Brad Doty was one of the nation’s top sprint car drivers throughout much of the 1980s. Then, in the blink of an eye, his life changed forever when things went horribly wrong on the opening lap of the 1988 Kings Royal at Eldora Speedway.
A spinal cord injury left him paralyzed from the chest down.
Never bitter, Doty pursued other avenues in order to remain in the sport and provide for his family.
The native of Fredericksburg, Ohio, has been a promoter since introducing the Brad Doty Classic in 1989. He became the most-sought-after analysis for television coverage of winged sprint car racing, and he was a longtime columnist for Sprint Car & Midget magazine.
Doty’s entire body of work earned him a spot among the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame’s class of 2001.
Now 67 years old, Doty still has his finger on the pulse of sprint car racing, and he recently sat down with SPEED SPORT to answer our questions.
Q: What did your World of Outlaws race at Attica Raceway Park tell you about the current state of sprint car racing?
DOTY: We had 46 sprint cars and only two were full-timers from High Limit, so that tells me there are lots of good cars out there. I was a little surprised at some of the guys who didn’t show up, but then I was also surprised at those who did.
The bottom line tells me that so far things are really looking good for 410 sprint car racing. I know we are always concerned about the cost, but so far, at least this year, there have been good car counts pretty much everywhere.
Q: How about your crowd?
DOTY: The crowd was really good. We had a horrible weather forecast, which unfortunately we’ve had for the last several years, it seems. I’m not the only one that’s noticed, even some of the teams and some of the fans mentioned it. The crowd was good, especially under the circumstances with the weather forecast leading into it being so poor.
Q: What is your favorite part of promoting the Brad Doty Classic?
DOTY: Probably, seeing the fans roll in when the gates open, and then the highlight is seeing the excitement when the cars go four-wide on the parade lap. I usually sit in the stands, up on a ramp, so I’m kind of in amongst the fans. To see them get so excited, which they almost always do for a four-wide, to be close enough to hear it and feel it, feel the excitement, that’s pretty rewarding.
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