Bristol Motor Speedway
Oregon series founder dies in highway accident
From newspaper and staff reports
Doug Walters
Doug Walters of Forest Grove, Ore., a key figure in the development of Dirt Late Model racing in the Northwest, died Aug. 28 in a highway accident in Hillsboro, Ore. He was 57.
Walters was driving an SUV on Thursday evening that careened off a highway, across a median, through several trees and into a nearby dumpster, according to the Forest Grove News-Times. Rescue crews extricated Walters from the vehicle and attempted to revive him, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Walters, whose driving career began in 1975 and continued through the late '90s on dirt and asphalt, continued to be active in racing after giving up the seat of his family-owned team to son Greg, one of Oregon's most successful Dirt Late Model racers. The elder Walters founded the Pacific Coast Dirt Late Model Series in 2003 and owns Sunset Speedway in Banks, Ore., a track he helped renovate three years ago. Besides fielding cars for Greg, a champion on the series that evolved into the Fastrak Pacific Coast Region tour, Walters and his T&G Trucking and Freight business sponsored several other Oregon drivers in recent years.
Sunset Speedway, which has has hosted several events on the Walters-promoted Coors Light Crate Dirt Late Model Series this season, planned to race as usual during the Labor Day weekend, according to the track website. "With heavy hearts, we'll race both Saturday night and Sunday afternoon as scheduled," the site said. "Doug made Sunset Speedway an awesome track, and we'll always remember him for his hard work and dedication to racing."
