What was once intended to help keep track of birdies and pars is now an over-stuffed record book of more than 2,000 drags Doug Love has had on his 2001 Triumph Bonneville, including his fastest ET of 12.620 while clocking in at 105.8 mph.
The record book was a present from Love's son to help him record his golfing scores, but golfing proved to be more of a hassle than a hobby, "I never golfed that much because it was too much of an adult Easter egg hunt. I'd hit the ball and it would go off into the bushes and I would go looking for it and I would come out with more balls than I went in with," said Love. But it was 23-years ago when Love realized that asphalt was better than golf course greens.
Novato native, Doug Love, first came out to Sonoma Raceway in 1993 when his son urged him to race his '68 four-speed, granny-shift Ford pickup. The Ford won him a fair amount of races, but it was the community and people that kept bringing Love back to Sonoma Raceway every Wednesday night. In 2006, Love started racing his '01 Triumph and is the same motorcycle that floods the pages of his drag racing binder with wins.
But Love does not credit his bike's speed for his success on the strip, "I've been told that going fast is more fun, but I have the slowest bike so I will never know about that speed stuff," said Love. Instead, he credits the rules of the game, "That's what's nice about bracket-racing, slow vehicles can race fast vehicles and still be able to be competitive BECAUSE THE LIGHTS EQUALIZE EVERYBODY."
Amongst friends, competitors, and the bright lights, drag racing is Love's favorite hobby, and for good reason. Love boasts the most wins in the motorcycle class, with 13 wins thus far in the 2016 season. One would think the dragster must have an ample amount of time and money in order to dominate their class. Love couldn't be more different, "I'm drag racing probably the cheapest way possible. I got a bike that I don't have to keep working on and it's pretty good on gas."
A binder stuffed with drag racing records initially meant for golf, and a drag strip that loves, well, Love, Sonoma Raceway is not getting tired of the dragster's triumphs. Last night, Aug. 31, Love finished first in the motorcycle class once again.