{"id":75227,"date":"2020-10-06T14:06:46","date_gmt":"2020-10-06T21:06:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=75227"},"modified":"2020-10-06T14:06:46","modified_gmt":"2020-10-06T21:06:46","slug":"nascar-fans-mourn-loss-of-joe-gibbs-racing-executive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/nascar-fans-mourn-loss-of-joe-gibbs-racing-executive\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR Fans Mourn Loss of Joe Gibbs Racing Executive"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_75228\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-75228\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"75228\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/nascar-fans-mourn-loss-of-joe-gibbs-racing-executive\/jj-damato_feature-img\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/JJ-Damato_Feature-IMG-e1602018310941.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"640,360\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"JJ Damato_Feature IMG\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/JJ-Damato_Feature-IMG-300x169.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/JJ-Damato_Feature-IMG-e1602018310941.jpg\" class=\"wp-image-75228 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/JJ-Damato_Feature-IMG-e1602018310941.jpg\" alt=\"Joe Gibbs Racing\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-75228\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo Courtesy of Joe Gibbs Racing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Joe Gibbs Racing employees and NASCAR fans are mourning the loss of a coworker, friend and supporter of the sport following the passing of Joe Gibbs Racing employee Joseph &#8220;J.J.&#8221; Damato. The beloved 48-year-old NASCAR Executive passed away suddenly this weekend after playing sports with friends. While the initial cause of Damato\u2019s passing is still under investigation, those who knew this fun-loving former NHL turned NASCAR exec are remembering the man that they call the nicest and funniest people in the garage.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Not sure if you could\u2019ve met a nicer guy. My heart is broken, today\u2019s race will be run in honor of my friend JJ! Rest Easy Bro! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/oARyhvGPRd\">https:\/\/t.co\/oARyhvGPRd<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Bubba Wallace (@BubbaWallace) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BubbaWallace\/status\/1312749437538766848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 4, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Damato was a great friend and much more to Brittany and me. He brought a smile and loving presence with him everywhere he went. Praying for his girls and family during this time. We will miss you. Proud to have your decal on our 22 car today. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/UH4WmAqyfg\">pic.twitter.com\/UH4WmAqyfg<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Joey Logano (@joeylogano) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/joeylogano\/status\/1312805542931451909?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 4, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">JJ Damato spent his time making those around him happier. He spread positivity wherever he went: JGR, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NASCAR?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#NASCAR<\/a>, or other places he once called home. He gifted us great friendship &amp; an example of how to treat others.<\/p>\n<p>We are greatly saddened by his loss &amp; praying for his family. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/7brngqSujv\">pic.twitter.com\/7brngqSujv<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Joe Gibbs Racing (@JoeGibbsRacing) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JoeGibbsRacing\/status\/1312765816400752640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 4, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">There are people who, as soon as you see them or their # pops up in your phone, you immediately smile. J.J. Damato of <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JoeGibbsRacing?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@JoeGibbsRacing<\/a> was that guy, especially back in the day, stuck together in endless NASCAR mtgs. So sad to learn of his passing but so thankful for those smiles. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/dygEg3Yu2q\">pic.twitter.com\/dygEg3Yu2q<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Ryan McGee (@ESPNMcGee) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ESPNMcGee\/status\/1312791093810024450?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 4, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>We at RacingJunk.com send our condolences out to Damato\u2019s fianc\u00e9e, his two daughters and every member of his racing family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Joe Gibbs Racing employees and NASCAR fans are mourning the loss of a coworker, friend and supporter of the sport following the passing of Joe Gibbs Racing employee Joseph &#8220;J.J.&#8221; Damato.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":75228,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[17,3424,3470,5029],"tags":[1619,8057,3253,3355,127,41],"class_list":["post-75227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guest-column","category-nascar","category-news","category-racing","tag-ellen-richardson","tag-j-j-damato","tag-joe-gibbs","tag-joe-gibbs-racing","tag-nascar","tag-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/JJ-Damato_Feature-IMG-e1602018310941.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-jzl","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75227"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75227\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75229,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75227\/revisions\/75229"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}