This young man has certainly surrounded himself with some talent:
Doggett balances college, auto racing for fast paced life
Credit: Ken Childs
Taylor Doggett goes to classes on weekdays, races in NASCAR's Whelen All-American Series on weekends.
By: Billy Fellin | Richmond Times-Dispatch
Published: March 15, 2012
Taylor Doggett, a 19-year-old business major at Bridgewater College, likes to go against the grain.
While many college students want to spend their weekends on campus, Doggett spends most of his off campus.
When many of his classmates may want life to slow down, Doggett loves when his life is going fast.
Unlike his friends, Doggett has a unique set of responsibilities that occur far away from Bridgewater.
"To be racing at such a young age, it's not very common in this area, but it's common around the United States," Doggett said. "It's kind of a youth movement in NASCAR and a lot of young guys are getting their start in the series below and above us."
Doggett races in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series, which features late-model cars.
"I mainly stay in the Virginia area and I usually race at South Boston Speedway," he said. "I love it down there, love the people."
Doggett drives for Jim Dean Motorsports and Sellers Racing, where success follows both organizations.
His teammate at Sellers, Phillip Morris, won the 2011 Whelen All-American national championship. Doggett recorded three top-five finishes and five top-10s in five starts last season.
Jim Dean had a large influence on another NASCAR driver from Virginia.
"(Dean) was actually pretty influential with Denny Hamlin," Doggett said. "To even be associated with him is very inspirational and motivational."
Despite his comfort with driving over 100 miles per hour in a race car, college came with challenges for Doggett.
"I felt like it was a struggle in the beginning, with the whole transition," he said. "I guess every freshman goes through that, though."
The racing season started last Saturday, which just happened to fall in the heart of the spring semester.
"It's going be a tough thing to do, to be able to handle the load of having the responsibility to race a race car and keep yourself in shape and mentally capable of driving something that fast and keeping your grades up in college," Doggett said.
Doggett would prefer to reach the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, but is working on a business degree as a backup plan.
"Hopefully, I will be able to use that business degree with something to do with energy," he said. "I really feel like that's where I want to put my skills to the test if the racing deal doesn't pan out the way we want to."
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"Any Day is Good for Stock Car Racing"
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:09:31PM