DANNY EFLAND SEASON IN REVIEW
After a very respectable 25th place Homestead season ending race, Danny Efland summed up his 2008 season and plans for the future.
"First of all, I want to thank Johnny Davis and Lori Morgan for the opportunity they gave me to realize my dreams" said Danny. "Trusting me, a rookie, with their very livelihood in half the Nationwide races this year is something I will never forget. We had a great run in the last part of the season with consistent finishes in the twenties. I feel like I made great progress towards my life long ambition to be a NASCAR driver. People now actually refer to me as a ‘Nationwide driver’ !"
Danny started the season off in Nashville in the JDM #0 with a 35th place qualifying. JDM has two Nationwide numbers, the 0 and 01. The 01 attempts to race the entire race, while the 0 usually does what is called a start and park. With the high cost of racing and JDM having a mostly un-sponsored team, it is necessary to run an extra car to help cover the expenses of the car that races. Johnny had let Danny make 3 such starts in 2007 in order to persuade NASCAR into giving him a Nationwide license.
A new driver must demonstrate proficiency on various size tracks until finally being permitted to run the super speedways. The start and park car was an effort to gain such approval. Johnny allowed Danny a fair amount of practice and about 30-60 laps in the race. Most young drivers come along with ‘deep pockets’ or family connections. All Danny had was a burning desire, a number of go kart championships and a lot of Late Model experience with quite a few wins. Johnny, an ex-go kart builder, had kept track of Danny. Danny gained Brett Bodine’s blessings (he is head of the license committee for NASCAR) to move to bigger tracks and finally to the high banked ones.
At mid-season Danny was promoted to the 01 car for the rest of the year, when the driver of that car left for another team. Now he would get to run the entire race. Danny responded with a 33rd place finish and was off and running!
After a 28th place finish on Michigan’s 2 mile high banks and a great race at Bristol, Danny made the tough decision to forgo the fall college semester in Engineering where he is a sophomore. He moved to Gaffney, South Carolina and worked full time on the JDM cars while racing them on the weekends.
Finishes of 26th at Dover and Kansas, and 23rd at Charlotte and the final at Homestead helped give Danny a 29.75 average finish in the #01 car with only three DNF’s. Those three were all mechanical issues. Along the way Danny locked the 01 car into the top 30 of team owner points with room to spare. This automatically guarantees the 01 car a starting spot at Daytona 2009, a coveted position among owners.
A locked in car (as Danny was during his stint in the 01car) does not have to worry about qualifying but instead can concentrate on race set up which is very important to the low budget teams.
"All in all it was a great year for me", continued Danny, " We had to just stay out there and make laps during the first half of each race and then Johnny would ‘turn me loose’ on whom ever was on our lap during the second half. I usually beat the cars on my lap. I would truly love to race hard every lap but we were a hand-to-mouth team that depended on what I could win, so Johnny’s direction was critical. Besides, it probably kept me from making rookie mistakes early in the races. With a little bit of sponsorship, JDM would really be able to move up the ladder. No one knows how to produce more with less than Johnny Davis!"
2009"For the 2009 season all of my options are open," said Danny, " I just hope that something comes along. Having a sponsor would allow JDM and me to move to the next level because I know we could turn some heads. John Huffman of Hufco Pro-Motions is trying to find us a deal and is talking to some very interesting parties. I hope that something will come along and put me in the seat at Daytona but if it does not - I have lived my dream in the way few have and I know that I can run competitively with drivers that have always been my idols."
I want to say a very special thanks to:
Johnny Davis, Lori Morgan and the JDM crew.
John Anderson of Shred 360
John Huffman at Hufco Pro-Motions
Morgan Shepherd
Barry Wise of Wise Tile
Sonja and Mick McCubbins
Rob & Shelly Gunton of Hi Impact Signs
Pyrotect
Tim Lee at SafeQuip/RaceQuip
Ruff & Tuff Golf Carts
Mom, Dad, and my sister
and all of the others who have helped in special ways.
Thanks,
Danny Efland
See you at the races!
