Early Years

JJ Furillo was born into a racing family. His grandfather, Meme DeSantis, Sr., owned the famed H&J No.14 modified piloted by some of the best drivers of their time including Russ Delp and 1974 EMPA Hall of Fame inductee Al Tasnady. Meme DeSantis, Jr. later took the helm and became one of the top Northeast modified and central Pennsylvania sprint car drivers of his generation.

From the age of 14 JJ found himself in his uncle’s race shop washing parts and sweeping floors. As his knowledge-base grew so did his responsibilities. Over time JJ became more involved in the setup of the race car. In 1989 he began to re-valve and rebuild shocks for the No. 14 and eventually became Meme’s crew chief.

NASCAR Days

In 1996, JJ took a position at Penske Shocks and by the end of the following year was maintaining the shock programs for a number of NASCAR teams. In 1999 JJ was appointed principal of the NASCAR program for Penske Shocks. Under his leadership the company became the leading – and most heavily used – shocks in the industry. JJ built a reputation and gained the respect from top drivers and crew chiefs in the NASCAR garage. JJ’s shock setups and tuning advice led to countless poles and wins in NASCAR’s three premier national touring series.

Setting a new Standard

In 2007, JJ joined forces with Jeff Ryan, his friend and mentor at Penske Shocks, and together founded JRI Shocks. Their on-track success not only continued, but grew beyond NASCAR. Their industry reach expanded into NHRA drag racing with KB Racing, World of Outlaw sprint car racing with Donny Shatz and Northeast modified racing with Meme DeSantis, Jr.

Ultimate Performance

Looking beyond the racing industry, JJ recognized an opportunity to enter into the pro-touring market with JRI Shocks. He quickly developed the same reputation he had built at the race track with top pro-touring drivers including Kyle Tucker, Mike Maier, Brian Hobaugh and Danny Popp. Based off the success within the pro-touring market, JJ began the next chapter of his career. In 2014 he formed Ultimate Performance Speed, the premier choice for suspension tuning and industry-leading products for high-performance vehicles.

With the rapid development of suspension parts in the pro-touring and street-performance market, JJ saw an opportunity to link his racing knowledge to street cars that are developing more and more into track cars. In this new role JJ will not only tune suspensions and sell shocks, but assist in the purchase of components for their cars through partnerships with top manufacturers.