At the age of 20 years old, driver Doug McNair is quickly filling up his harness racing resume with wins and records. After becoming the youngest driver to record a $1 million season two years ago, the resident of Guelph, Ont. made history again on Tuesday, December 14 at Western Fair Raceway as he became the youngest driver to reach the 1,000-win mark

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Having come into Western Fair's Tuesday program with 999 career driving victories, McNair needed just one more victory to reach the milestone and stamp his name in the record books. He accomplished the feat in Race 4, as he won with Greystone The Grad for trainer Paul Roberts and owners Robert Watson of London, Ont. and Mike Bartram of Ingersoll, Ont.

"When I was up in your booth earlier (during Western Fair's pre-card show) I was looking at some of the old pictures and was thinking, 'Wow, it would be something to break the record after all these guys have driven since they were young,'" McNair said afterward in a trackside interview with Western Fair Raceway Assistant Racing Manager and Announcer Greg Blanchard. "It's a really big accomplishment, and it's just great and unbelievable."

The record was previously held by Matt Kakaley, who reached the 1,000-win milestone three months past his 21st birthday. McNair will turn 21 on December 29.

McNair also gave praise to his supporters, who have pushed him on and encouraged him every step of the way. "I would just like to thank everyone for supporting me, and phoning me, texting me, congratulating me," he said.

“I wanted to be a driver ever since I was little,” McNair said during a recent interview at the Meadowlands Racetrack. “I always thought I was going to be, but, looking back now, I don’t know how I thought I was ever going to be. It’s a lot harder than it looks.

“I’ve always been there [around the barn], ever since I was born, and he’s been a big influence on me,” Doug said about his father, trainer Gregg McNair.

Doug, who won his first pari-mutuel race aboard Eagle Kay at Western Fair in February 2008, has recorded 506 victories so far in his third year of driving while earning over $4.7 million in purses. No one has won more races in a calendar year prior to the age of 21, and only two drivers, Scott Zeron this season and Jordan Stratton in 2008, have won more than 500 in a campaign prior to turning 22. McNair’s 2010 win total places him second in the Canadian drivers standings behind Zeron and ninth in North America. Lifetime, McNair has banked over $9 million in earnings.

McNair’s early success on track has him considering a switch to driving on Canada's top circuit at the Woodbine Entertainment Group in the coming years. He is currently the leading driver at Western Fair, Grand River and Woodstock Raceway.

"We’ll see how it goes," he said. "It’s a lot of fun winning a lot of races but if you go down there it’s going to take awhile to start winning a lot of races. Hopefully, next year or the year after."