Mission Statement

Tuesday August 25th was a banner day at J-D Motorsports.  The preceding weekend was not so good as Danny O’Quinn, Jr. had left the team.  The feeling of dismay actually began to turn around late Sunday when Mike Wallace accepted Johnny Davis’ offer to become the primary driver at J-D Motorsports.
 
Mike Wallace is a great guy and a very knowledgeable NASCAR professional.    When he arrived for a team meeting on Tuesday, the whole shop seemed to light-up.  He casually did a live radio interview, deftly answering questions about the team, the shop, the personnel, and most importantly his commitment to make this organization better.
 
Johnny Davis is a racer.  For many years he has superbly guided his independent under funded operation through the minefields of the rugged NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule.  He quietly groomed his son, Kertus Davis, as a driver, a fabricator, mechanic, and set-up expert.  He provided jobs for several newcomers to the sport and watched them transition into more high-paying jobs with better-healed NNS and Cup team.  He has benefited from professional drivers, crew chiefs, and mechanics who for one reason or another have cut back from the grind of the full-time NASCAR circuit.
 
A few years ago Johnny teamed-up with Lori Morgan, a savvy corporate consultant with business acumen.  Last Spring they married.  That union has given a new life to J-D Motorsports.  They hired a marketing and sales professional, Tony Priscaro, who has begun to bring some corporate partners to the team.
 
Mike Wallace actually first joined the team at Daytona in February.  He had a small sponsorship and knew that Johnny always brought good cars to the restrictor plate tracks.  When Mike saw the effort and passion that Johnny and Lori applied to the team, he realized that he just might be a catalyst to get the team to the next level.
 
In mid-year Kertus Davis re-joined the team after spending a year away gaining experience with another operation.  He had previously driven a partial season for one of the top tier NNS teams gaining valuable experience in both driving and managing a more fully-funded operation.  Kertus now manages the in-house development team and drives that car when financially possible.
 
Then came the news that the primary driver of the team was leaving.  Lori and Johnny huddled with trusted advisors and friends to debate what to do.  The answer was clear, if only Mike Wallace would accept what they could offer.
 
Not only did Mike Wallace accept the offer, he took it as a personal challenge to work with the team in every aspect of their operation to improve the performance, the image, the equipment, and the potential for J-D Motorsports.  Mike did not walk in on that Tuesday morning and say “you got to do this and that”, he said simply that we needed to look at every aspect of the operation and determine what needed to be accomplished.  More importantly his vast experience and professional accomplishments help all of us understand that it is possible.
 
The first step in that direction was this past weekend at Montréal , Canada .  J-D Motorsports got their second car solidly into the field with a top 15 qualifying effort from Andy Lally.  Andy ran as high as fifth.  Mike Wallace drove the 01 car to a top twenty finish and managed to avoid the carnage of the latter stages of the race.
 
True to form, when the team transporter broke down within sight of the Canadian border, Johnny hopped a plane, rented a car, fixed the truck, and drove into Canada.  Such is the dedication and determination of all of J-D Motorsports.  With Mike Wallace aboard this team is going places. 

As 2009 comes to a close the team has gone to top 15 qualifying.  Race finishes have been solid.  Race finishes have been solidly in the top 20.

The team has its sights set firmly on 2010 with consistent finishes as a top tier team!