THE ROBBIE LEGACY
Some racing teams start with a business plan. DDR Motorsports started with grease under Doug Robbie’s fingernails and a dream taking shape in a Bellingham, Massachusetts garage.
From Crew Member to Team Owner
Before the #27 carried the Robbie name, Doug was the guy in the background, the crew member turning wrenches on NASCAR Whelen Modified Series teams for some of New England’s most respected names: Pasteryak, Meservey, Baldwin, Tomaino. While these legends battled for wins at Stafford, Thompson, and tracks across the Northeast, Doug was learning the craft. Not just how to make a Modified fast, but what it takes to build something that lasts.
2004: A Family Takes the Grid
By 2004, Doug had served his apprenticeship. He’d seen what worked, what didn’t, and what it took to compete. But more importantly, he’d caught the bug, and so had his kids.
That year, Doug traded his role as crew member for team owner. DDR Motorsports was born, named for Doug and his son Derek, but built for the whole Robbie family. At Little T Speedway, tucked in the turns of legendary Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, both Derek and daughter Danielle cut their teeth in Quarter Midgets.
This wasn’t about trophies. This was about Doug passing down something bigger: the knowledge, the work ethic, and the pure love of going fast.
Earning Respect One Lap at a Time
The Robbie approach has always been methodical. Start small. Learn everything. Move up when you’re ready. From Quarter Midgets to Micro Sprints to Pro4 Modifieds to tour-type Modifieds… each step deliberate, each car prepared in-house, each lesson learned the hard way on racetracks from Vermont to Connecticut.
Doug’s philosophy, forged in those years crewing for Modified royalty, remains unchanged: you earn respect in the pits before you demand it on the track. The #27 team shows up prepared, runs clean, and when things break, because in Modified racing, things always break, they fix it and come back stronger.
The Family Shop That Became a Racing Program
Today, DDR Motorsports campaigns their family-owned #27 tour-type Modified in the Modified Racing Series and other open competition events throughout New England. The same hands that started this journey still prepare the car. The same values that launched DDR in 2004- family, hard work, integrity – still define how the team operates.
When Derek straps into the #27, he’s carrying forward two decades of his father’s knowledge. When the team rolls into Monadnock, Claremont, or Star Speedway, they’re representing a family that’s earned its place in the New England Modified community.
The Next Chapter
As DDR Motorsports eyes a potential move to the NASCAR Whelen Tour, the same series where Doug once turned wrenches for others, the circle feels complete. The kid who grew up in those pits, who learned from the best, who built a team from nothing, is now positioning his family’s program to compete at the highest level of Modified racing.
Doug Robbie didn’t inherit a racing legacy. He built one. One weekend at a time. One wrench turn at a time. One family moment at a time.
And in New England Modified racing, where authenticity is currency and respect is earned in oil-stained garage bays, that means everything.