By T.J. Buffenbarger
(October 10, 2021) – Sunday I was stunned receiving the news that Doug Auld from Sprint Car & Midget Magazine passed away at age 59 at his home near Sidney, Ohio. The news completely caught me off guard when I read the news.
Auld’s impact on the sport can not be understated. As Open Wheel Magazine went away Auld worked hard behind the scenes to put together a group of investors that eventually started Sprint Car & Midget Magazine so the sport had a premier monthly magazine. Without those efforts our short track open wheel racing may have gone without a monthly magazine that is so important to the sport.
Auld guided the magazine through some big moments and tremendous change in the sport. Auld was a talented writer who was not afraid to share his opinion.
Once Doug moved north to Ohio we crossed paths more often getting to know each other at the race track. In recent years our conversations had shifted more towards music, kids, and of course our variety of thoughts on the sport on that given day. For whatever strange reason this past year we dove into other topics of interest we happened to share Auld’s passion for Pizza. When it came to sprint car racing though Auld’s passion or the sport was as strong as anyone I’ve met having experience not only covering the sport, but participating as well.
The visits between Auld and myself were one of the things I always looked forward to. From years where he was still driving and would pop in a 360 sprint car races I was working at to some of the biggest stages of the sport, Auld always made plenty of time to find out how things were going and to share thoughts on what might be the important topic of the day.
Auld’s passing is a huge loss for my cohorts over at Speed Sport and our sport, but more importantly a bigger loss to his wife Chelsea and daughters Shawna and Kayla. Our thoughts are with them during this incredibly difficult time.