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Donlavey Racing was astock car racing team that competed from 1950 until 2004 in theNASCARWinston Cup Series. It was owned byJunie Donlavey and ran a total of 863 races in NASCAR. Donlavey Racing used a number of makes and numbers, but for years was best known for the No. 90 Ford. Though the team only had one points win (1981 Mason-Dixon 500 withJody Ridley) and two pole positions in its long history, three of Donlavey's drivers won Rookie of the Year honors (Bill Dennis in 1970, Ridley in 1980,Ken Schrader in 1985) and a number of former and future NASCAR race winners drove for the team. Sixty-seven different drivers ran at least one race for Donlavey.

Donlavey made his debut as an owner in 1950 atMartinsville Speedway, whereRunt Harris drove Donlavey's Oldsmobile to a nineteenth-place finish after suffering mechanical failures. Donlavey's next race as an owner came in 1952Southern 500, fielding the No. 53Hudson Hornet forJoe Weatherly. He started 38th and finished 16th. He did not field a car again until 1957, whenEmanuel Zervakis drove Donlavey's No. 90 Ford atRaleigh Speedway, finishing 24th. Zervakis ran two more races for Donlavey that year, atLanghorne Speedway and Martinsville, finishing 26th and 22nd respectively. Harris ran another race for Donlavey as well, finishing 39th at the Southern 500. Zervakis returned to run Donlavey's Chevys the next season, but did not finish a race all season. Donlavey only ran one race in 1959, at theCapital City 200. Harris had a fifth-place finish in that race.

Harris ran three more races for Donlavey the following season, but struggled with mechanical problems, and could only manage a best finish of 30th.Speedy Thompson took over for three races, his best finish being a 12th at theDixie 300.Tiny Lund drove for Donlavey at theAtlanta 500, but finished 36th after suffering engine failure early in the race.Johnny Roberts drove one race for Donlavey in 1961, finishing 21st at Richmond after suffering a blownhead gasket.

Donlavey did not field a car until 1965, whenSonny Hutchins took over the ride. Making ten starts, he had a fifth-place run atMoyock, and a tenth at Martinsville. After going 1966 without a top-ten, Hutchins came back in 1967, and had two top ten finishes. He finished 34th in points. He made four starts in 1968, but they all ended in DNFs. He made eight starts in 1969, and had two second-place finishes, atDover and Richmond, respectively.

Hutchins returned in 1970, and had a fifth-place at Richmond, but was soon removed from the ride.LeeRoy Yarbrough drove for Donlavey in one race atTrenton Speedway, but his engine expired several laps into the race.Bill Dennis finished the year with Donlavey. Dennis would run with Donlavey in his first full season the next year. He had ten top-tens, one pole position, and finished eighteenth in points. Dennis started 1972, with a fifth at Richmond, but resigned after that race.Max Berrier,Butch Hartman,Bobby Isaac,David Pearson,Johnny Rutherford andFred Lorenzen were among those who shared the ride for the rest of the year. Donlavey also fielded a second car for the first time in his career, when he fielded the No. 98 at Martinsville for Isaac, who finished 35th as a teammate toJimmy Hensley, and again two races later at theNational 500 forRichard D. Brown, who finished 41st.

In 1973, Donlavey secured his first full-time sponsor, signing Truxmore Industries.Dick Brooks began the year with Donlavey, and ran part of his season with him. Other drivers includedHarry Gant,Charlie Glotzbach,Ray Hendrick, and a one-off withYvon Duhamel. He also fielded the 98 for Brooks andRichie Panch. Then next season, Dennis returned for three races, before being replaced by multiple drivers. Glotzbach ran eleven races with him, the most by any driver that year. In 1975, Donlavey decided to run full-time, and hired Brooks as driver. Brooks ran 25 races, had six top-fives and finished 10th in points. Donlavey also fielded a second car, the No. 93, forKenny Brightbill,Dick May,Earl Ross, and Jody Ridley.

In 1976, Brooks had eighteen top-ten finishes and finished tenth in points again. The No. 93 ran in two races forBuck Baker andGene Felton, with Donlavey also fielding the No. 99 for Dick Trickle atCharlotte Motor Speedway. The team also entered their No. 90Ford Torino at the1976 24 Hours of Le Mans for driversDick Brooks,Dick Hutcherson, and French driver Marcel Mignot, but DNF'd with transmission failure after 11 hours.

The next season, Brooks finished sixth in points, with Donlavey fielding the No. 93 forBelgian racerChristine Beckers. She finished 37th. Brooks began 1978 by finishing fifth in two out of the first three races of the season, but despite an eighth-place points finish, Brooks departed the team.

In 1979, Donlavey signedRicky Rudd to drive the No. 90. Competing in 28 races, Rudd had 17 top-ten finishes and finished 9th in points. Donlavey also fielded the No. 77 Sunny King Mercury for Jody Ridley, who had two top-tens in three races. After Rudd left at the end of the season, Ridley signed to drive the 90 for the full season. He had eighteen top-ten finishes, finished seventh in points, and was named Rookie of the Year. The next season, he finished fifth in points and won theMason-Dixon 500, the only points win Donlavey would have during his career. After losing the Truxmore sponsorship,J. D. Stacy sponsored the car in 1982, but after he failed to post a top-five, Ridley left the team.

Brooks returned to the team, where he posted two top-fives and finished 14th in points with sponsorship fromChameleon Sunglasses. After just one top-five in 1984, Brooks departed the team for the final time.

The next season, Donlavey signed rookie driver Ken Schrader to pilot the No. 90, with new sponsorship fromUltra Seal. Schrader had three top-tens and finished sixteenth in points. In 1986, Red Baron Frozen Pizza, signed as primary sponsor, and in 1987, Schrader won one of two qualifying races for theDaytona 500, as well as picking up a pole atDarlington Raceway, finishing tenth in championship points. At the end of the season, Schrader left, and was replaced byBenny Parsons withBull's Eye Barbecue Sauce. Running what turned out to be his last season, Parsons competed in 27 starts and grabbed an eighth-place finish atPhoenix International Raceway. He was replaced for one race atNorth Wilkesboro byJimmy Means, who finished 24th. After the season, Bull's Eye left the team, and Donlavey signed rookieChad Little to his ride. However, Little struggled and was released after theCoca-Cola 600. Donlavey cut back to part-time schedule for the rest of the season, withStan Barrett andLennie Pond running selected races for him.

In 1990, Donlavey signedTrue Cure as sponsor, and at the advice of Schrader, signed Ernie Irvan as driver. Unfortunately, True Cure did not meet their financial expectations, and Donlavey cancelled the contract. Despite the financial setback, Donlavey fielded a second car, the No. 91, at theGM Goodwrench 500 forJ. T. Hayes as a teammate to Irvan. After three races, Donlavey granted permission for Irvan to seek other opportunities, and Irvan signed withMorgan-McClure Motorsports.Buddy Baker and Charlie Glotzbach ran nine races between the two of them for the rest of the season. The next season, Donlavey signedRobby Gordon for the first two races of the season. He finished 18th and 26th, respectively. At theMotorcraft Quality Parts 500, Donlavey fielded a car forWally Dallenbach Jr., who would run eleven races for him that season.

Dorsey Schroeder started off 1992 driving for Donlavey, before Glotzbach took over for two races. Other drivers who raced for Donlavey that year were Glotzbach,Kerry Teague,Pancho Carter,Todd Bodine in a Donlavey Ford renumbered #34 in partnership with Diet Pepsi and Cicci-Welliver Racing for Bodine's first Cup start at Watkins Glen,Bobby Hillin Jr., andHut Stricklin. Hillin returned to run the full season for Donlavey the next year, with sponsorship fromHeilig-Meyers. Hillin posted a best finish was eleventh and he finished twenty-seventh in points. Hillin ran just three races in 1994, before he was replaced byMike Wallace. Wallace made 22 starts and had a fifth-place finish at the season-endingHooters 500. He returned in 1995 but dropped to 34th in points.

After making ten starts in 1996, Wallace was released in favor of Dick Trickle, whose best finish that season was a thirteenth atMichigan. Trickle signed the next season. He posted two top-fives and finished 31st in points. He improved to 29th in points in 1998, but he, along with Heling-Meyers and crew chiefTommy Baldwin Jr., left the team at the end of the year. During the season, Donlavey missed attending his first race in years, when he had to undergoheart surgery.

After the loss of personnel in 1998, Donlavey announced that for 1999, he would field the No. 90 Big Daddy's BBQ SauceFord Taurus driven by rookieMike Harmon. During the lead-up to the Daytona 500, rumors began spreading that Big Daddy's was not paying its sponsorship checks. Originally, those rumors were denied by Donlavey, but questions continued to swirl when the team practiced for the 500 without Big Daddy's sponsor decals on the car. Eventually, it was revealed that Big Daddy had not been paying its checks on time.^[1] Before long, tensions became so high that Harmon was fired from the ride before the race and replaced by Wallace. The team ran the 500 with sponsorship fromAccu-turn andKodiak (a one-race deal after Kodiak'sregular team missed the race). The Big Daddy's contract was cancelled, andMorgan Shepherd took over the next week at Rockingham, andStanton Barrett atLas Vegas Motor Speedway. Those two drivers, along with Hut Stricklin andEd Berrier, shared the driving duties of the 90 for the rest of the year.

In 2000, Berrier signed to drive the 90 with sponsorship fromHills Brothers Coffee, competing for Rookie of the Year honors. Berrier struggled during the course of the season, DNQ-ing nine times, before he was released.Brian Simo took over atWatkins Glen, before Stricklin took over the rest of the year. He signed to drive the 90 full-time in 2001, and had a sixth-place run at Michigan, but the team continued to struggle. At theEA Sports 500, Donlavey fielded the No. 91 forRick Mast, who had lost his ride whenEel River Racing folded. Mast failed to qualify, however.

Near the end of the seasonSara Lee, Hills Brothers' parent company, asked Donlavey to move his team from Richmond toNorth Carolina. When Donlavey refused, Sara Lee immediately pulled the Hills Brothers sponsorship from the No. 90 and signed an agreement withBill Davis Racing to sponsor the team's new No. 23 car with Stricklin as the driver. Donlavey placed Mast in the No. 90 permanently and ran it for the remainder of the year without any sponsor decals on it.

In the offseason Donlavey acquired sponsorship from theC.F. Sauer Company, whoseDuke's Mayonnaise brand had been carried on the former Eel River Racing car Mast had driven. Mast had a best finish of 24th at Darlington when he began feelinganemic. He took several races off, and was replaced byHermie Sadler andGary Bradberry. Mast was eventually diagnosed as having sufferedcarbon monoxide poisoning and was forced to leave racing altogether, and once he did C.F. Sauer pulled its sponsorship from the No. 90. Donlavey then cut back his racing schedule, and planned to retire, but came back to field theLucas Oil Ford forLance Hooper at Bristol, as well as a car for team managerJason Hedlesky at Lowe's. Hooper finished 31st and Hedlesky started 41st and finished 43rd. In 2003,Kirk Shelmerdine drove Donlavey's car at the Daytona 500, but missed the field. Hedlesky drove the car at theWinston Open, but Donlavey did not field an entry for the rest of the season. Donlavey hoped to revive his team in 2004 by announcingKevin Ray would drive a limited schedule that season with sponsorship fromBoudreaux's Butt Paste. Unfortunately, the deal ended up running only oneARCA race atPocono. Late in the yearA. J. Henriksen, began running races for Donlavey, but did not make a race. Donlavey did not field a car in 2005, but continued to stay involved in NASCAR. During a gathering at Richmond in September 2006, Donlavey stated that he still had several cars in his race shop, but was in the process of selling them and had no plans to return to racing. Donlavey would pass away in 2014.

Notable drivers (Sprint Cup race winners, Rookies of the Year, & renowned drivers from other championships such as IndyCars or sports cars) are highlighted inbold.^[2]

• Runt Harris (1950, 1957, 1959–1960)
• Joe Weatherly (1952)
• Emanuel Zervakis (1957–1958)
• Speedy Thompson (1960)
• Tiny Lund (1960)
• Johnny Roberts (1961)
• Sonny Hutchins (1965–1970)
• LeeRoy Yarbrough (1970, 1972)
• Bill Dennis (1970–1973, 1975)
• Jackie Oliver (1972)
• Jimmy Hensley (1972–1974)
• Dick Brooks (1972, 1975, 1977–1978, 1983–1984)
• Fred Lorenzen (1972)
• Ramo Stott (1972–1973)
• Bobby Isaac (1972, 1974)
• Max Berrier (1972)
• Richard D. Brown (1972)
• Butch Hartman (1972)
• Ron Hutcherson (1972)
• Johnny Rutherford (1972)
• Ray Hendrick (1973)
• Yvon Duhamel (1973)
• Richie Panch (1973–1974)
• Eddie Pettyjohn (1973–1974)
• Jody Ridley (1973–1975, 1979–1982)
• Bud Moore (1973)
• Harry Gant (1973)
• Charlie Glotzbach (1973–1974, 1990, 1992)
• Paul Radford (1974)
• George Follmer (1974)
• Kenny Brightbill (1975)
• Earl Ross (1975)
• Dick May (1975)
• Buck Baker (1976)
• Gene Felton (1976)
• Christine Beckers (1977)
• Ricky Rudd (1979)
• Ken Schrader (1985–1987)
• Benny Parsons (1988)
• Jimmy Means (1988)
• Chad Little (1989)
• Stan Barrett (1989)
• Lennie Pond (1989)
• Ernie Irvan (1990)
• J. T. Hayes (1990)
• Buddy Baker (1990)
• Robby Gordon (1991)
• Wally Dallenbach Jr. (1991)
• Dorsey Schroeder (1992, 1997)
• Kerry Teague (1992)
• Hut Stricklin (1992, 1999–2001)
• Pancho Carter (1992)
• Todd Bodine (1992 - Watkins Glen - Car number changed to #34, Car Owner listed as Cicci-Welliver but was actually Junie's car, Team and operated by Junie, revealed by Bodine in 2022 via The Scene Vault Podcast)
• Bobby Hillin Jr. (1992–1994)
• Mike Wallace (1994–1996, 1999)
• Dick Trickle (1996–1998)
• Morgan Shepherd (1999)
• Stanton Barrett (1999)
• Ed Berrier (1999–2000)
• Brian Simo (2000–2001; road courses only)
• Rick Mast (2001–2002)
• Hermie Sadler (2002)
• Gary Bradberry (2002)
• Lance Hooper (2002)
• Jason Hedlesky (2002)

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time.Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Footnotes

• Donlavey has influenced young and old
• Jayski's Team Page
• Down Memory Lane ~ Junie Donlavey

• 1950 establishments in Virginia
• Companies based in Richmond, Virginia
• Defunct NASCAR teams
• Auto racing teams established in 1950
• Auto racing teams disestablished in 2005

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• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles needing additional references from August 2025
• All articles needing additional references