Doug
Dowd aka "Dougzilla" ( Bio )
My love for the humble Volkswagen began when I was 6 years old and Herbie the Love Bug movie first came out. I was fascinated by the little cars but didn't own one until I was 20. My first VW was a tattered baja bug that I paid way too much for but I loved it. After several years of street use it was relegated to strictly offroad abuse. I learned alot with that little car. I have owned several VW's since including a low rider super beetle, home made bug roadster and a scirocco. I got involved in VW racing while living in Texas in the mid 80's and some VW friends took me to DFW Speedway in Grand Prairie Texas. It is a 1/8 mile dirt oval track that VW's dominated. We called ourselves Riff Raff Racing and had a blast there for several years. I built my original Baja to run that track but it turned out looking so cool I descided not to kill it racing dirt oval. I heard about a VW only drag race in Kennedale Tx in 1988 called the Big Bug Bonanza and wanted to try drag racing. I ended up winning my first ever VW drag race and was hooked! I ran that Baja in 1989 with the TXVWDRA in their points series and won several times that year earning the points championship driving under the name "Doug Danger". At the end of 1989 I began building a Karmann Ghia tube chassis car to get serious about VW drag racing. Life got in the way for a few years and I moved to Ohio in 1993 working slowly on the car till 1994 when the Ghia finally hit the track running 16's. After racing/breaking/rebuilding and upgrading the Ghia over the next 15 years I had it running mid 11's and finally got another win! It was a 19 year winless sreak before I got another win in 2008. I had also ventured into V8 land by building a 65HP 1970 Nova Backhalved car that ran low 10's. The Nova bored me to death and I went back to the trusty Ghia and sold the Nova. I had also purchased a former Kevin Shull Pro Stock Bug in 2007 and it took a couple years to get it running right. I reluctantly sold my old friend the Ghia in 2009 to focus more on my Pro Stock Bug. The Bug runs mid 10's now but is getting some upgrades as I type this. It has N/A 2655cc Scat cased, Autocraft heads, Berg 58's with an Autocraft type 1 trans. Chromoly NHRA certified chassis and weighs 1390# with me in the car. It's a blast to drive and I'm looking forward to the 2010 season to go for another win! In 2008 I approached Quaker City Raceway in Salem, Ohio about adding a VW Class to their regular Saturday night program for 4 races in 2009. They jumped at the chance to have a VW class and we held 4 events at QCR in 2009. We had 12-18 cars at each race and we considered them a huge success! The racers voted to form the North Coast VW Drag Racing Association for the 2010 season and hold 4 more races at Quaker City. The NCVWDRA has attracted more sponsorship money for 2010 and now have over $1400 in cash and prizes to payout to the Winner, R/U and Semi finalists for a 20 car field at each of our races this season! I want to thank my wife Teresa for supporting and encouraging me to keep following my dreams. I also want to encourage each person reading this to support the VW hobby and to attend as many shows and races as you can. These little cars get in your blood. See you at the track!!! |
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