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| Through The Esses - Andrew Davis Grew Up To Be A Racer |
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11/26/07
© Andrew S. Harwell
Andrew Davis grew up in Georgia, in a town just a short drive away from Road Atlanta. As a young boy he spent many hours leaning against the fence at the bottom of turn 12 watching professional racers drive exotic prototypes as fast as they could make the cars go. At a very early age he decided he too had to be a racer and this young boy eventually did turn his fascination with racing into a vocation in racing.
With the support of his parents, Davis would come to graduate from high school - after several years of quickly pedaling bicycles in competition - and then graduate from what would for him be his finishing school' - the Skip Barber Racing School - to find himself working the wheel of a S2000 Sport Racer in SCCA events. In time, Davis would go on to faster rides and professional racing, but his path was never really a straight one. He took many turns - and many rides - along the way to becoming a proven commodity as someone who too could make race cars go really fast.
For the 2008 season, Davis will be running with Stevenson Motorsports in the team's brand new Pontiac GXP-R, in the GT class of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series. He will be joined by veteran racer Robin Liddell in the #57 car. Joining the team has reunited him with Liddell and a good friend in Stevenson Team Manager, Mike Johnson.
After many years of taking occasional rides when and where he could find them, Davis landed the opportunity to run long term with Jim Tafel and Tony Dowe at Tafel Racing. But, when that team pulled out of Grand-Am in favor of running in the American Le Mans Series, Davis found he was back to job hunting once again. But then his phone rang and Mike Johnson asked him to join the Stevenson Team for this season.
We had a conversation with this proud 30 year old professional driver and his confidence and commitment came through loud and clear. Davis is clearly on a fast track to stardom.
And to think, it all started with spending quality time with his father.
My father, Bill Davis, raced in SCCA club racing. When he started I was about five years old. He ran in F Production in regional races. We would travel around to the tracks in the southeast and at the same time, I was growing up right near Road Atlanta. We would go to all the pro races there and the runoffs. That's kind of why I am where I am today. I pretty much got the bug at a very early age.
IMSA GTP was big at that point in time and that series had me completely enamored at the age of six or seven. I watched guys like Hurley Haywood, Doc Bundy, Geoff Brabham, and Chip Robinson. I would stand by the fence at the bottom of turn 12 for almost the entire race. While the other kids would get bored or want to go off to play, I was so taken by these cars that I would just watch them lap after lap. And my brother and I would always go through the paddock trying to talk to the drivers.
The Porsche 962 had a lot to do with why I am in love with race cars so much. I thought that was just the coolest race car ever.
Unlike many young racers today, Davis did not spend years learning the art of speed in a go kart. No, his route took him on some dirt roads and all the horsepower had to come from his legs.
At an age when I should have been in go karts, I was instead racing BMX bikes. I did that for about five or six years. I was pretty successful and I really enjoyed that. It did a lot to bring out my sense of competitiveness and I learned a lot about racing with others.
His father could see that his son had talent, and that he possessed a competitive nature that is such an important ingredient in the makeup of a professional racing driver. Bill Davis helped his son put down his kickstand for the last time and be seated in a race car. And from then on, all his racing was done on pavement.
My dad eventually moved into a Sports 2000 car after having twice made it to the runoffs at Road Atlan
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