Remembering Doc Waldrop.

Richard “Doc” Waldrop

Born on the 4th of July, 1954 so far north that it will remain unnamed, Doc claimed New Orleans as his hometown. It wasn’t true, but we can’t argue with him now. He passed away June 8, 2021 in Hartwell, Georgia.

Doc was preceded in death by his parents, Claybourne Waldrop, Sr. and Avis Margaret Waldrop; his brother Claybourne Waldrop, Jr.; and his great niece, Roxy Trick. He is survived by his son, Nolan Waldrop; his favorite sister, Ann Trick; his nephews and niece Philip Trick, Justin Trick, Kristen Trick, and their families; his mother of his son, Shanna Paynter; cousins Had Howard and Tim Howard; and many other cousins.

At the suggestion of a judge, Doc volunteered to serve his country in the Navy and was stationed at NAS Miramar, California. He served on the USS Enterprise and participated in Operation Frequent Wind. After the Navy he attended the University of Texas at Arlington and earned his college degree at California State University Northridge.

His careers were highly varied, including race photographer, motion picture lighting, special event designer, and production manager. He was a highly respected member of the event industry and was honored with numerous awards, including the 2004 Dale Riggins Humanitarian Award, the 2008 Bob Blaesing CSEP Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2003 Spotlight Award for Technical Producer of the Year, and the 2005 Spotlight Award of Gratitude from Events Solutions Magazine.

Most recently he reveled in becoming a driver and owner of Brew Krewe Racing, as well as a board member and live color commentator for ChampCar Endurance Series racing.

His passion from an early age was racing cars and motorcycles, with which he would forever tinker or modify. Concrete, asphalt, dirt, or the mere semblance of a trail or road never deterred him from testing his limits or discovering how many bones he could break on any one encounter.

Most of all, he was the most blessed man on earth due to the extraordinary amount of friends he amassed over the years. His notorious wit, quick quips, and ready smile won over all who had the pleasure of his presence.

Bill Strong's Rememberance

Doc and I met a bunch of years ago at Sebring, where he set the FTD of the event by pitting next to my RSm team near the timing loop. He never let me forget that.

I loved working with Doc. He was a character. And a really funny one. Most don’t know that we faked pretty much every minute of the broadcasts. We just learned by experience. But one thing Doc did not fake was his preparation for each and every race.

He was well versed on who was racing, and what their past records were. I would get text messages from pitlane telling me that they had totally forgot some fact about them that Doc just stated on the show. He was amazing like that.

Doc hated when I would make fun of his roof mounted “dildo.”

Doc served in the U.S. Navy, stationed and living just a few doors away from my own home in San Diego. We were separated by 7 or so years in age, but we visited and did a lot of the same things in that area in the early to mid-1970s. He loved the F-14 Tomcat and was at Miramar when the Navy’s newest fighter was deployed for the first time. The Enterprise was his ship. He loved her.

I loved when I would point to him and make some old man joke, and then he would quickly fire back with a great comeback. He also knew how to poke me, and it was funny.

He was like an older brother to me. We fought, we argued, but we always came away as friends. There were times when I was his boss on the weekends, and he could not wait until Monday morning when he could set me straight as he was back to being one of my bosses as a board member.

And on the Board of Directors, he loved that job. But there were also some aspects of it he hated. But he did the work. He was the club’s statistician. The work Doc did helped ChampCar with elections, championships, and of course, with marketing. He learned on the fly like most of us do here at ChampCar.