[Doug] Taylor, 72, passed away after a lengthy illness on March 25 in Naubinway, which is located in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Taylor is originally from Grand Rapids before moving to Naubinway about a decade ago, and his loss has been felt throughout the state’s motorsports and music communities.
Count the Grand Rapids Press among those who have shared Taylor’s story, doing so in an article on May 29, 1977. Taylor was smack dab in the middle of the pits during the Indianapolis 500 that day, helping out driver Gary Bettenhausen. Taylor had developed a two-way radio system that enabled drivers to communicate with their crews.
According to the article, the Taylor Communications & Electrics system offered a small hand-held radio that was fastened under the dash and attached to small speakers held in the driver’s ears by earpieces like those connected to hearing aids. That allowed him to chat with his the crew chief back in the pits.
“The driver now can radio his crew that he wants all four tires changed, the gas tanked filled and a drink of water,” Taylor told the Press. “The crew can be totally prepared and have the driver back on the track in as little as 15 seconds.”
Taylor’s system was used by drivers in the West Michigan area like Horvath up to NASCAR’s top competitors during the 1970s and ’80s.