THE TEAM
Jackson Lovelady Racing all started in the small town of Darfield, New Zealand, where I grew up with my family. This is also where my father ran his business building speedway cars for clients all over the country, and so I spent my childhood completely immersed in the racing world. I spent every spare moment I could in the sheds, playing with spare parts until I was finally old enough to work on the cars alongside my dad.
When I was 15, I got behind the wheel for the first time and have been hooked ever since! Over the last decade I’ve raced Sprint Cars, Midgets, Saloons, Super Saloons and Late Models, winning my fair share of events along the way, including national and regional titles.
Racing is my passion, woven throughout every part of my life for as long as I can remember. My father and I shared a dream of one day racing in the USA, but unfortunately we did not get the opportunity to do it together before his passing in 2021. This was a huge loss for my family and the entire racing community.
So when I had the offer to race for Warrior Cars while on a trip to North Carolina in 2023, I jumped at this opportunity to fulfil our dream. We only had time for a few meetings, but this led to Mike from Warrior Cars extending the invitation to come back over for a full length tour in 2024.
The NZ team is still run out of Darfield, New Zealand, managed by myself and Chris Lovelady. Our USA programme is operated out of Warrior Racecars in Seymour, Tennessee by Mike Nuchols, who owns and runs the 1G Warrior house car that I will be driving for the upcoming season.
2024 TOUR
The foundations for our upcoming tour around the USA were first laid in 2022, when Geoff at FOX Racing Shocks connected me with "Mighty Mike" at Warrior Racecars. This provided an exchange of ideas and insights to transfer to our customers, and I was also able apply to the development of our own cars here in New Zealand.
In 2023 I received an invitation to visit the FOX factory in Moresville, North Carolina, which was followed by the offer from Mike to race one of his 604 late models while I was over there. I seized this opportunity, completing three race meetings and one testing day in the short time that we had.
Building on this, Mike then extended the offer to return this season for a full length tour in his 1G Super Late Model Warrior house car. We are supplying our own motor and other running expenses, but I am going into this tour eager to take on all the challenges ahead, ready to learn, and get a foot in the door for the following seasons.
The 2024 tour will encompass six events and twelve nights of racing, ending with the World 100 at Eldora. You can check out the full schedule through the link below, and also follow along on social media where we’ll be posting regular updates and behind the scenes videos!
