TS Points Leader Ronnie Davis Makes Astounding Offer

PITTSBORO, NC – There’s one event left in the PDRA’s sophomore tour, which means championships are on the line and a year’s worth of racing boils down to four short rounds. In Top Sportsman Ronnie “The King” Davis leads the pack, 185 points over current reigning champion Dan Ferguson. Ferguson has been no slouch competitor this year, leading the points from the season opener, where he won, up until the Memphis Drags. This means that the young, self-funded driver from Pennsylvania was the sole points leader for Top Sportsman for 13 consecutive races.

The weekend after the PDRA Dragstock event in Rockingham, N.C. Ferguson took his 2002 Firebird to Norwalk Raceway Park for the Shakedown at Norwalk. One fateful run, Ferguson clocked a 6.41 elapsed time at 210 MPH. Everything was smooth until he pulled the parachutes, and one got tangled in his wheelie bars sending Ferguson on two wheels and up against the wall. While he managed to walk away unscathed, the Firebird told a different story.

The green and orange machine would require extensive repairs, including a total front half rebuild. A setback of this magnitude could potentially keep Ferguson from defending his championship at the PDRA World Finals. When Ronnie Davis heard the news, his reaction was quite unlike anyone expected. He offered Ferguson his backup car.

“He’s a good kid – a hard worker. And I respect that,” told Davis. “If I win this thing, I want to win it. I don’t want it given to me. The car is here. It’s a good car. He’s like me- he’s going to want to run his own car that he’s more comfortable in, but the offer will stand.

“I don’t run that car at all,” Davis said of his backup car. “I got it out of what I call the moth balls two nights ago and started putting new belts in it, which I needed to do anyway. Dan and I are friends. He’s a young boy and I tried to help him some when he first got into racing. So we built a friendship.”

Ferguson does, indeed, prefer to race his own car and is working tirelessly to get it fixed in time for Virginia. Still, he says if he doesn’t get the Firebird repaired, he may take Davis up on his offer. “I can’t tell for sure if it’s going to be done in time for Virginia, but we’re trying our best.”

With Davis’ three-round points lead, Ferguson realizes that he’s got his work cut out for him in Virginia. “I might just try and get Ronnie first round and settle it there,” he continued. “In reality it’s going to be hard to win it, with only four rounds left. That’s why I say I might as well just go ahead and race Ronnie first round. If I beat him I got a chance, and if I don’t, he wins it.

“I’m very proud of what I’ve done so far. I’m competitive. I’ve got high standards for myself. I’m hard on myself. I recognize that I made a lot of mistakes this year, but whether I win it or not I’ll be proud of what I did.”

“You always go to win,” Davis said of his plans for holding on to the points lead and winning . “I don’t try to pull any shenanigans or deal with that. I let it sort itself out on the race track. I’ll have the car ready to go, show up and do the best we can do. Hope we have some blessings and let it fall where it falls. I hope Dan gets his car back together, but if for some reason he doesn’t, my orange car will be ready for him.”

Should Davis become the second-ever PDRA Top Sportsman World Champion, this would be his eighth championship (divisional and national titles) in his 25 year Top Sportsman career. Davis has been a pioneer in Top Sportsman, paving the way for the class to be admitted into NHRA competition. While Davis continues to run some NHRA events (he won the Gator Nationals this year), he says he prefers the competitiveness of PDRA.

“Even though I started Top Sportsman in NHRA in 2002 and have been the class title sponsor in Division 2 ever since, PDRA is still my favorite racing and probably all I’m going to do next year,” Davis relayed. “The [Traction] Twins can prep a track like nobody else. I enjoy the qualifying, a fast field. That’s what Top Sportsman used to be about. I like having a real quick 16 car field. It’s the baddest of the bad, in my opinion. Although NHRA is the bigger company and has been around since the ‘50s, you better bring your best stuff when you come over to PDRA. I’ve seen plenty of NHRA guys that say they can’t qualify in PDRA. I really like PDRA Top Sportsman. I like where it’s going. I think they’ve done a good job with it and it’s going to grow and grow and grow.”

For more information on the PDRA World Finals visit www.pdra660.com.