Auld‘s role as owner of SCM gave him great latitude in the editorial voice of the magazine, as well as day-to-day operations. He soon began the endless cycle of monthly magazine production—developing story ideas, working with contributors, layout work — month after month after month, creating 237 issues prior to his passing.
“He was wonderful to work with,” insisted Ellis. “How could you want a better editor? He knew racing, and he was an excellent columnist. He never changed the stuff I sent in … whatever I sent, I didn‘t have to worry about heavy editing. That was great.
“He gave his contributors complete freedom to write what they wanted and gave us permission to express our opinions. I had complete freedom with my column, and that meant a lot to me.
“Doug was such a great person to talk with, and our conversations would sometimes last for hours. That is not an exaggeration.”
One of Auld‘s closest relationships was with Tom Rounds, who has served as art director since the first issue of SCM.
“I think back to those early years of the magazine and those are great memories,” Rounds said. “It was a ton of work, but it was great. The first few years Doug would come to my house and we‘d sit down and work on layouts together. We‘d go through the proofs from the printer, all that.
“He lived in Tampa and I was in Lakeland, so it was a bit of drive for him. His personality … we didn‘t just work together, we were friends doing stuff together. We wanted the readers to enjoy the magazine as much as we did. Our kids played together and sometimes they‘d stay late and (Doug‘s daughter) Shawna would go to sleep and just spend the night at our place.
“Doug was a night person…he‘d get going around 10 a.m., but it was common to see him still working until 10, 11, 12 o‘clock at night.”
Although Auld was deeply immersed in producing SprintCar & Midget for nearly two decades, he was never one-dimensional. He had many other interests, including racing a 360 sprint car for several seasons in the Ohio area.
In 2003, Auld stepped into a greater role in the sport when he joined the board of directors for the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and Museum and served as president of the board of directors in 2007 and ‘08.
In 2006, Auld introduced the SprintCar & Midget “Stay in School” program, organizing sprint car and midget teams to bring their race cars to schools and promote the sport in conjunction with the importance of education and career planning. Teams visited more than 150 schools in the years following and in 2011 the program transitioned under the guidance of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame. The program was one of Auld‘s proudest accomplishments.
Auld and Sprint Car & Midget relocated to Piqua, Ohio, in 2005. As an editorial voice, through the years SCM continued to reflect Auld‘s steadfast vision for sprint car and midget racing: this is a blue-collar sport for the masses, known for spectacular competition and compelling personalities.
As the magazine maintained its role as a leading voice in the industry, Auld was recognized with several prestigious honors. The National Sprint Car Poll recognized Auld as Media Member of the Year six times and in 2005 Auld was presented the Outstanding Contribution to the Sport award. In 2017, Auld was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame.
As his stature in the sport continued to grow through the years, Auld maintained a blazing passion for music. He developed a music studio at his home and produced two rock albums under the stage name Tyler Cross.
“Music was who he was, really,” says Chelsea Auld. “Music was his soul. He could also draw; he was very talented, very artistic. He could draw beautifully. He was also very handy, we never found anything around the house that he couldn‘t repair when needed.