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Getting Up To Speed With...J.J. Irvine

Getting Up To Speed With...J.J. Irvine
By Ben Deatherage
He doesn’t race every week but whenever he does he’s having fun. J.J. Irvine has been around Willamette Speedway since the late 1970’s so he’s witnessed some great moments at the historic 1/3-mile clay oval. He’s even had some of his own whether it be in the form of a driver or on a pit crew.

Irvine, from Lebanon, Oregon, started as a crew member of the famed Highwallers team in 1986 when Kenny Wheaton was the driver of that famed mount. A year later he would be working on “Lightning Fast” Bob Boyd’s race car and would be on his team for ten years.

Then around 1994 he would begin his career as a driver in the Sportsman division and would eventually move up to the Late Model ranks in 1999. Irvine would receive the Willamette Speedway Sportsman of the Year award in 1997 and would even finish within the top ten in final points of the Bud I-5 Series in the Late Model division.

In 2014 J.J. will still be racing on a part-time basis but this year he hopes to get his daughter Kylie out on the track too. We got a chance to talk to him about his racing career, what his favorite moments have been, and why he chooses to race the #K4. Now let’s get up to speed with J.J. Irvine.

Driver: J.J. Irvine
Home Track: Willamette Speedway
Hometown: Lebanon, Oregon
Occupation: Material Handler at Georgia Pacific
Age: 43
Years Racing: 19

Classification: Street Stock
Team: Bullet Motorsports
Car: K4
Chassis: 1980 Chevy Camaro
Special Thanks: Randy Boyd, Brian Smith, Brian Brown, Family

BD: J.J. what are some of your plans in 2014?
JI: Well I just race part time due to my job hours so 2014 will be a select schedule of events for me but I plan on making eighty-percent of the Street Stock races. My daughter Kylie has a Street Stock too and I’m going to let her practice and get comfortable in it before she gets to race it. If she doesn’t like it I’ll probably have my younger one do it.

BD: How did you get your start in racing?
JI: My dad used to write for the paper and my parents took me to a Demolition Derby in 1979 so he could do a story about. We had so much fun that a couple of weeks later we went to an actual race. I was a fan until 1986 when I met Kenny Wheaton and the Highwallers group and was on their pit crew.

I ended up hooking up with Bob Boyd in 1987 and pitted for him because he lived closer and we ended up winning the championship that season. I was on that team for about ten years. I started racing myself in late 1994 while still helping Bob. I started in the Sportsman class and then ran Late Models in 1999 and ran them up until around 2010. I ended up blowing up my Late Model motor that year so I bought the Camaro I’m in now.

BD: Why did you chose the #K4?
JI: I used to run the #97 but when I moved up to Late Models Greg Walters and Bob Boyd already had the number. I picked the #4 because I thought nobody had it but come to find out Eric Alvis had it so I added the “K” for the first letter of my two daughters' names (Kylie and Kyndal).

BD: When I first seen you race you were in a Late Model at Cottage Grove. Since then you have moved on to the Street Stocks. How fun are those cars to drive?
JI: The Late Models of course are a blast but it got so expensive once the sideboards were done away with. The Camaro I ended up getting was Brian Brown’s old car and I actually ran it before a couple of years before I bought it and won the B-Main when I drove it for him one time. I’ve had the most fun in the Street Stocks and I like that I have had an opportunity to do it and afford it at the same time.

BD: What would you say is your biggest racing highlight so far?
JI: Probably in 2011 when my kid’s got to see me win a main event at the first Mick Gray Memorial during Labor Day weekend. The most fun race I’ve ever had was up at Elma in 2008 or 2009 and I got to run with Trevor Glaser and Rob Mayea and I was actually competitive with my little motor.

Willamette Speedway will host a practice on Friday April 11th lasting from 4:00 PM to dusk. On Saturday the 12th the historic 1/3-mile will host the Cabin Fever Season Open to get the 2014 season started. For the latest news and information log on to www.trophymotorsports.com.

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