TRIBUTE
Ronnie
‘The King’
Davis
R
onnie Davis, one of the pioneers of the
popular Top Sportsman class, passed away
Sunday, April 10th, as the result of injuries
suffered in a racing accident in North Carolina. He was 66.
Gregarious and outspoken, Davis was popular among his
peers, who gave him the nickname “the King” after he went
undefeated for more than three years at local events around
his home in Suwanee, Georgia. When the fast bracket racing movement began to gain traction in the 1990s, Davis
was at the forefront with his colorful 200-mph Corvette.
Davis’ many accomplishments included NHRA national event victories at the 2008 JEGS NHRA Northern
SPORTSnationals and the 2015 Amalie Motor Oil NHRA
Gatornationals and the 2010 NHRA Southeast Division
Top Sportsman championship. He was also a five-time
IHRA series champion and the reigning champion in the
PDRA series.
P H O T O G R A P H
B Y
Dr ag Illustr ated
For all of his on-track success, Davis’ most memorable
contribution to the sport may have come in 2002, when
he, working alongside then-NHRA Division 2 Director Bill
Holt, brought the Top Sportsman class to NHRA events.
Thanks in large part to Davis’ enthusiasm and flair for
promotion, the Division 2 Top Sportsman series proved
to be successful enough that the Top Sportsman and Top
Dragster classes were later adopted in NHRA’s six other
divisions. In 2015, another of Davis’ longtime ambitions
was realized when both categories were granted full NHRA
national championship status.
Davis supported the Division 2 Top Sportsman class from
its inception as a title-rights sponsor through his business
ventures, Davis In-Motion Satellite Systems and later Davis
Custom Golf Carts, which remains the class sponsor.
Davis is survived by daughters Michelle Seger and
Bridgett Medina, of Texas, as well as his longtime companion, Micki Dearing, of Suwanee. - NHRA MEDIA
M I K E
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