His dream of NASCAR superstardom may not have worked out, but that doesn’t mean Danny O’Quinn Jr. has forgotten how to drive a racecar. Saturday night at his home track in Coeburn, Va., the 2006 NASCAR Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year returned to victory lane after winning the second of two 35-lap Late Model twin features. It was the first time the 29-year-old O’Quinn had been behind the wheel of a racecar this year, and only the second time in the past two years. On both occasions he was a winner at Lonesome Pine Raceway, where his stock car racing career began. After six seasons in the NASCAR Nationwide series and 106 starts, O’Quinn moved back home to Coeburn two years ago to take over the family business – and as it worked out – start a family of his own. After winning races and championships racing in local and regional divisions for a family funded team, in 2005 the 20-year-old O’Quinn literally drove his way into a ride with the premier Roush Racing NASCAR team. Despite his Rookie of the Year effort in 2006, however, there was no sponsorship money in 2007 for O’Quinn. Eventually he left Roush to drive for smaller teams. He also worked in the garage area, setting up cars for Bobby Hamilton Jr. in 2008 with Team Rensi Motorsports, spotting for the Wood Brothers, and helping second-generation racer Brandon McReynolds. But, O’Quinn had moved to North Carolina to drive race cars, and by 2011 there wasn’t much available for him in NASCAR as a driver except for the occasional ‘start-and-park.’(Kingsport Times-News)
