The Early Years
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Doug and his family were following racing from the time he was a toddler. In 1969 when Doug was 8 years old his Dad, Tom Sr., purchased a microd for his sons to race. When Heveron Racing completed the Microd stage they had accumulated 3 track Championships, Doug with 2 in 1971 and 1974, 3 Mid-Season State Championships, Doug taking one in 1973 and over 75 feature wins.
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In 1975 at the age of 14, Doug continued his racing in Quarter Midgets running all over the country. Doug won races from Portland, Oregon to Mystic, Connecticut. In 1976 Doug registered the fastest time trial at the Grand National Championships in Huntsville, Alabama with over 650 participants attending. After garnering over 100 feature wins it was time for Doug to turn professional.
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In 1978 at the age of 17, Doug was a Junior at Liverpool High School and worked a part time job at Jim Shampine's Auto Parts. Tom Sr had befriended Jimmy in the early 70’s when Jimmy, Nolan Swift and he had started the ISMA. Tom purchased Jim Shampines wedge Supermodified. It was then painted yellow and orange with a black number 1 and nicknamed "The Young One". Doug's first race in a Supermodified was on April 1st, 1978 at Thompson Speedway in Connecticut. He finished 12th in the ISMA feature. Doug started his Oswego career that year as well. He ran rookie warm-ups one session and achieved the minimum speed to move into the regular warm-ups. Unfortunately in June Doug finds out why Oswego Speedway is also called "The Steel Palace" as he hits the wall in turn 3 and goes home with a broken jaw. He comes back a couple months later to finish a proud 13th in his first ever International Classic and finished out the point standings in 27th that year.
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In 1979 Tom hired Ed LaPrade on the advice of Jimmy Shampine and at 18 years old, Doug is credited with 4 top 5's, starts the 23rd International Classic in the 14th starting spot and gets a 3rd place finish. He ended the season 11th in the point standings and was also the ISMA Points Champion through the International Supermodified Association circuit and captures that title for the next 3 years after. At 19 years old, Doug won his first feature at Oswego Speedway on July 5th, 1980 with a new Ed LaPrade built powerhouse. He went on to win another feature that year with 13 top 5's and finished 3rd in the point standings. For the 24th International Classic Doug qualified 5th on the starting grid and finished an awesome 2nd to Jimmy Shampine. In 1981 Doug gets 13 wins, 16 top 5's and the Classic Pole position where he goes on to win the 25th International Classic and tops off his great year with the Oswego Speedway Points Championship. In 1982 Doug repeats as Track Champion and garners 11 wins, 14 top 5's, starts 10th in the 26th International Classic where he takes 199 of the 200 laps and dedicates his win to the greatest man in Supermodified history Jim Shampine who lost his life the night before racing the Modified International Classic.
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