Jay Doerr Ready For a Fun, Competitive OSCAAR Hot Rod Campaign

After showing he could get it done in the Super Stocks, Jay Doerr is ready to open the next chapter of his racing career, set to join The Fyre Place & Patio Shop OSCAAR Hot Rods presented by Bromley Automotive for the 2026 campaign.

The opportunity comes via fellow Robb Starr, who is currently out of the seat as a result of an accident at work a couple years ago. While admitting it will be an up-road battle in terms of performance, Doerr is appreciative of the opportunity. 

“It's still fun to be involved,” he commented. “We’re hoping to do as much as we can. We made a lot of changes to the car this year. We changed the rear end and the transmission. We had the motor dynoed and we're hoping to be a little bit more competitive than what the car's been in the past, 

“Mostly for us, it’s about having fun this year and getting back to some tracks I haven't raced at in a few years and going to all the tracks that you guys run on, which is great. But It's gonna be a race to race thing for us; we're not sure if we can complete the whole season or whatnot. It's more of a low budget team, and we're trying to take it one race at a time as our approach this year.”

Before becoming involved this year, Doerr admits being a fan of the division due to the different bodies throughout the field.

“Nowadays, the super stocks look the same as a late models and for the fan, it's hard to tell the difference between any manufacturers and whatnot,” he explained. “The hot rods are very filled with many different years of cars and body styles and steel. But don't get me wrong, underneath those bodies, they're still sophisticated racing machines and the guys who do their homework are definitely the guys that run up front. I'm super excited to be a part of it and see what the season brings.”

Looking at the schedule ahead, Doerr admits being excited to run Delaware Speedway as it his home track, but also has circled Sauble Speedway on the calendar. 

“We always ran well back in the OSS days, and the dwarf car days and even the modifieds,” he commented. “I'm really looking forward to getting back to Sauble.”

For Doerr, he has been around racing since the day he was born as a fan, repeatedly telling his father he wanted to be a part of it. He would get the chance at the age of 23. 

“That's why I ran the 43 for years,” he added. “My uncle who got us into going and spectating was a huge Richard Petty fan. So we ran the 43 for all those years, but basically a fan became a racer.” 

Through the years, there have been several highlights for Doerr in a variety of different divisions, including the special events at Delaware. 

“The big highlight in my career was when we passed Kurt Busch at Delaware when they came up to visit us,” he commented. “My father and I raced for 25 years together and then his health deteriorated, and I had to start racing on my own four or five years ago. In 2022, we decided to go full bar on our own and we bought us the super stock for Delaware and won the championship. So that's definitely a highlight. Also, the friends and people I've met along the way are way up there and highlights of my career as a whole over 32 years. It’s a combination of things. It's an addictive sport, as you know, and it's hard to quit. I've tried to quit a few times and keep getting dragged back in.”

With the experience he has gained through the years, his advice to someone getting started would be to keep learning and listening to the guys that have been around for a long time. 

“When I first got into it, I just tried to earn the respect of all the people that I raced with, and I've always raced people how they race me,” he commented. “I think these young kids coming in nowadays, if they race everybody how they want to be raced, you'll gain respect, and it'll just evolve from there.”