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| February 08, 2006 News |
| EKN Top 50 Drivers: #49 - Mike Doty |
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 | | Mike Doty was a cool customer wherever and whatever he ran |
Through the 80’s and 90’s, one of the most feared names in American karting was Mike Doty. A bulldog of a driver, Doty drove hard and his stacked resume of championships in both WKA and IKF competition have earned him a well-deserved place in our All-Time Top 50. From four-cycle to two-cycle, sprint tracks to street circuits, Doty has proven his mettle against the best in the business.
To begin, let’s have a look at Doty’s staggering statistics. In the WKA record books, you’ll find Mike’s name alongside over 20 national championships in both two and four-stroke racing. His IKF docket is equally as impressive with ten Duffys enjoying a mantle position in his Middletown, NY home. Doty earned his IKF Expert status in both two-cycle and four-cycle in his first year of Senior competition, capping his career with his ninth Duffy, this one in Reed/Rotary Heavy at the 1996 Grand Nationals at Oakland Valley. Along the road, street race wins piled, including a victory at the legendary Elkart Grand Prix.
Doty began his career in late 1986, running a Reed/Rotary Junior on dirt. He quickly migrated to the sprint scene in ’87, running WKA and IKF Regionals for four years, winning his first WKA Manufacturer’s Cup title in 1989 when he captured the Jr. Restricted crown. Top IKF honors came the very next year when he took home his first Duffy.
One of the keys to Doty’s success was his long-time association with respected chassis man John Baio. The duo hooked up and hit the road in 1987 as Doty began a long run competing with Emmick chassis, qualifying second and finishing third in Jr. 3 at the IKF Grand Nationals, which were held at Oakland Valley Raceway Park in Cuddebackville, NY that year.
Although an Emmick chassis was underneath Doty in those formative years, he is most notably attached to the Margay brand. Following a pitside meeting with karting legend Tom Nields at the first Marshalltown, IA IKF Grand Nationals in 1991, the two struck up a relationship that put Doty on one of Nield’s own TNR chassis for a year before he partnered with Margay on the design. The fast-forward button for Doty and Margay was hit when Nields was unable to make a planned event at Barnesville in 1992, prompting Margay boss Keith Freber to put Doty in the car thanks to Nield’s urging. Doty proceeded to put the car on pole before going on to challenge for the win, losing the race after contact with Joey Lunati.
 | | Doty was a top Margay man for many years |
The wheels had been put in motion, however, and Doty would begin travelling with the team, spending his summers either on the road or at the company’s Missouri shop. In the six years that he ran for the St. Louis manufacturer, Doty won the bulk of his Duffys, also tearing up the street circuits on the East Coast and Midwest. He and Baio also played a key role in the development of the first Margay Brava 1, a platform that continues to be the foundation for the manufacturer’s chassis line.
"Mike was always a blast to work with...you just knew that at the end of the day, he was going to make it happen," offered Freber, when discussing Doty with the EKN staff. "Certainly, a key component of Mike's success was having John Baio as his wrench for many years. The combination of Doty, Baio and Bill Bonsignore or Lynn Haddock engines were just about impossible to beat in the mid-1990's. Mike won both two and four cycle IKF Nationals and was always the one to beat wherever he ran. He was full of cool confidence in the kart and a real character out if it. Truly, he one of the guys that makes karting enjoyable and we were always thrilled to be associated with Mike, Big Mike and Baio."
The introduction of the annual North American Karting Championships and subsequent WKA Constructors Championship gave Doty a chance to shine. At the ’95 NAKC, a top trio was put together with Doty in the seat of a factory Margay Brava 1 Formula A entry, Lynn Haddock on the motors and Baio looking after the chassis. This would the Doty’s finest hour at the NAKC as after qualifying well, a DNF in the final heat put him 26th for the Prefinal against some of the world’s best, including Giorgio Pantano, Dan Wheldon, and Jenson Button. In the Prefinal, Doty drove to an amazing sixth before attacking in the main to set the second fastest lap behind Pantano. A crash with Wheldon took out both Doty and Button, but the performance was duly noted.
At the end of 1996, Doty accepted a lucrative offer to join the Fullerton North America group after hooking up with Bradford Miller and son Brandon. Mike worked closely with young Brandon and played an integral role in his development as a driver. This step to the training side of the sport led to the end of Doty’s active kart racing career in 1998 when the opportunity arose to take control of the karting school and corporate program at Oakland Valley. The veteran opened the Mike Doty Driving School and kept his racing fix satiated with a spec truck stock car deal at the local Northeast oval tracks. With his karting heyday behind him, it was time to settle in on a full-time career.
These days, the Doty continues to run the school at OVRP – full-time through summer – and he has also recently purchased the Victory Lane Bar & Grill in Middletown. Racing dirt modifieds at Orange County Speedway for the last year and a half, the competitive fire still burns inside this young man.
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