Doug Randolph graduated from the University of Tennessee with a degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology.
 
So it was only natural that the Morristown, Tennessee, native eventually found employment in racing.
 
“I use it every day,” Randolph said, grinning.
 
If you think he’s kidding, think again.

“The definition of wildlife biology is it’s a science and it’s an art, manipulating habitat for animals. To me, racing is the same way,” said Randolph, crew chief for driver Tyler Reddick and the No. 29 Cooper Standard Ford for Brad Keselowski Racing in NASCAR’s Camping World Truck Series. “If you go into it 100 percent engineering driven, and you forget the art of it, the pumping your driver up, assessing where his head is, you might not be able to pull off the success you want. For sure, that definition plays a huge role in racing I think.”
 
Reddick is eighth in points following two straight top 10s — a seventh-place finish at Dover and a fourth-place showing at Charlotte. Teammate Daniel Hemric is third in the standings.
 
Randolph didn’t set out to become a crew chief, but he did hope to be involved in racing in some capacity.
 
And not just videotaping local races from the top of a press box in an effort to lure fans to the local pizza join for viewing and a meal later. Yeah, he really did that.
 
“One of my best friends worked for Mr. Gatti’s Pizza and we went around to softball games, local races and videotaped them,” Randolph said. “Then we’d try to convince people at the games or races to eat at Mr. Gatti’s and watch the replays.
 
“He and I would get on top of the press box. He would video and I would sit there and drink beer, to be honest. But those were good times.”
 
Randolph has served as crew chief in all three of NASCAR’s national series, winning in the NASCAR XFINITY Series with drivers Scott Riggs and Clint Bowyer, as well as the Camping World Truck Series with Ryan Blaney, Keselowski and Reddick. There were near-wins in Sprint Cup, second-place finishes at Bristol (with Jimmy Spencer) and Talladega (with Paul Menard).
 
But his start came with a local standout, L.D. Ottinger, a Newport, Tennessee-based driver. Randolph was on the crew in 1990 when Ottinger won an event in what is now known as the XFINITY Series at Bristol Motor Speedway. It was in that race that Michael Waltrip survived one of the most devastating crashes in NASCAR, his car exploding after striking the exposed corner of the outside wall.
 
“Nobody will ever remember who won the race; they’ll always remember the wreck,” Randolph said. “L.D. wasn’t the first one by the wreck, but he took everyone down pit road. And when he did, he said ‘He’s dead.’ He said it three times.
 
“They red-flagged the race … it was hard.”
 
Incredibly, Waltrip was not injured.
 
The time spent working for Ottinger helped lay the foundation for what was to come. “Probably one of the best people for somebody that didn’t know anything about racing to learn from,” Randolph said, “because his attention to detail. I’d be putting the fender decals on and one might be just a little crooked. He’d say, ‘You’ve got to fix that’ and I’d say, ‘They can’t see it from the stands.’ He’d say, ‘Yeah but I’ll be driving around the race track worried that that thing’s crooked.’ “
 
Understanding professors helped Randolph complete his college education while still heading to the race tracks each weekend. Eventually, he made the decision to “do this racing gig for a year or two.
 
“L.D.’s led into going to Junior Johnson’s and, man, once you’re there, how do you leave racing?,” Randolph said.
 
Johnson, an inaugural member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame and one of the sport’s legendary figures, won 50 times as a driver, and nearly three times that often as an owner (132 all told).
 
Randolph’s first job as crew chief came in 2001, at Bill Davis Racing with driver Dave Blaney. Eleven years later, he helped guide Blaney’s son, Ryan, to the win in a Truck Series race at Iowa.
 
He’s found a home in the series, and a home at Brad Keselowski Racing.
 
“When you’re Cup racing, that is your life,” Randolph said. “You have no (other) life. I’ve got a wonderful wife, wonderful kids. Truck racing came for me at a point in my life when my daughter was in high school playing every sport imaginable. I missed a lot of that with my son. It was great to experience it with my daughter. …
 
“We’re very lucky here that Brad has given us an organization with a definite vision that’s different. He wants to give back to the sport and he’s given us the freedom to go and do it. We have a great group of guys that support each other. It’s a lot of fun. If you’re Cup racing and you’re not one of those first five guys, you’re not having any fun.”
 
But there’s stress at every level of racing, and that’s “what you hope for,” he admitted. “You hope there is a stressful situation and you and your driver and your team can get through it better than the next guy.”