Beyond the Cockpit: Graham Doyle on the Beginning of Something Special

For all intents and purposes, Graham Doyle is still relatively new to major motorsports. His primary ride is the No. 10 Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo in Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America for Wayne Taylor Racing alongside Danny Formal. He also serves as the third driver for WTR’s No. 45 Lamborghini in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship alongside Formal and Trent Hindman.

This weekend, Doyle will make his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut at Lime Rock Park for TRICON Garage in its No. 5 Toyota. Our own Phil Allaway sat down with Doyle at Watkins Glen International to talk about how this opportunity came about, his racing background and his future desires.

Phil Allaway, Frontstretch.com: A couple of weeks ago, TRICON Garage announced that you’re going to make your Truck debut at Lime Rock. How did that opportunity come together?

Doyle: My manager since I started is a guy named Jeff Burton, a NASCAR driver himself who just got inducted in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. A legend of the sport.

This all came about because NASCAR went to St. Pete this year for the first time this year, my home race. I live in Clearwater, which is a 20-minute drive. I was super-interested in going to that. He has a son that races in the [NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series] and he’s been a Toyota driver forever.

I was able to meet a lot of the guys at TRICON Garage and TRD. We really just got to talking and we spoke about … how my knowledge of road courses could help them. I was fortunate enough to get onto the sim at the TRD shop and showed them what I could offer the team. They were able to find me a race at Lime Rock. It’s going to be my first race for the year.

Allaway: Is this going to be a one-off, or is there possibly going to be more this year?

Doyle: I’m going to leave that question open-ended. We’re not really sure, but it’s definitely not going to be a one-off thing for me. This is building towards something for my racing career. Lime Rock’s going to be the start of something great.

Allaway: Have you ever raced at Lime Rock?

Doyle: No, I haven’t. Only on the sim. This will be my first time at Lime Rock in person and my first time racing a Truck at Lime Rock. It’s a lot of firsts coming up soon.

Allaway: It’s going to be interesting. Might be a little tough to pass since the Trucks are quite wide.

Doyle: The Trucks definitely make Lime Rock a little narrow. But I’m up to the challenge. I know I’ve got the best team behind me and the best manufacturer in Toyota behind me.

I’m not going to give myself any high expectations, to be completely honest. It’s the first event of hopefully many to come. I want to get in the truck, [run] some laps and learn it. Same adage that I had when I got in the GT3 car for the first time. We’re not going out there to be blisteringly fast. It would be nice, but we’re here to learn. We’re going to figure this [truck] out, how are we going to make passes, how can I manage tires since it’s completely different. It’s all about figuring it out and going forward.

Allaway: Is the plan to try to make the switch to NASCAR full-time, or potentially get into WeatherTech full-time?

Doyle: I guess that’s the big question. Unfortunately, NASCAR does overlap with WeatherTech on many occasions. The Truck Series doesn’t for most endurance events, so that’s something to look at. That will all boil down to what the next three to four years look like for me. What does the next three to four years look like for WTR with the GTD program? What does the next three to four years look like, hopefully racing more with Toyota and TRICON? That’s a bridge that we’ll cross when we get there.

Allaway: What kind of racing had you done before Super Trofeo?

Doyle: Nothing professional, honestly. Some go-karting here and there, but nothing on the scale of what Danny did in go-karting.

What really got me into it was during COVID, everyone was locked down. What’s better to do than to hop on a sim and start racing on a simulator. I did that a lot and I was fortunate enough to rediscover… my passion for motorsports that I’ve had my whole life.

I was fortunate enough working with Wayne Taylor to get interested in Super Trofeo and started testing when I was 15 years old.

Allaway: In Super Trofeo, you started off in LB Cup there. Is that mainly for people that are new to motorsports?

Doyle: That’s a development class for those new to motorsports, or gentleman drivers. That was a place where I could come in. While you’re on-track with the pros, there’s a lot less pressure. You’re not at the front of the field and you can develop yourself as a driver.

I [stepped] up to the Am class the following year, which was a bit of a rude awakening. We didn’t have the best year in 2024. Followed up it with last year, which was great. We won the [Am] championship, won five races. We were competitive every weekend.

Now, in the Pro-Am class with Danny, we’re just continuing to build and build.

Allaway: As of right now, you’ve won all four races.

Doyle: Can’t complain about that.

Allaway: This is year four for you in Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America. The cars have more or less been the same over that time period. How much have you learned as a racecar driver in that time?

Graham Doyle: I can’t give it enough credit. You learn so much in these cars because, unlike the GT3 cars, the Super Trofeo car has over 100 more horsepower, it doesn’t brake as well, doesn’t corner as well. It’s just [a] super-fun rocketship and you’re also racing against the same [car], so it’s not a BoP racing thing where you know going into the race, ‘OK, we’re going to be faster on the straights, so we’ll have to pass there, or we’re going to be better under braking like we do in GT3.’

It’s more all-out racing, pure racing, which is great. You’re door-to-door for the entire race, start to finish. It’s a smaller, shorter format with two drivers that can share the car. I’m honored this year to be sharing with Danny Formal. He’s been working with me since day one when I joined the team four years ago.

It’s just unbelievable how much you learn in these cars and how much it translates to the GT3 car and any other car that you get into. It helps everywhere.

Allaway: How do you have to adjust your driving when you get into the Huracan GT3 EVO2, as opposed to the Huracan Super Trofeo?

Doyle: The GT3, you can break so much deeper with the brake package; you can carry so much more speed into the corners with the aero advantage you find with that car and Michelin tires.

Going back to the Super Trofeo, you have so much more speed on straights, so you’re managing that as opposed to the GT3, where [it seems like] everything’s coming at me slower, which gives me more time to think and make changes with the car; the car requires more changes.

Super Trofeo, everything’s coming up so quick, so you have less time to make a fast change. It’s sort of like driving a shifter kart. Everything’s happening rapid-fire instead of being a bit more delayed like the GT3. That is nice for a long-formatted race since it’s not so taxing on your body. I get out of the Super Trofeo car after a race and I’m … not beat up, but you can feel it.

I’m like ‘Wow, that was a good race.’ You get out of a GT3 car after a double or triple stint, and yes, you’re tired, but you feel the same. It’s crazy the translation there.

Allaway: Earlier this year, I talked with your teammate Trent Hindman and he described Danny Formal as a go-kart legend. What’s it like having him as your teammate this season in Super Trofeo?

Doyle: It’s unbelievable. Four years ago when I started [at WTR], Danny was immediately there [and] immediately helping me. I’d never raced in a true car race. Danny immediately helped me find the pace. Being able to share the car with a legend like himself, he has the most Pro wins ever, World Championship last year. Being in the same car and sharing feedback, I’ve seen myself jump leaps and bounds this year just in setup ideas from working with Danny that closely.

Allaway: In addition to Super Trofeo, this is your second year in the No. 45 for the Michelin Endurance Cup races. When you first got the chance to race the Huracan in WeatherTech, what was your thought process at the time?

Doyle: It was surreal. First place I drove it was at Daytona, so that was surreal in general. The first race I ever went to as a child was the Daytona 500, then I remember going to the Rolex 24 at Daytona that same year with my dad.

Allaway: What year would that have been?

Doyle: The Daytona 500 was in either 2010 or 2011 with my dad. I would have been four or five years old. Going to the Rolex 24 with my dad, probably 2011, 2012, 2013. I went every year.

I’d been to that track all my life, so being able to drive on it was unbelievable. Driving with such a great team and a car that was great [made it better].

Watkins Glen was a mixed bag for Doyle. In WeatherTech, it was miserable. Fuel pressure issues in practice resulted in a red flag. Qualifying was swell as Doyle qualified sixth in GTD. However, the race was terrible. Doyle started the race, but had left-rear issues 10 minutes into the race. That ruined the team’s day and ultimately ended their race early.

In Lamborghini Super Trofeo, Doyle and Formal kept up their strong form, scoring their third straight weekend sweep. They currently hold a 36-point lead over Lindsay Brewer and Keawn Tandon.