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\History | Davey Ray
 Davey
Ray
is a third generation driver from Davenport, IA. He grew up in his
father's garage learning how to weld, machine, and fabricate
everything on his father's race car. He is one of the few who
can not only drive a racecar, but knows the ins and outs of putting
one together. His father taught him to work for what he
wanted, and at the age
of 11 he was behind the wheel of a go-kart that his Grandfather, Ralph
Ray bought for him. The young gun won 8 championships and over 200
feature wins in his go-kart career. Ray proved he was ready to take his
racing career to the next level; and that he did. Ray is one of
the toughest racers out there, and has earned his way into the seat of
some of the most respected car owners in the racing industry.
Ray
started his midget career driving for his father in 1997. The father-son team traveled throughout the Midwest competing at as many different
tracks as possible in order for Davey to gain vital experience on all
types of racing surfaces. As his father coached him along the way, Ray
consistently proved to be a threat for the win at every event and earned
the "Rookie of the Year" honors with the Midwest Auto Racing Association.
One
of the early highlights of Ray’s career was being the first driver to
win a feature event with the Mopar midget engine on May 27, 2001. Driving Harlin Kittleson’s “Red Deuce” at Angell Park Speedway, Ray not
only claimed the first win for the Mopar midget engine, but also his own first career
midget win.
In
2003, Ray teamed up with legendary Indy car owner, Ralph Wilke to
compete in the Badger Midget Auto Racing Association (BMARA) series. The
new team had great success together as they were crowned the driver
and owner Champions, winning six feature events at four different tracks.
The team claimed the prestigious "Firemen Nationals" feature event that
year in which Ray became the only driver to lead every lap of the event
as well as the only driver to win from the pole starting position.
Ray
was hired in 2004 by Greg Wilke of Wilke-PAK Motorsports as their USAC dirt midget driver. They scored three feature wins
together at Eagle Raceway, McCool Junction Speedway, and Limaland Motorsports
Park. Ray also competed on the pavement in the "Copper World Classic"
at Phoenix International Raceway in the Wilke-PAK entry and finished a
respectable 9th place in his first start at the mile track. In addition
to his midget racing success in 2004, Ray was also busy setting track
records in the Dan Robert's owned sprint car at miscellaneous sprint races
throughout the Midwest.
The success continued in
2005 when Ray won another USAC National midget feature at I-69 Speedway in Gas
City, IN this time driving for car owner, Keith Kunz. Later that year,
Terry Klatt put Ray in the seat of his midget for the “Belleville Midget
Nationals” and scored a close 2nd place finish to Jerry Coons,
Jr. Ray then got the call from Steve Lewis, of Nine Racing,
who hired Ray for the famous "Hut 100" where they scored a 2nd
place finish, and the “Four Crown Nationals" at Eldora
Speedway where they claimed a 3rd
place finish.
2007
got off to a great start when Ray won the Wednesday
night preliminary feature at the "Chili Bowl Midget Nationals" for the newly
formed, Mecum Racing Team. Ray prepared for the event all winter
assembling the new Spike chassis and its components while his father, Dave
Ray built the Chevy Gaerte engine that powered the team to their first
victory. It was great satisfaction for car owner Dan Mecum to receive his
first win, as well as the father-son team to be victorious with the car
and engine they prepared together.
Ray won his fourth career USAC
National midget feature at Bloomington
Speedway during the 2008 "Indiana Midget Week" championship, driving for
another top car owner in the racing industry, Don Fike of RFMS Racing.
Ray is also a fan favorite Down Under where he competes during the
winter months in Australia and New Zealand. Recently he became
the first American driver to claim the "Australian Speedcar
Championship" three times. He earned two back-to-back "Magic Man 34" wins in 2009 and 2010 at Perth Motorplex Park for the Michael Figliomeni Memorial race,
and has won feature events at these tracks, Western Springs Speedway,
Perth Motorplex, Parramatta City Raceway, Powerbuilt Speedway, Avalon
Speedway, and Lismore Speedway.
With
this success, Davey’s future seems bright. The 5’4” bantamweight
driver comes from the short track old school much like his heroes before
him. He is a mature, accomplished speaker, polite, and outgoing
personality. All attributes of a contemporary professional race car
driver. Ray plans to continue competing in the midget and sprint
ranks while pursuing and striving to move to the next level in motorsports
competition.
Davey at age 11 in his go-kart
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Davey driving the family owned midget in 1999 |
Davey in victory lane with his father after winning his first midget
feature in 2001, also the first win for the Mopar midget engine
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2003 Badger Champions, Ralph Wilke, Davey Ray, and Joe Vukelich
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Davey in victory lane with Ralph and Joe in 2003.
The team won 6 feature events together at four different tracks to
clinch the 2003 Championship. |
Davey won his first USAC National feature win at Limaland Motorports
Park in 2004 driving for Wilke/PAK Motorsports
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Davey in victory lane at Eagle Raceway in Lincoln, NE for a USAC
National event
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Davey jumped in the
Keith Kunz owned midget in 2005 at
I-69 Speedway in Gas City, IN for a
USAC event and took home the win |
Davey in the No. 4 Terry Klatt Enterprises midget, racing Jerry
Coons in the closest Belleville Midget Nationals battle in history.
The two ran side by side for over half the race with Ray finishing
in 2nd, just seconds behind Coons.
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2006 Australian Speedcar Champion,
Davey Ray and team
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2007 Chili Bowl Midget Nationals Prelim winners,
Mecum Racing and Davey Ray |
Ray drove a selected USAC schedule with
Steve Lewis in 2007
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2-time Australian Speedcar Champion,
Davey Ray in 2008
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Davey Ray in victory lane with Don Fike at
Bloomington Speedway in 2008 |
Davey pulling a wheelie in the Dan Roberts
owned sprint car |
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