Champion Racers Influenced By Hoag
Lee Osborne, a former motorcycle racer, was Dutch Hoag's protégé for several years. He dated Hoag's daughter Donna from 1964 through 1966. In early 1965, he rebuilt an old Turner Brothers modified and began stock car racing. Osborne won 55 Modified features from 1965 through 1968. He then moved to Indiana to race Sprint cars, where he became a frequent winner and won the 1981 through 1983 championships of the All Star Circuit of Champions. After retiring from driving, Osborne became one of the top Sprint carbuilders. In the 1990s, Donna Hoag lost her husband to cancer, reunited with Osborne, and married him.
Geoff Bodine's first taste of Modified driving came in Dutch Hoag's car at Shangri-La Speedway, when Hoag let him try it in a practice session. Bodine worked on Dutch Hoag's crew in 1968 and 1969. In the 1969 Race of Champions, Bodine handed the wrong tire over the wall during a pit stop. This was a time when Modifieds ran very different tire sizes among the four corners, so Hoag had to make an extra pit stop. Bodine went on to win the first Race of Champions after it was moved from Langhorne to Trenton Raceway in 1972.
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