The Stories

The Sunday The Dynasty Unfolded

In this addition I will take you back to a very important event and year:  March/April 1965, I am really not 100%sure which month or particular Sunday this was but it became known as the Sunday that the dynasty was first unfolded.  Coming from previous early seasons the Doll/Delo combination had struggled with inferior equipment and sub-par drivers but this year would be a tremendous turn around. During the winter of 1965 Bud and Delmer got together and decided to get serious about the sport, they knew they needed a better product (car) and driver if they were ever going to be competitive. During the winter Bud took his 1956 Chevy (his personal car) and converted it to a modified road stock (DLM) to race against the hot dogs at Pennsboro and other tracks in the Ohio Valley area. Bud had massaged the street version 327ci and it was [...]

April 23, 2020 By 0 CommentsRead more...

More Racing Stories Being Told In Heaven

Not the way you ever want to start your day but in the grand scheme of time these days will continue to come until we are all consumed by the brutal hand of time. At approximately 9:30 this morning I received a telephone call frog m Judy Doll and knew instantly what the conversation will be. About a year ago I was asked to write little stories about the heritage of Doll Brothers Racing, a family business that has existed for over 60 years.  In light of this invitation I was concerned that I could write about a sport and its people and get details and facts a close to correct as possible.  Over the last 12 months I have shared a few of my memories about DBR and tried to make it interesting but this insert will be different and very difficult. Some of you know me from years gone by [...]

October 26, 2019 By 0 CommentsRead more...

We Put The Wrong Gear In

1966 was the break-out season as Bud and Delmer came to Pennsboro with the 1956 Chevy with no idea what they were about to start.  I remember sitting on the hillside when Bob Boyles took his first laps in the car; they had selected the wrong rear gear ratio and it looked like the engine was coming apart when he went down the back stretch; it smoked real bad but as the day wore on they figured it out and had a good opening day.  The wins came quickly and often; running Pennsboro and tracks across the Ohio river Bob totaled 19 wins in the first season. Times were about to get even more interesting. The year of 1966 also saw Bud’s brother Marshall and Brooks Kennedy take over the racing of the #7 and hiring a friend of Bob’s, Tony Martin.  Tony did a good job if the car [...]

April 1, 2019 By 0 CommentsRead more...

Let’s goback to the year of 1965

Let's goback to the year of 1965; this season will prove to be pivotal in the future of DBR.  Delmer Delo and Bud Doll ran the season with a 1955 Chevy powered at times by a Pontiac V-8; reliability was a serious issue and other than just show-up and try to race nothing serious happened that would give a glimpse of what was just over the horizon. Charlie Hardbarger drove the car for them and other than a couple good weeks they could hardly have been considered a contender. Possibly the best remembered event of the summer of 1965 was the Sunday at Pennsboro that Charlie ran off  turn three and landed near the city sewage pond.  That was not a good day! The summer of 1965 was also darkened by the accident of Butch Markle at Pennsboro in the late summer.  It was my first time attending a race at Pennsboro [...]

April 1, 2019 By 0 CommentsRead more...

The DDR to DBR transition

In this addition of Doll Brothers Racing we will discuss how the deal evolved from the DeBrular and DeBrular/Delo connection into Doll Brothers Racing.  As the 50’s came to a close a new name appears.  Ed Doll who welded on the DeBrular and DeBrular/Delo coupes had a son that was off to do his stint in the US Military, Charles “Bud” Doll had always been interested in anything that went fast that he could make go faster.  It didn’t matter if it was a pair of roller skates a go-kart or car, if he could make speed he was on his game.  After Ed died from a heart attack and Bud returned home, he got a job with Carnegie as a mechanic.  Now Bud was already a good mechanic before his time in the Military, but his skills were honed while there so a job in the oil and [...]

March 21, 2019 By 0 CommentsRead more...

The Eldora Voyage(s)

Finally have time to get another story about Doll Brother Racing on paper and on the internet.  My goal has been to keep the inserts in a chronological order but I am going to veer off the beaten path for this one. I looked out early this morning to a cold, crisp, star lite morning and could not help but remember the many trips to Rossburg Ohio in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s.  We started traveling to Eldora usually in early March when Earl Baltes would do his best to get started as early in the month as possible.  All of the trips were with Bobby Boyles driving the car (#80) and usually doing quite well.  You must consider that the highway (Route 50) to Ohio was still on the old two lane road bed and then in Ohio you had to make the best of time on the [...]

March 21, 2019 By 0 CommentsRead more...

The Beginning of DBR

Well guy’s and gal’s after three weeks of consulting for a local agricultural company that has kept me overly busy I now have time to get back to the task as I promised, reliving the history of Doll Brothers Racing. During these three weeks I had the opportunity to meet with John Debrular and Delmer Delo to get as much of this story correct from the beginning. The beginning of DBR actually started in the very early 1950’s with a group of fellows from Greenwood WV just looking for someway to have a good time; remember, after the Korean War there really wasn’t much to do in the way of entertainment in the little town of Greenwood that had a population of around 200 people so Brady and Jim Debrular decided to go coupe racing. The original car was a 1950 Ford coupe with a flathead V-8.  Brady worked at the [...]

March 20, 2019 By 0 CommentsRead more...