MORGAN HILL, Calif. — In October 2020, an on-track moment caused J.J. Ringo to question his direction in sprint car racing.
In his third season driving for Keller Motorsports and fresh off an Ocean Speedway track title, Ringo lined up for the feature among a stout field of drivers at the inaugural Tom Tarlton Classic at California’s Keller Auto Speedway.
“Carson Macedo and Kyle Larson were there,” Ringo reflected. “And when we were in the main event, Macedo blew by me so fast it made me question whether or not this was something I could do because he passed me so quick that I think I lost a couple tear offs or blew a wing panel off. And then the next thing I know, Larson did the exact same thing.”
Fast-forward to last summer at Santa Maria Raceway where an improving Ringo had to confront additional doubt.
In only his 10th appearance with the NARC Fujitsu General 410 sprint cars, Ringo led the opening two laps of his heat race and appeared bound for the win and a spot in the dash. On the third circuit, his nose wing collapsed and sent him into the wall at high speed, doing significant damage to his car.
At what was a home race for his team and some sponsors, a frustrated Ringo slapped the side of his battered ride as he and the car were pushed to the pits.
Back at the trailer, the Keller Motorsports team assessed the damaged machine, unsure of whether they’d even be able to get the car back on track that night.
Not only did they thrash and make repairs before the feature, but a determined Ringo kept his nose clean in the main event and wheeled the Mike Mitchell Construction/Ernest Hemingway Vineyards No. 2k from the back to finish third.
The night marked his first podium with the West Coast’s premier 410 series and a pivotal moment in a positive direction for Ringo’s mindset.
“I felt like that was kind of like my ‘Hey, I’m here’ moment,” Ringo said. “I can do this. If we have a good night and everything goes right, I think this is something I’m going to be able to manage to do.”
Just two months later Ringo received another morale boost during the Gold Cup Race of Champions at Silver Dollar Speedway.
Making his World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series debut, Ringo raced into the feature against the nation’s best on consecutive nights.
“Just being on that stage and being there and being a guy that made the main event both nights my first two times was eye opening,” Ringo said. “It gave me a lot of confidence that it’s something I can do.”
Now, Ringo enters perhaps his most important year in his quest to be a professional race car driver, having taken an unconventional path to this point. In a West Coast racing landscape increasingly defined by teenagers winning in sprint cars before they have a driver’s license, Ringo earned his inaugural NARC podium at age 31.
Ringo started his racing career via a traditional route by starting with karts. He then briefly dabbled in sprint cars before joining the micro sprint ranks in 2012. He made the move back to sprint car racing in 2018. During the year, a fortuitous encounter with Keller Motorsports at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif., led to his current opportunity behind the wheel of the No. 2k sprint car.
“They (Keller Motorsports) ended up putting me in the car for a night and it literally fell into my lap,” Ringo explained. “Some people don’t get the chance to be at the right place at the right time, but I was and I ran with it, and I was able to make the best of it from then on until now.
“We have a lot of good things coming into play this year,” Ringo continued. “It’s been a blessing for me because it’s something I’ve wanted to do since I was a little boy, and I have it now. It’s in my hands. It’s literally right there. It’s not something I have to dream of. I’ve got it.”
Building from last year’s strides and with the help of generous backing from supporters such as Crown Limousine, 805 Beer and Porter Diving, Ringo and company have put together a hefty slate of races this season, focusing on 410 sprint cars.
The schedule includes 16 of the 27 NARC races which will more than double the 15 series starts Ringo has accumulated over the last four years. The team also plans to compete in all but two of the World of Outlaws’ 11 scheduled events in California. On top of that, they’ll run a handful of 360 shows as well.
“It kind of opened our eyes to some bigger things,” Ringo said of his recent 410 experience and what motivated their schedule selection. “Once we started buying 410s, it kind of transpired into the route we wanted to go because there are bigger opportunities in sprint cars if you want to make something of yourself.”
The schedule will offer many chances for Ringo to make a name for himself on the biggest stage of both the West Coast and nationally. Though his journey has not been the typical story of a modern racer, Ringo is confident and thankful for his current opportunity as he aims to continue ascending the ranks of sprint car racing.
“Long term, I want to be a professional sprint car driver,” Ringo said. “That’s what I want to do. I want to race sprint cars and make a living at it, and I’m going to try and find a way to do it, however, I can. I’ve got a lot of good people behind me that are willing to kind of break their backs to help me pursue this, and I don’t want to jeopardize that opportunity because not many guys get this chance at 32 years old. I just turned 32 this year, and it’s a young man’s sport.
“You’ve got to really hustle here to do this,” Ringo added. “I’ve got great people behind me that are going to make this happen for me. It’s all up to me really. It’s how far do I want to go.”