Who is James Davison?

Racing is awesome in its own right, but when you know the players, it's twice as nice.

It was announced, this week, that James Davison will make his IZOD IndyCar Series debut in next weekend's Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, driving the No. 18 for Dale Coyne Racing.

So, who is he? Let's check his vitals:

Nationality: Australian (Melbourne)

Age: 26

Curriculum Vitae

2004 — Victorian State Formula Ford Championship (Australia) 

• 1 win, 1 pole 

2005 — Formula BMW USA Junior Series 

• 1 win (US Grand Prix, Indianapolis), 4 podiums

2007 — Star Mazda Series (Velocity Motorsports) 

• 2nd in championship
• 3 wins, 3 poles

2008 — Indy Lights Series (Sam Schmidt Motorsports)

• 1 win (Mid-Ohio), 1 pole 
• Sunoco Most Improved Driver

2009 — Indy Lights Series (Vision Racing)

• 2nd in championship
• 1 win (Mid-Ohio), 3 poles, 4 podiums 

2010

• Driver coach for Milka Duno in the IndyCar Series
• Grand-Am Rolex Series debut, 6 hours of Watkins Glen (Starworks Motorsport) 

2011

• Grand-Am Rolex Series race, Laguna Seca (Michael Shank Racing) 
• Maiden IndyCar test with Andretti Autosport

2012

• Porsche Carrera Cup debut, Australian Grand Prix

2013

• Bathurst 12 hour Sportscar race, Class B Porsche GT3
• IndyCar test with Dale Coyne Racing (Mid-Ohio)

If you actually read that, you'll see Davison has won twice at Mid-Ohio in Indy Lights, as well as tested there in an Indycar.

Good luck to James and DCR, next week. 

Get your Mid-Ohio tickets HERE.

—Chris

A Backstage Conversation from the “State of IndyCar” Address

FILS Dude #1: [casually] “So, you called Conor’s rep, right?”

FILS Dude #2: “Uh... no, I thought you called him?”

FILS Dude #1: [agitated] “No. I didn’t call him. I’m on confetti, remember?”

FILS Dude #2: [confused] “I thought I was on confetti.”

FILS Dude #1: [angry] “No. DUDE. You are NOT on confetti. And if you didn’t call his rep and I didn’t call him that means they have no fu**ing clue about what is... [stops abruptly]

LOOK. Forget it. He’s about to make the announcement, and we’re completely fu**ed. Get back! I’m doing the confetti.”

[Moments later (in a biblical downpour of diced paper) Roger Bailey, Executive Director of the Firestone Indy Lights Series, announces that 2010 Star Mazda Champ, Conor Daly, will be stepping up to FIL, sharing driving duties for next season with USAC scholarship winner, Bryan Clauson—participating in the road/street races that Clauson does not take part in.]

[Daly’s thought bubble] “WTF?!?”

**************************************************************************************************

Okay. So the conversation may be something I conjured up, but the announcement of Daly’s ride, and the fact that he didn’t know a thing about it, was NOT [insert favorite farcically-induced acronym here; ROFLMAO]. Here’s the proof:

Now, you might think this would be stellar news for Conor but, ruh-roh, PROBLEM. It’s no secret that Daly has his eyes set on Formula One, which means the next logical step for him is Europe’s GP3 Series.

Did Conor already have a GP3 deal done when the announcement came? Was he set to do some FILS races with a team other than the one associated with Clauson’s scholarship? Who knows... since the above tweet, Conor’s been pretty quiet on the subject, so we’ll have to see how this one plays out.

Regardless, this is one wickedly funny episode in the life of a race car driver.

Stay tuned...

—JM

Dear Sarah:

If Hildebrand doesn't get snapped up
by Panther, he could be a great get for SFR 

Word on the street is you’re considering hanging up the helmet. Well, that’s a sad prospect, indeed.

Despite being recognized as a perennial most popular driver, I don’t think we’ll ever know the full impact of what your performance on and off track has done to develop and maintain interest in Indycar racing—especially during the “lean years.”

I know I speak for thousands of your peeps, when I say, I hope you race on well into the future; however, if you choose to step out of the car to manage the team and pursue some of the finer things in life, that’s cool—and admirable.

When that day comes, you certainly don’t need my help in choosing a driver for the ‘67’, but I thought I’d share with you the names of a few of my favorite shoes that are decidedly fast and destined to have very prosperous futures:

Wade Cunningham

• Former FILS Champ and he knows his way around the Speedway; three, count them, THREE Freedom 100 wins.

Jonathan Summerton

• Formula BMW, A1GP, F3 Euroseries, Atlantics, and Lights; he’s traveled the world and done it all. IndyCar is the next step.

J.R. Hildebrand

• ’09 FILS Champ, A1GP, an F1 test, and a pair of IndyCar races already under his belt—he’s ready.  

There you have it, SF. Here’s hoping word of your impending retirement is greatly exaggerated…

Sincerely,

—JM