Mark Douglas
It is not exactly breaking news to point out that racing is an expensive endeavor. That has always been the case. But over the most recent few years the cost of maintaining any type of race car, and particularly a Super Late Model, has skyrocketed.
Unfortunately, the ever increasing cost of racing has claimed another victim. Veteran east Tennessee star Mark Douglas has decided to terminate his racing operation effective immediately according to longtime crew member Cary Frazier.
Douglas Motorsports competed on the dirt tracks of east Tennessee from 1997 through 2017 with noteworthy success. Douglas was the track champion at Smoky Mountain Speedway in Maryville during the 1999 season and added titles from the Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap during the 2002 and 2003 campaigns.
According to Frazier, the team is being forced to cease operations due to family health concerns, the difficulty associated with being an independent team trying to keep up with expensive and ever changing technology, and the overall rising costs associated with the sport.
“They will sell all of their equipment,” Frazier pointed out. “However, Mark would still drive if someone asked him to do so.”
Douglas’s efforts did not go unnoticed by fans around the area as he was voted the most popular driver at Volunteer Speedway on multiple occasions throughout his career. That career has produced more than 50 feature wins and countless thrilling moments.
Douglas’s familiar No. 52D machine
