O'Quinn Ready to Get Back On Track

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O'Quinn Ready to Get Back On Track

Monday, Mar 10, 2008 - 06:17 PM

BY Allen Gregory
Sports Writer
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Biography

Over the past three years, the former short track ace from Coeburn, Va. has starred in racing-themed reality shows, finished in the top 10 on his home track and won the rookie of the year title in the Nationwide Series.

And that's only part of the fast adventure.

"I've definitely seen a lot," O'Quinn said.

Like many of his reality show friends, O'Quinn is eager to put his career back on track. For the second straight year, his schedule will be limited to select events.

O'Quinn, 22, plans to drive for the Mooresville, N.C.-based Mac Hill Motorsports team in Saturday's Sharpie Mini 300 Nationwide Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Trips to Darlington, Michigan, Richmond and Lowe's Motor Speedway will likely follow.

"I'd like to run the whole schedule, but that takes funding," O'Quinn said. "This sport isn't like it used to be. You've got to have a sponsor to do anything."

The powerful 6-foot-5 O'Quinn held off NASCAR veteran John Andretti to claim the 2006 Raybestos rookie of the year championship in the Nationwide Series with car owner Jack Roush. Just one year later, O'Quinn was without a full-time ride despite earning praise from former Roush Fenway team leader Mark Martin.

Fair or not, O'Quinn has come to grips with the modern realities of racing.

"That was an unfortunate situation," said O'Quinn, referring to his departure from the Roush Fenway team. "I felt like more could have been to help me, but that's over and done with and there's no used worrying about it now."

After entering the 2006 season driving an unsponsored Roush Racing Ford, O'Quinn used two straight top-10 finishes to hold off Andretti for the rookie title.

"We weren't fully sponsored for 80 percent of that season, and they had to piece different deals together," O'Quinn said. "It all boiled down to sponsors. I'm not excited about that, but it's part of racing."

As the national economy worsens, the sponsor search in NASCAR becomes even more elusive. O'Quinn is painfully familiar with a story where the proverbial little man is continually eased out of the picture.

"Everybody you talk to gives you the same speech," O'Quinn said. "The marketing budget of many companies has gone down, and there's so much uncertainty in the business world. That makes it tough for race teams."

For now, O'Quinn is mired in a "?Catch 22' situation. You have to be in the race to impress potential sponsors and car owners, but it's impossible to race without funding.

"It's an interesting predicament," O'Quinn said. "Sponsors want their car in the race every week, but there's no guarantee you that do that unless you have the points."

An associate sponsorship agreement between Barr-Nunn Transportation Inc. and the Mac Hill team allowed Q'Qunn to attempt a qualifying run in the season-opening event at Daytona. With the starting field populated with Sprint Cup double-dippers with huge budgets, Quinn failed to make the starting field.

"We qualified 29th out of 54 cars," Quinn said. "With the way the points system is set up and so few starting spots available, that makes it tough on independent teams."

O'Quinn said he didn't know that his Mac Hill team was entering Saturday's Sharpie Mini 300 until a couple weeks ago when the Barr-Nunn deal was finalized.

"Food City is going to help us some at Bristol, but we could always use more help," O'Quinn said.

Last fall at BMS, O'Quinn finished 18th in Mac Hill Motorsports Chevrolet in the Nationwide Series event at BMS and was 10th in Roush Fenway Ford in the Craftsman Truck Series race.

"We ran in the top five a long time in the truck race before getting off pit sequence," O'Quinn said. "I like the new [racing] surface at Bristol.

"The cars can run from the top of the track to the bottom. That makes the racing much more exciting from a driver's standpoint, especially now that the track has more rubber on it."

Tony Lambert, who formerly worked at Team Bristol Motorsports, is the crew chief for O'Quinn.

Though he would love to be competing every weekend, O'Quinn has been adjusting to life in the stock car community. The former Lonesome Pine Speedway track champion and Hooters ProCup series regular lives just two miles from NASCAR icon Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in Mooresville, N.C.

"It seems everybody in racing lives within a 5-to-10 mile radius here," O'Quinn said. "It's no big deal to see Dale Jr. or Kyle Busch at dinner.

"That's why Mooresville is known as Race City USA. I actually live just a couple minutes from our race shop."

As more open-wheel drivers and teenagers enter the sport, O'Quinn is hungry to earn more respect the old-fashioned way.

"A driver definitely needs to be on track every week, and I'm open to running anywhere," O'Quinn said. "I don't know half the people out there racing anymore, and I'm not sure if any of the guys in my rookie class are still running full-time."

The economics of racing are not for the meek.

"A lot of parents want to get their kids into racing, and it all comes down to who has the money," O'Quinn said. "If someone has $5 million, they can pick who they want to drive for and the owner has to take them.

"Sponsorship means everything, and you have to work for it. I just do the best I can."

O'Quinn does have one marketing point that other aspiring drivers lack.

"Having a championship on your resume never hurts. That rookie title will always be something that I'm proud of," O'Quinn said.
"[NASCAR] was definitely a big jump for me from the short tracks, but I've been to about every track now. I have the experience. I want to go racing."
Danny O'Quinn, Jr. has been immersed in all sides of the NASCAR game.