Final Years
After the loss of personnel in 1998, Donlavey announced that for 1999, he would field the #90 Big Daddy's BBQ Sauce Ford Taurus driven by rookie Mike Harmon. During the lead-up to the Daytona 500, rumors began spreading that Big Daddy's was not paying its sponsorship checks. Originally, those rumors were denied by Donlavey, but questions continued to swirl when the team practiced for the 500 without Big Daddy's sponsor decals on the car. Eventually, it was revealed that Big Daddy had not been paying its checks on time. Before long, tensions became so high that Harmon was fired for the ride before the race and replaced by Wallace. The team ran the 500 with sponsorship from Accu-turn and Kodiak (a one-race deal after Kodiak's regular team missed the race). The Big Daddy's contract was cancelled, and Morgan Shepherd took over the next week at Rockingham, and Stanton Barrett at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Those two drivers, along with Hut Stricklin and Ed Berrier, shared the driving duties of the 90 for the rest of the year.
In 2000, Berrier signed to drive the 90 from sponsorship from Hills Brothers Coffee, competing for Rookie of the Year honors. Berrier struggled during the course of the season, DNQ-ing nine times, before he was released. Brian Simo took over at Watkins Glen, before Stricklin took over the rest of the year. He signed to drive the 90 full-time in 2001, and had a sixth-place run at Michigan, but the team continued to struggle. At the EA Sports 500, Donlavey fielded the #91 for Rick Mast, but did not make the race. Near the end of the season, Sara Lee asked Donlavey to move his team from Richmond to North Carolina. When Donlavey refused, they announced they were leaving for Bill Davis Racing, taking Stricklin with them. The move was done immediately, leaving Donlavey's team without a driver or a sponsor. The #90 car ran unsponsored for the rest of the season with Mast behind the wheel.
Mast signed with Donlavey for 2002 with sponsorship from the C.F. Sauer Company. Mast had a best finish of 24th at Darlington when he began feeling anemic. He took several races off, and was replaced by Hermie Sadler, and Gary Bradberry. When Mast became too ill to return and Sauer left, Donlavey cut back his racing schedule, and planned to retire, but came back to field the Lucas Oil Ford for Lance Hooper at Bristol, as well as a car for team manager Jason Hedlesky at Lowe's. Hooper finished 31st and Hedlesky started 41st and finished 43rd. In 2003, Kirk Shelmerdine drove Donlavey's car at the Daytona 500, but missed the field. Hedlesky drove the car at the Winston Open, but Donlavey did not field an entry for the rest of the season. Donlavey hoped to revive his team in 2004 by announcing Kevin Ray would drive a limited schedule that season with sponsorship from Boudreaux's Butt Paste. Unfortunately, the deal ended up running only one ARCA race at Pocono. Late in the year A.J. Henriksen, began running races for Donlavey, but did not make a race. Donlavey did not field a car in 2005, but continued to stay involved in NASCAR. During a gathering at Richmond in September 2006, Donlavey stated that he still had several cars in his race shop, but was in the process of selling them and had no plans to return to racing.
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