5 of the race at Watkins Glen when a mechanical failure resulting from contact with another car sent him spinning into the Turn 5 tire barrier without brakes. He died instantly.
Cassill along with Front Row Motorsports are honored to pay tribute to their competitor who was well known in the racing world for his blue-collar ethics.
“J.D. was a guy who just kept scrapping, week after week, and earned a lot of good finishes as a result,” Cassill said. “Bob Jenkins likes to say that Front Row Motorsports is the team that does more with less. You can definitely say that J.D. McDuffie did the same thing, and we’re proud to honor his memory at Darlington.”
JD had never won a race but he won the hearts of us who admired his tenaciousness…the man never gave up. His driven spirit should earn him a place in the HOF. Thank you Front Row Motorsports.