Donny the Racer
If Donny hadn't accepted the role of
Joseph in
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, he would probably be racing professionally now. After winning two amateur races, Chevrolet asked him to come to Michigan and be tested for the possibility of joining their professional team. He did so well there that they immediately asked him to race full time on the professional circuit. Donny had gone
as far as assembling a pit crew before the invitation to play "Joseph" came along, and after serious consideration, Donny chose the stage over the race track. Debbie (his wife) was happy about his decision.
It all began in February of 1991, when Donny began preparing for his first race, the Toyota Celebrity Grand Prix in Long Beach, California. Cathy Sosa described the race for Donny's fan club newsletter:
"On April 12th, Toyota had all the celebrities at the Long Beach race track to qualify for their race positions.
Donny drove car number 23, a white Toyota Celica with his name on the back, front and sides. During a radio show interview, Donny stated that this car was one of his favorites and it certainly proved to be so as Donny won position two for the start of the race the next day.
On race day, the drivers followed a lead car around the track twice to warm up their tires. When the race started, Donny and Craig T. Nelson from the show
Coach took off, with Craig in the lead. Approximately 100 yards later, it was Donny in front the entire race! He won, and he made it look easy! It was such an exciting event for everyone involved."
Donny, in the June 1991 D.O.I.N. newsletter, said of the experience, "One of the most exciting events in my life took place...on April 13th, when I won the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Grand Prix race. I can't even begin to put into words how it felt. You have to experience it to understand. It was great!"
Donny next took on the Texaco/Havalon Grand Prix race in August of 1991, in Denver, Colorado. In the December 1991 Network Newsletter, Elaine Swails wrote about her experiences at the Denver race.
"Saturday, August 24...Finally, the "big day" was here. The drivers would travel twelve laps around a 1.97 mile course. Donny took the race very seriously and had even walked (and jogged) the course seven times the night before. He had placed third out of 15 in the qualifying race, so he had a good starting position.
As soon as the green flag dropped, Donny shot out in front and led almost every lap. There were scary moments when the second place winner, local DJ Jaques Lazier, got ahead of Donny around the first turn. Both cars looked like they were going to collide. As soon as that happened, Donny floored it! He crossed the finish line several car lengths ahead as the checkered flag came down!
In October of 1991, Donny traveled to England to compete for his 3rd time in the Mazda MX-5 U.K. Championship race. In the March 1992 Network Newsletter, an article entitled, "Mechanical Failure
Halts a Champion" told the story of Donny's experiences there. Following are some excerpts:
"Donny arrived in England on October 2nd. The following day, Donny made an early start, keen to get in as much practice as possible in a right-hand drive car. With no particular destination in mind, he drove for hours before making his way back to London to visit a cancer ward set up by the Teenage Trust, the charity he would be racing for that weekend.
October 5th was practice day at Silverstone, and it was raining heavily, making track conditions very treacherous. Twice in the pouring rain and through the surface water, his car spun out. He later admitted it scared him and also caused him to drive more cautiously than he would have, finishing tenth of eleven. Even so, the driver he beat had more than twenty years of racing experience!
Before the race Donny spoke about about being in over his head and recognizing that he could end up a laughingstock if he came in last. But he was determined to give it his best efforts.
Then came the day of the race. Donny made a tremendous start, passing one car on the first turn, another on the second and was coming alongside a third when his car let him down. As he went to change gear from fourth to third going into a turn, nothing happened so he was forced to pull up. It was all over in less than two minutes. At first, he thought that the gear box had broken, but it turned out to be the clutch. Needless to say, he was terribly disappointed.
Because of the almost professional opposition, Donny had accepted that he had no chance of winning, but he had hoped to finish a respectable seventh. Well, he surely would have achieved that at the very least, as he had moved from tenth to seventh place in just half a lap! No other driver overtook as many cars as Donny did on the first lap.
He undoubtedly gained valuable experience, especially during the qualifying race, and through his participation, a large sum of money was raised for the teenagers suffering from cancer. The Teenage
Trust baseball cap he had worn on race day was auctioned off in aid of the charity and went to a Network [D.O.I.N.] member. On it Donny had written, "From the almost winner! Only in my dreams! Maybe next time?!" The car racing world certainly hasn't heard the last of our champion!
A very special *Thank You* to D.O.I.N. member, Beth Elliott for all of her help in compiling the information for this article.
