Okay so there are 30+ losers in every NASCAR race and it has been that way since the start. Take into account that approximately 3,000 people have started a race in the sports history, but only 191 drivers have made it to victory lane. So only 7% of drivers have won so that means there have been literally thousands of losers. What if I told you there was one driver who lost more than all the others? Like almost 100 more losses than the next guy in line. That man is J.D. Mcduffie with 653 consecutive losses and he is the man at the center of NASCAR’s saddest story and there’s been a lot.
Worst Record in NASCAR, Great Record on Dirt
J.D McDuffie started racing Go Karts before moving up to the dirt tracks where virtually every driver starts. At that same time he picked his lifetime car number 70 for the greatest reason ever…it was easy to paint and easy to remember. At the lower levels of racing Mcduffie was known as a winner and a champion, but he’d leave his winning ways on the dirt tracks of North Carolina. He made his first start in 1961 in a hot seat for Curtis Turner and over the next thirty years he would make 652 starts and lose every single time. Which makes you wonder how someone could be so horrible and have a three decade career? Despite owning the record of most starts with no wins, arguably the worst record to hold in Motorsport, Mcduffie managed 106 Top Tens, but zero Top Fives.
The King of Independent Drivers
Starting a Monster Energy Cup team out of your home garage would be insanely impossible today. Luckily NASCAR was easier to get into in the 1970’s. McDuffie lived race to race for a quarter century off his own money, a little help from friends, and hometown sponsorship. If he had better equipment at his disposal you can easily argue he would’ve at least got lucky once and wound up in victory lane. This wasn’t the case. He would buy used engines and tires and still go out and finish in the top ten. Something everyone’s drunk uncle Steve dreams of while changing the oil in his Dodge Neon.
1991 Bud at The Glen: Start #653
Watkins Glen would be McDuffie’s final race in NASCAR and his 653rd consecutive loss. Tragically, his #70 car would never make it to the finish. A front wheel spindle broke and caused him to lose brakes after contact with Jimmy Means. Mcduffie’s car plowed straight through turn 5 where at the time there was no gravel trap and only a tire barrier containing the cars. His car would hit the tire barrier and shoot into the air as Means drove underneath him. Means would later be quoted as saying “It was so bad that I just had to close my eyes” when asked about checking on McDuffie.
J.D. McDuffie’s Legacy
Despite his 0.00% win percentage McDuffie is not remembered as much for the races he lost. His legacy is connected to the roots of the sport. A time when men were men and if you wanted to start a race team then dammit that’s what you were going to do. The owner-driver is NASCAR’s OG. The type of driver that will do it himself because who else is going to? Other owner drivers include the Petty family, Alan Kulwicki (who would pass away in 1992 in a plane crash RIP), and Tony Stweart to name a few. These men were some of the greatest champions in the sport and guys like J.D. McDuffie furthered the spirit of racing by competing through the losses because it’s what they want to do. Will we ever see another owner-driver become Champion? Possibly. Will we ever see another J.D. McDuffie? Hell no. While you’re here check out our contest where you can win free merch for doing nothing!!
