Cale Yarborough

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Jody Ridley

By dlamerton on | From justcustomz.com

Jody Ridley (source : dirtfans.com)

Jody Ridley’s main claim to fame in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was that he earned the only Cup victory for the Donlavey team. Junie Donlavey provided cars for top drivers such as Joe Weatherly, Buck Baker, David Pearson, to name a few, for over more than fifty years but not one of these leading drivers were able to bring home the Cup for him.

Jody was already a successful short-track driver when the Donlavey team offered him a ride in the cup Series in 1973. His first race proved to be exciting when, in the #90 car, he came in fifth place at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He continued to race throughout the 1970’s, driving for the Donlavey team and other owners. He drove in a maximum of three events a year and, if there were no problems with the car, usually finished well-placed. When Ricky Rudd left the Donlavey team at the end of the 1979 season Jody was offered the chance to drive the #90 again, full-time, for the Donlavey team.

Jody proved his worth when he finished the season with eighteen Top 10 finishes and placed at seventh in the final point standings. He won the coveted 1980 “Rookie of the Year” honours. Retained for the 1981 season by the Donlavey team Jody didn’t disappoint them. He started the season well and by the time the first eleven races were out of the way he had collected seven Top 10’s before going on to the 1981 Mason-Dixon 500 at Dover International Speedway (Monster Mile) on the 17th of May. Although he was seven laps down he was running third behind Neil Bonnett and Cale Yarborough when lady luck lent a hand. Neil Bonnett blew his engine late in the race and Jody moved to second place behind Cale Yarborough when, with twenty laps to go, Cale’s engine also failed, leaving Jody in the lead, eventually winning the race. There were some controversy over the result through the scoring sheets but after NASCAR officials scored Jody in front of Bobby Allison the result was undisputed, giving Jody a .22 second victory. This was Jody’s, and Junie Donlavey’s, only victory in the Cup Series in a point’s race. By the end of the season he had posted eighteen Top 10 finishes and finished fifth in the final point standings. Jody went on to run one more full season in the #90 car and after being offered a contract for another team he left the Donlavey team only to find that the contract fell through. Unfortunately, the Donlavey team had already signed Dick Brooks to replace him. Jody raced part-time for three more seasons in the Cup Series before moving to the All-Pro late model racing where he dominated. He won six championships, had over 500 short track victories and was eventually inducted into the Georgia Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2007. Born on the 19th of May, 1942 Jody has now retired from racing and lives in his home town of Chatsworth, Georgia, working as part-owner of a used car dealership.

He also works as a consultant for Hooters Pro Cup driver, Justin Wakefield, has fielded a car for a couple of his younger relatives and helps a grandson with his go-kart. He keeps himself even busier by restoring a 1966 Ford Fairlane GT among other classic cars. He hasn’t driven since 2000 and says,

“I’m a retired driver … and everything else,” Ridley said with a laugh. “It just got to where it wasn’t a lot of fun any more. I’d did it for 38 years. I just got a little bit tired of it. That’s a long time to do anything.”

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jody_Ridley

http://www.nascar.com/2007/news/features/10/04/where.is.jody.ridley/index.html

http://www.wilsonsracereport.com/?p=1566