MOORESVILLE, N.C. – When Donald Davidson was a youngster growing up in England, he was fascinated by the sport of motor racing.
He discovered a years old copy of the famed British publication, Autosport, where he got to read about the larger-than-life heroes that competed in Formula One in the 1950s.
He was puzzled when he discovered a race course that was all left-hand turns that paid Formula One points.
“There’s this thing called Indianapolis,” Davidson recalled. “How do you pronounce that? What is that?
“When I looked at the names of the people that accrued points, it was Vukovich and McGrath and Ruttman and Carter. I thought, ‘Who are they?’
“Dunlop had a promotional thing that you could send away for. They sent you this little booklet which had the map of all the main Grand Prix circuits. Indianapolis was in there. Well, the Nurburgring had 176 turns per lap, and this thing was all just left hand. I asked my dad about it. He knew what Indianapolis was. A lot of people at that time did not.
“So, it just started from there. One thing led to another. I wanted to know more about it.”
In late 1956, his mother got him one of Floyd Clymer’s Indianapolis 500 Yearbooks for Christmas. When he opened the pages, a whole near world opened up.
During the next few years, Davidson saved up the money to make the trip of a lifetime to come to his first Indianapolis 500. He nearly came in 1963, but had to wait until 1964 to finally make the trip.
The young man from England was treated like royalty by the staff of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway because of the effort he was making to attend the race from so far away. They helped him find accommodations and even gave him a “Bronze Badge” that allowed him into Gasoline Alley every day except for Race Day.
“Within a very short time I met Sid Collins (the legendary ‘Voice of the 500’ on radio),” Davidson recalled. “He gave me a little card so that I could get into the pit area. Within less than 24 hours, I already had a Silver Badge.
“I just had this fantastic three weeks at the track. I thought that I’ve got to pursue this further. I came back the next year on a Green Card, was hired by a very dear man named Henry Banks, who hired me at USAC. I started there. Sid Collins put me on the Radio Network. I was actually a guest. Then I came back the next year and I’ve been on the network ever since.
“I think of all the people, and there’s so many people to thank, I have so many wonderful relationships, so many people to thank, but I think Sid Collins and Henry Banks are the two that I would probably put above everybody because Sid put me on Broadway and Henry Banks was like an uncle to me.
“He hired me at USAC, so I actually had a job, working for USAC. The drivers were coming in there all the time. Johnny Rutherford, Mario Andretti in a T-shirt, Roger McCluskey. I just was living the dream.”
Since 1998, that dream included a position as Indianapolis Motor Speedway historian. He would give speeches, meet with visitors at the IMS Museum and serve as a human encyclopedia to the IMS and IndyCar staff and media who needed answers to difficult historical questions.
Davidson was able to live out his dream that started in the 1950s and has become an integral part of Indianapolis 500 history by knowing its history as well, if not better, than anyone.
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