NHRA sportsman racers are some of the most diehard and talented drag racers in the world, and winning an event at the divisional or national level is tough, but winning a world championship is on a different level of difficulty. Allison Doll fought through adversity in 2019 and earned a world championship in Stock Eliminator behind the wheel of her 1998 B/SA Firebird.

Doll isn’t an overnight sensation in the drag racing world, she has put the time in behind the wheel to develop her skills as a driver. She even works for a company heavily rooted in drag racing, Portatree Timing Systems, so Doll really lives a life built for racing. The funny thing is that none of this might have happened if her brother hadn’t first gotten into the sport of drag racing.

“I started racing Jr. Dragsters and I actually didn’t like it, I was pretty scared around the cars. My brother started racing a few years after I was supposed to start, and he was having so much fun that I decided to give it another try. My dad has always raced in Super Stock, so both of us stepping up into Stock was just a natural progression,” Doll explains.

If you talk to any sportsman racer who has chased points at the national level the first thing they will tell you is how much of a grind it really is. You have to be very strategic in what regional and national events you enter, plus you also have to be able to go rounds at these races if you even want to be in the hunt for a title. Even if you do all of that, you still need some luck to help push you over the edge if you want a shot at holding the big trophy at the awards banquet in California after the world finals.

Now that Doll has her own world championship, she fully understands just what it takes to earn that big number one that a racer gets to wear on their car for a season.

“The hard part you face is the mental preparation, whether it’s racing for a divisional championship or a world championship. Once you start doing well in points people start bringing it up to you a lot so that can add pressure. It comes down to being able to stay calm and stay in your own happy mental state. There’s a lot of background work as well, like working on the cars to make sure they’re running as good as possible so they can do their job,” Doll says.

As you can see, winning a championship takes more than just a fast car. In the world of Stock Eliminator class racing, you need a ride that can be very consistent on any given race weekend. The challenge of staying consistent is just one of the things Doll enjoys about Stock class racing.

“I love the diversity the class offers. You’re not going to race the same cars or people each week, it makes the experience a lot of fun. There are racers from all over the country that you get to meet and the cars are just way cool, too. I would love to race Super Stock eventually…it may seem like a baby step, but both classes are very different so I want to give that a try. I’m really open to anything, I would be happy if my husband would give me a chance to race his dragster once in a while, too,” Doll states.

The joy of winning the world championship still hasn’t lost its shine for Doll yet. She still relishes in the feeling of accomplishment she has from winning and she appreciates those who helped make it happen.

“I’m really thankful for my mom, dad, brother, and husband, they all help things work, and without them, it wouldn’t be possible to do what we do. Winning the world championship in Stock was incredible, I still can’t fully put it into words what it was like. Everything went right last year that needed to, things just came together when they needed to, and it was such a great experience,” Doll says.

Sometimes things were just meant to happen, maybe Allison Doll sticking with racing was just one of those things. By getting back into the sport with her brother Doll set the stage for a career around the sport and the chance to make some great memories while earning a world championship.