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J.R. McGinley
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Some people say that racing is in your blood. This is a true statement for J.R. McGinley. J.R’s
grandfather, Johnny McGinley was one of the big names of western PA racing in the 1950’s. Johnny
McGinley finished among the top ten drivers in NASCAR in 1951, 1952 and 1953. On the other side
of the family, J.R.’s grandfather Dick Rankin, won feature events over five decades, in the 60’s, 70’s,80’s, 90’s and in 2000. Ironically, Rankin's Car number matched the number of feature wins at
66.Also J.R.'s uncle Craig is also a retired sprint car driver. After Craig was injured in a crash in
1987, Dick Rankin spent some time driving in his son’s car to help Craig gain enough points to win
the title at Lernerville Speedway. |
The new millennium marked the end of an era in western Pennsylvania when Dick
Rankin retired as an active driver. His track championships started back in 1971, when he took the
semi-late honors at hummingbird Speedway. Dick got his big break in 1977, when he slid behind
the wheel of the # 0 modified owned by Bob “Kodiak” Graham. In 1987, he began to campaign his
own modified car. He ranks second in the all time modified wins at Sportsmans Speedway with 33
wins. Rankin's best season in the modified class was 1995, when he copped 12 feature wins and
won the cavalcade Point Championship.
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At three years old J.R.’s granddad put him on a suzuki-JR50 with training wheels. He
then raced a DS-80 until age eleven. From 1990 to 1994, J.R. got into go-kart racing where he won
championships at Blanket Hill and Slippery Rock Speedway.
At eighteen years old J.R. graduated from Clarion-Limestone High School, where he
was involved in football, basketball and track. He moved from go-karts into V-8 Modified for three
races in his granddads # 66 V-8 Modified. The following year he added six more races to finish in
the top ten his rookie year.
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After graduation J.R. went to triangle Tech to be an electrician. In 1999 and 2000 JR
raced at Sportsmans Speedway in Knox, Mercer Speedway in mercer, Lernerville Speedway in
Sarver, and Tri-City Speedway of Franklin, on a regular basis. Other tracks that J.R. has experienced
include: Raceway 7, Marion Center, Eriez, Stateline, Challenger, Sharon Speedway, Clearfield
Speedway, Little Valley NY, Thunder Mountain, and Expo Speedway.
Kasey Kahne is J.R.’s favorite NASCAR driver, even though he drives a dodge. His all-
time favorite driver is his grandfather, Dick Rankin. “He taught me everything I know, he took me to
the races when I was young and I grew up watching his race films. Granddad has taught me a lot. I
learned from his experiences and his dedication to racing.” |
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J.R. has his sights set on following the Western PA Modified Tour this year. Another
one of his goals is to finish in a respectable position at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver,
Pennsylvania. This track is one which he visits regularly every Friday night. J.R.’s short range goals
are to become a well known and well-respected racecar driver and to break all of his grandfather's
records! Further down the road J.R. would like to crawl into a sprint car and follow the “world of
outlaws” J.R.’s long-range goals are to race professionally in the “Busch” or “Winston Cup”
NASCAR Series, just like his grandfather, John Mcginley. With J.R.’s bloodline of racers…. That is not
such an impossible dream. |
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