by Amy Silver, publicity director, Meadowlands Racetrack

East Rutherford, NJ — Doug McNair will make at stop at Meadowlands Racetrack this weekend on his quest to become the youngest driver to reach 1,000 career wins.

Entering Thursday, the 20-year-old Canadian needed six wins to supplant Matt Kakaley as the youngest driver to arrive at the milestone. He will have ample opportunity to do so this weekend. McNair is booked to drive seven horses on Friday night and another nine on Saturday at the Meadowlands. His weekend in New Jersey also includes driving at Freehold.

McNair, the son of trainer Gregg McNair, is the leading driver at Western Fair Raceway in London, Ontario.

“They’ve been snowed out this week, and I decided to try the Meadowlands Friday and Saturday,” he said. “Driving there has been something I’ve always wanted to do. I was going to take the rest of the year off, but we have a horse racing down there with trainer Tom Shay on Saturday. He suggested I should come down. This year has been a dream come true, so this is kind of the cherry on the top.”

McNair, whose birthday is Dec. 29, has already made history as the first driver under the age of 21 to win 500 races in a season. He reached the mark on Tuesday, Dec. 7, at Windsor Raceway. McNair also teamed with Aracache Hanover, one of his father’s trainees, to win the $525,120 Confederation Cup Final at Flamboro Downs and the $200,000 Windy City Pace at Maywood this year.

“Winning (those races) with Aracache Hanover were the biggest thrills. At Flamboro Downs, both of my dad’s horses drew posts one and two in the (Confederation Cup) final. I drew the rail and Stonebridge Tonic had the two-hole, while the other heat winner, BG’s Folly, got post seven in an open draw. It was just meant to be that day. In the final, I knew I had the best horse. I thought Aracache could leave hard enough, but I kind of rushed him out of there and he wasn’t real sound at the time. He had never made a break in his life. He came right back pacing and things worked out.

“In the Windy City Pace, I didn’t know for sure if One More Laugh was coming up behind me, and suddenly I realized there was a passing lane there at Maywood Park. I backed in to him a little bit around the last turn, I had them right where I wanted them and it couldn’t have worked out any better there.”

McNair began his driving career in 2008 and ended the year as the youngest driver ever to hit the $1 million mark in earnings at the age of 18. His star continued to rise in 2009, as he racked up 384 wins and $2.8 million in purses won. This season, he has surpassed $4.5 million while capturing driving titles at Western Fair, Grand River Raceway and Woodstock. He credits his father’s guidance and support as being instrumental to his success.

“My dad puts me down on pretty much every horse he trains. When he tells me I’m going somewhere to drive one of his, I go. I was working with my dad in the mornings up until this year and now I’m just concentrating on driving. My immediate plans are to stay in London, Ontario, and spend two or three days a week on the Woodbine-Mohawk circuit.

“I had some aspirations to be a professional hockey player, and I actually don’t know how I thought I was going to be a driver. I look back now and I wonder how it all happened because I discovered it’s a lot tougher than it looks.”

McNair will be the featured guest on In The Sulky, Meadowlands Racetrack’s popular pre-card television segment, on Saturday night. Fans can e-mail questions for the young driver to answer on-air to racing@thebigm.com. The broadcast begins at 6:30 p.m. on the Paddock Level television set. Fans can also watch the live video on www.MeadowlandsRacetrack.com.