SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/555623
Back Into The Puppy In 1975, Fortin Sr. returned to racing in a one-off appearance for the "Puppy." New cubic inch per pound rules and a faux CJ2 body meant that his beloved creation could return to competition, but without any prosthetic ankles (he hadn't been fitted with them yet), it was a very painful drive to a fifth place at the Parker 400. Fearing the dominance that the car had previously produced, the competition banded together to petition the "Puppy" out of the class, leaving Fortin Sr. to move to a new car in 1976. That car was a single seat Chenowth Class 9, which he campaigned together with his friend, Unique Metal Products co-founder Donny Prim. The two were consistent class frontrunners for three seasons through 1978, even managing to pull off an unbelievable overall win at the WRA 350 in 1977. Fortin Sr. also briefly competed with friend Mario Alesi in a single seat Class 1 car in the early '80s, before building a 2-1600 buggy that would become the first race car for his son, Doug Jr. Doug Fortin Jr. Enters The Racing Family Like his father, Fortin Jr. started racing in go-karts but never really pursued that avenue heavily. Around age 15, he rode in a desert race for the first time in the aforementioned 2-1600 buggy, sitting shotgun alongside his dad at the SCORE Lucerne 250. "I probably picked up a lot of good things that I didn't think I was picking up at the time," Fortin Jr. recalls. A year later, at the very same race, Fortin Jr. moved over to the driver's seat, joined by one-time co-driver Chris Rose, and while he insists that he didn't get any flats, Fortin Jr. admits that all the wheels did come back square. "He hit every damn rock out there," Fortin Sr. says with a laugh. Not long afterward, Chenowth again came in to help the family, this time giving Fortin Jr. a single seat DR1 chassis, which he assembled in his dad's garage in just two weeks. "We got the chassis 14 days before the SCORE Fireworks 250," Fortin Jr. recalls, "and I had just finished my junior year of high school, FORTIN JR. BEGAN SHORT COURSE RACING IN 2007 IN THE PRO BUGGY RANKS; TODAY HE COMPETES IN THE TOP DIVISION, PRO 4, IN A 890HP TRIAD-POWERED TOYOTA 4WD. 064 SCORE JOURNAL