Doug Wolfgang

26/7/1952

Record updated 24-Jul-06

Doug started racing sprint cars at Knoxville, Iowa in 1975, and quickly became one of the drivers to beat. Soon afterward, he took his show on the road. He won 5 Knoxville Nationals titles and became the winningest driver in Knoxville history. In his prime, "Wolfie" could give the best of the Outlaws a run for their money, and was considered in the same class as Steve Kinser and Sammy Swindell: the best of the best. He never won an Outlaw title, though, because he was always pursuing his own agenda as a racer. Disaster struck for the first time in April 1992, at a World of Outlaws race on pavement in Kansas City. Wolfgang suffered severe burns and a broken neck (among other injuries) in a crash and fire. When he had recovered from his injuries in 1994, he returned to racing; but soon afterward Wolfgang sued WoO, the promoter, and the rescue team for negligence in the crash, and won his case in 1995.

The suit turned many in the sport against Doug, but that didn't stop him from going back to racing. Soon Doug was winning races again in 360 sprints at Knoxville and elsewhere. It looked like the old "Wolfie" was back! He took the 1996 IMCA title, and was racing 410s again in 1997.

In September of that year, disaster struck again at an All-Stars race at Tri-City Raceway in Illinois. Wolfgang was going for the main event lead in a three-way battle with Dean Jacobs and Gary Wright. The three were side-by-side-by-side when Wolfgang touched wheels with Jacobs in what can only be described as a racing accident. The car spun while airborne, landed on the track facing backwards, and was hit by another car, shearing off the roll cage. Doug's neck was broken again, and he just missed being paralyzed.

While he will make a full recovery from this injury, Doug Wolfgang has decided he will never race again. In light of what racing has done to him, it seems a wise choice.