If you look at Bill Davis’ time as an owner in NASCAR’s national ranks, you will see 40 wins across the NASCAR Cup, Xfinity and Craftsman Truck series.
You’ll see the names of some of the most successful and some of the most beloved drivers in the sport.
You’ll see a testament to the hard work behind growing a team in the Cup Series and in winning its most iconic race.
You’ll see a champion.
And yes, you’ll see what might have been, too.
Above all, you’ll see a man who loved the sport.
Davis grew up watching his father sell big-rig trucks in Arkansas, and he eventually started his own trucking and logistics company. One of his early business associates and mentors was Julian Martin, out of Batesville, whom Davis credited with helping him get started in the trucking industry.
Martin also introduced him to another industry entirely: racing.
While Julian Martin’s son, Mark, was running in the Cup Series for Jack Roush, Davis fielded a then-Busch Series car for him on a part-time basis in 1988. They had mixed success; Martin won at Rockingham Speedway in only their second race, but also had six DNFs, five of them for engine-related issues.
Davis fielded Martin in partial seasons in 1989 and 1990, winning one race each year, but it was his next driver that would turn heads, and make fans wonder how things might have been different. Davis went full time in the series in 1991, winning Rookie of the Year honors with a young driver from the sprint car ranks named Jeff Gordon.
Gordon won three races in 1992, and Davis was planning a jump to the Cup Series in 1993 with Gordon.
Both Davis and Gordon were Cup racing in 1993, but not together. Gordon moved to Hendrick Motorsports, where he won 93 races and four titles. Davis put another rookie in his car, 1991 Busch Series champion Bobby Labonte.
It’s easy to see losing Gordon as a failure, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. Davis’ pockets weren’t nearly as deep as Rick Hendrick’s, so it’s entirely likely that Gordon would not have had the same career trajectory with Davis. He’d have been successful, but it’s impossible to call Davis’ efforts a failure, because while Hendrick was winning races, his team and drivers weren’t winning the hearts of race fans.
That’s an exaggeration, obviously, because Gordon and his teammates had plenty of fans, but Davis also gained plenty of them. Many pulled for him as the spurned owner that Gordon ditched for greener pastures, but Davis gained even more of them thanks to another young driver.
After Labonte moved on, Davis fielded a number of drivers in 1995. One of them, a likable youngster named Ward Burton, brought Davis his first Cup win. Again at Rockingham, Burton won by almost two seconds, beating a top five that included Hall of Famers Rusty Wallace, Martin and Terry Labonte, along with Burton’s kid brother, Jeff.
With Burton, Davis became popular as an owner for the drivers he put in his cars. They, like Davis, became lovable underdogs, among them Hut Stricklin, Kenny Wallace, Dave Blaney and Scott Wimmer. Fans pulled for them — and Davis — because they liked them, plain and simple. They weren’t the richest or the biggest names, but they were drivers fans could pull for, and because of that, they pulled for Davis to succeed, too. He was the anti-Hendrick, drawing fans to a team that didn’t have the most stuff but who got the most out of their stuff. Even if Burton wasn’t their main driver, it was hard to find a fan who didn’t like him — and by extension, his hardworking, blue-collar team and owner
Despite his underdog status, Davis had his share of success. He won the 2002 Daytona 500 with Burton behind the wheel.
Davis continued to field cars in what’s now the Xfinity Series through 2004. His most successful season in that series came in 2002 with Wimmer winning four races and finishing third in the standings. He wrapped up his time in that series with top-10 points finishes in 2003 with Wimmer and 2004 with Kenny Wallace.
At the same time, Davis was ramping up in the Truck Series, fielding his first entry in 2004. As with his Cup and Xfinity teams, he was popular with fans for the drivers he fielded, among them Blaney and Bill Lester and even a very young AJ Allmendinger for his NASCAR debut.
His teams posted top-five points finishes five times, including 2007, where his drivers finished second and third in the final standings.
Then came 2008. With his teams increasingly struggling to find funding, Davis would shutter his operation at season’s end. But he’d end the year as a champion as well, winning the Truck title with Johnny Benson Jr., yet another driver whom the fans pulled for week in and week out.
Davis would return to run his trucking business, his first love along with his wife Gail. There, too, he was a David among the Goliaths of the industry, but he made it work.
In a sport where owners are often vilified by fans for their spending, or their over-handled, vanilla drivers, Davis had fans behind his team and drivers because they were simply the good guys — underfunded and often overlooked, who went out and raced anyway. And sometimes, they won.
Amy is an 20-year veteran NASCAR writer and a six-time National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) writing award winner, including first place awards for both columns and race coverage. As well as serving as Photo Editor, Amy writes The Big 6 (Mondays) after every NASCAR Cup Series race. She can also be found working on her bi-weekly columns Holding A Pretty Wheel (Tuesdays) and Only Yesterday (Wednesdays). A New Hampshire native whose heart is in North Carolina, Amy’s work credits have extended everywhere from driver Kenny Wallace’s website to Athlon Sports. She can also be heard weekly as a panelist on the Hard Left Turn podcast that can be found on AccessWDUN.com's Around the Track page.