By Bryan Wimberley
SUPR Dirt Late Model Series correspondent
LONGVIEW, Tex. (August 11) - It's only once every so often that someone comes along and makes a defining impact, one worthy of legendary proportions. Doug Ingalls of Longview, Tex., cemented that status at Florence Speedway in Union, Kentucky, by being inducted into the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame, on August 11th. The east Texas native has travelled all over the country racing late models during his tenure, but the Southern United Professional Racing Series is proud to have had the longtime racer spend the back half of his career as a tour regular.
Ingalls amassed three championships in the series and (41) career SUPR victories. During the 30th Annual North/South 100 weekend, ceremonies was held for the 60-year old Ingalls, who also joined Mike Balzano (West Virginia), Kenny Brightbill (Pennsylvania), Ray Guss Jr (Illinois), Don Hobbs (Indiana), Keith & Tader Masters from MasterSbilt Chassis (Indiana), Car owner Raye Vest (Maryland) and Jimmy Owens (Tennessee), in receiving Hall of Fame honors.
'Photo Courtesy of Ron Skinner'
Ingalls also compiled three other titles in the National Championship Racing Association (NCRA), along with various other series wins in an array of divisions.
We was able to catch up with Lone Star Legend for a Q & A session about his racing career, among other things.
SUPR: Knowing that all your hard work has paid off, by being inducted into the Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame, what does this mean to you personally?
Ingalls: I still can’t believe it, I am just so lucky and fortunate. After striving all my life, doing what I enjoy and then to be recognized by others and to have my name put up in the same class as the other drivers in the Hall of Fame is just unreal to me.
SUPR: At what moment did you know that you wanted to be a racer?
Ingalls: I never in my life did not think about it. It was just something I always knew I would do.
SUPR: If you could only pick one person, who was you biggest inspiration in racing and why? (in dirt late models and why?)
Ingalls: In racing, my dad, because he always raced and won as far back as I have memory.
In late models, it would have to be Bill Day. He bought me the first late model and we did not have a clue really to what we were doing. We were all modified racers and the class was brand new to this area. We had never even went to a late model race, except in Florida, but we were really there racing mods against the Northern DIRT Cars. We did not really pay a lot of attention to them, but we got one!
SUPR: Where and when was you very first dirt late model win at?
Ingalls: Well, I hit a roadblock, I can't off the top of my head remember when the first race won was at. I even asked (my wife) Susie and we are stumped. I do remember the first ever late model race I ran in though, it was in Muskogee (OK) and I had to run the B-Feature to make the A-Main -we got it! In the main, I placed third and Dhon Hauserman from Wichita, Kan., won the race.
SUPR: In your many dirt late model feature wins, which one stands out more than any other? (which SUPR Series win?)
Ingalls: In April 1992 at the Mississippi Spring Classic 100 in Meridian, I was driving for the Bagwell Brothers. I can still tell you the top 5 from that race, it was me, Eddie Pace, Billy Moyer, Freddy Smith and Scott Bloomquist. Moyer and I ran side-by-side for 95 laps, Pace got by Billy and I won. It was also the first night that Doug Jr., won a feature race at Boothill Speedway in a late model.
In SUPR, it would have to be the 2002 Armadillo Nationals at LoneStar Speedway. I had not been in late model for two years, Terry Dickerson (LoneStar Speedway promoter) talked me into letting him get the car lettered and sponsored for that race by Sadler's Smokehouse. They used the car for promoting the race and I won. It was at home in front of a record crowd at LoneStar Speedway. There was even a cobweb in the halo of the roll cage!
SUPR: What dirt late model accomplishment in your career (other than making it into the NDLM Hall of Fame) stands out or that you are most proud of?
Ingalls: This one is hard, so many things come to mind. Winning the Hutchinson Nationals at Hutchinson (KS) two years in-a-row, it was always a very prestigious race. And winning at Texas Motor Speedway was something I will always be proud of, problem was I won the year before they started giving the Cowbay Hat (as a portion of a trophy) and I always wanted one of those! Also it wasn't just one accomplishment, but getting (3) NCRA and (3) SUPR championships was something I will always be proud of. I could keep going!
SUPR: What is the crazy, most unbelievable thing that you have seen happen on track while you were racing (late models)?
Ingalls: (LAUGHS) Wendell Wallace was racing at Pike County Speedway in Magnolia (MS) and he was black-flagged, but refused to leave the track. The wreckers and track personnel chased him all over the track for 15 minutes. He would just out-smart and out-drive them until they finally conered him along the front straightaway wall -that was so FUNNY!
SUPR: What is the most bizarre thing a racing fan or opposing driver has asked you (or of you)?
Ingalls: Actually it was the racing wives auxiliary at Boothill Speedway. They had donkey relay races at intermission and I teamed up with Don Dupont -we won! Now that was hard!
SUPR: Now that technology has played a major role in the ever-changing late model division, what is the biggest change that has had the most impact in the class, in your opinion?
Ingalls: Has to be shocks, they are so technical now, it is unreal! The prices have went from $75.00 to $800.00+ !
SUPR: Through your long career, what has pretty much stayed the same or always seems to hold true even today?
Photo Courtesy of
www.scottscustomart.com
Ingalls: Rules will always change and usually seem to increase the cost. AND what stays the same -racers and their families are the best.
SUPR: What is the best advice you would give a young racer in the dirt late model division, that may be just getting their career started?
Ingalls: Keep it simple, don’t try to get exotic. Best advice I ever received was from C.J. Rayburn, 'If the car is fast and works in the first race, go eat a hot dog. It will be good in the next race.' Our nature is to always try to make it better, but sometimes we dial ourselves out by thinking, so don't second-guess yourself.
SUPR: If you could go back and change one thing in your late model racing career, what would it be and why?
Ingalls: I would move my family to North Carolina, South Carolina or Tennessee, to racing country.
SUPR: Name one (if any) regrets connected to your dirt late model racing career and why?
Ingalls: Only that we did not take the chance and move to the northeast, that was where the real money in racing was. At the Hall of Fame induction, I was told if I had been from the northeast based on my records, I would have been selected several years earlier. Location was a huge factor in the votes and although late models are popular here, it is not like it is up there.
SUPR: In your opinion, what is the state of dirt late model racing in our area or as a whole?
Ingalls: All racing is effected by the economy and cost of racing. We have gone from regular car counts of 50 to 60 at a show in the 1980 and 1990’s, to an average car count of 20 to 25 nowadays. Big shows used to have at or over 100 cars very easily, but just recently the Topless 100 (in Batesville, Ark.) that paid $40,000-to-win had only (44) cars. We have all priced ourselves out of racing.
SUPR: In your eyes, what improvements needs to be made to help the future of dirt late model racing?
Ingalls: Cut the cost, we simply have to put limits on it. The crate late models seem to be a good thing, but a person would still need $50,000 just to have a good setup in one car and that would just be one car with no extra parts, tools or transporters. I love any kind of dirt racing and would hate to see any of the classes fold.
Ingalls concluded in his usual humble manner, "I have been thinking about all the people that made the Hall of Fame possible, from the car owners to the sponsors, friends and fans and I want to say thank you all for everything. Your well wishes and comments have made this even more special to me."
Most recently in the last couple of years, Ingalls has dusted off the helmet and raced with the ArkLaTex Winged Modifieds around the area, but it wasn't until this season that he ended a holdout from late model racing. In March, Ingalls piloted a Bates-owned Rayburn Race Car for the 2nd Annual Pelican 100 in Vivian, Louisiana, returning to the division. Since then, Ingalls has appeared in two Southern United Professional Racing Series' events this year, one held at Boothill Speedway in Greenwood, La., in June and the other when the series last visited LoneStar Speedway in July, where he recorded a top 10 finish.
Now that things are getting back to normal, don't be surprised if you hear over your local racetrack's PA system, that one of the drivers is introduced as Doug Ingalls and he is either driving someone else's car or is in the infamous No. 28 -because racing is in the blood!
-The Doug Ingalls Late Model File-
1994 SUPR Series Champion
1992 SUPR Series Champion
1990 SUPR Series Champion
(41) career SUPR Series victories
1989 NCRA Series Champion
1988 NCRA Series Champion
1985 NCRA Series Champion
(12) career NCRA Series victories
(1) career MLRA Series victory
(2) career Hav-A-Tampa Dirt Racing Series victories
(1) career Rick's Furniture SLM Series victory
