He admits as a boy he was sort of a “track rat,” as he’d disappear from the family’s spot in the paddock to talk to other drivers. He could often be found sitting on top of a trash can at Road America with two stopwatches in hand, timing the cars. He kept notebooks full of race results and even practiced reading them into a cassette tape recorder for his own private racing radio show.
Doonan drove in a few amateur events but as he got older, he discovered his opportunities were in the public relations, journalism and marketing side of sports.
He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in business administration, marketing, advertising and Spanish from Augustana College in 1992.
Doonan wrote some sponsorship proposals on the side fresh out of college and continued his education by pursuing his master’s degree in business administration, which he earned from Western Illinois University in 1997. While studying for his masters, Doonan also worked as the development officer at Augustana College for nine years before joining Mazda.
Raising sponsorship funds, balancing budgets and keeping team owners and marketing partners as happy as possible are all part of his duties with IMSA.
Doonan admits the travel is tough, but he’s often been away from home with his work at Mazda. He and his wife, Kristin, are used to that balancing act along with their daughters, Carlee and Margaret, and son, Alex.
Doonan acknowledges he’s starting with IMSA at a unique time.
“Without a doubt, I have joined IMSA at an amazing time,” he said. “With long-term partnerships in place with WeatherTech, Michelin and broadcast partner NBC, we are positioned for amazing success and growth.
“When you couple those strong partnerships with our 17 participating auto manufacturers and the amazing slate of race track and event promoter partners, you can easily see the strong foundation IMSA has right now.
“On top of all of these strengths, I am honored to be a teammate to an absolutely fantastic group of motorsports professionals on the IMSA staff,” Doonan said. “The IMSA staff is truly best in class and industry leading when it comes to organizing and operating first-class, professional sports car racing events.
“I believe our biggest opportunities are in audience growth, especially when it comes to our next generation of fan and participant,” he added. “We saw some amazing growth in our TV viewership surrounding the Rolex 24. Our social media engagement growth, especially with integrated video content, has shown monumental gains.
“We must stay focused on continuing to grow event attendance, broadcast tune-ins and engagements with our current and prospective fans,” he said. “We also must continue to find ways to allow new fans to learn about IMSA and give them easy ways to sample our content and our events.”
Doonan is a fan of all forms of motorsports and understands racers.
“My grandfather and my dad introduced me to many forms of the sport, especially the grassroots forms of racing,” he said. “It was at these events growing up that I witnessed passion in its purest form, and it was quite contagious. It was always my dream of being on the other side of the fence and I have been so fortunate to have the experiences I now have had.
“I first attended the June Sprints at Road America when I was 6 weeks old,” Doonan recalled. “I went to my first Hoosier Hundred in 1977 and my first Indianapolis 500 that same year and ultimately my first IMSA race in 1979. I always wanted to learn when I was at the track, and I did my best to educate myself at the events and away from the track.
“I believe it is very important to keep our finger on the pulse of the sport as a whole and make sure we are providing the best experiences for our fans,” he noted. “We can all learn a great deal by being aware of best practices across the industry, so attending a variety of events will always allow me to stay at the top of our game.”
And now as the leader of a sanctioning body, Doonan is doing his best to support his staff, grow the sport and pass it on.