J.D.

By: Brock Beard

Narrated by: Brock Beard

August 11, 1991. Watkins Glen, New York. 52-year-old John Delphus "J.D." McDuffie, Jr. climbs aboard his No. 70 Pontiac, lined up 35th on the grid for NASCAR's Budweiser at the Glen. For the 653rd time, he pinches a cigar between his teeth and fires the engine. Few take notice of No. 70 as it rolls onto the 2.428-mile road course - only a small group of volunteers, fans, and family back home in Sanford, North Carolina. Even they knew McDuffie had never won a NASCAR race, and likely never would before the big-money teams squeezed him out of the sport. But no one knew that just five laps later, McDuffie would be dead, killed in a terrible two-car accident with fellow racer Jimmy Means.

J.D. tells the true story of J.D. McDuffie, one of stock car racing's most beloved owner-drivers. It's the tale of a man who honed his skills as a mechanic and built his own team from the ground-up, his No. 70 banging fenders with the likes of Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt. It's also about the close-knit group of supporters who came together to make sure McDuffie made it to the track in a rapidly-changing sport. And it's about that tragic weekend at Watkins Glen, the investigation that followed, and the legacy he's left behind. Top to bottom, it's one of the most comprehensive stories of any race car driver, and a tribute to NASCAR's blue-collar past.

©2021 Brock Erin Beard (P)2021 Brock Erin Beard

Great book!

Love to hear the book narrated by the author. Thank you for writing this book.

A great story of an true underdog

I think me and JD and myself would have gotten along reel well. We both have/had very little but do a lot with what we get. Once you are a friend you are a friend for life and here id a man who gave it everything he had and did it his way. That is how I grew up in the shop with my dad and friends building something out of parts and pieces and loving every night of it Great work Brock

Very good book on J.D. McDuffie

J.D. McDuffie was a NASCAR driver/owner who certainly loved what he was doing in the sport. He was a dying breed - a single car team owner who was also the driver. Because of this, he often had less sponsorships, funds for parts and employees and other luxuries that well-financed motorsports teams have (for current teams like that, think Hendrick Motorsports or Joe Gibbs Racing). This book by Brock Beard tells a great story about the man, his love for racing and his tragic death on the road course at Watkins Glen.

Beard, who also narrates the audio version (I listened to this version), had access through interviews with family members, former drivers and crew members and even the small-time sponsors who gave McDuffie at least a little extra money and some decals on his no. 70 blue car. This gave the book some very interesting stories on McDuffie, both as a person and as a determined racer.


While McDuffie never did win a race on NASCAR’s highest level, then called the Winston Cup Series), he nonetheless won much respect from nearly everyone involved in the sport and that comes through in the writing as well. No matter how poorly McDuffie did in qualifying or in a race, one could be assured he’d try again the next week. He did qualify for the pole position once and was running well when he had that crash in Watkins Glen that ended his life.


But that life was fulfilling, doing what he loved to do and with a loving and supporting family. Because of this, it isn’t a stretch to call him a “legend” as the book’s subtitle does, because there are way to be a legend outside of just winning races, and McDuffie showed us how that can be done.