Spencer Davis Gains Confidence After Double-Duty Weekend
15-Year-Old Battles Up Front Before Finishing 9th and 16th
Spencer Davis of Dawsonville, Georgia and the No. 79 Hillbilly Racing team had a busy weekend this past weekend competing in two events at two race tracks in two days. The 15-year-old rookie Modified driver continued to gain valuable experience contending up front before finishing ninth in the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour event at Caraway Speedway (NC) and 16th in the KOMA Modified race at Hickory Motor Speedway (NC).
The busy weekend began on Friday, July 4 as Davis celebrated Independence Day competing with the best of the best in Southern Modified Tour action at one of the tour’s most visited tracks, Caraway Speedway. Davis battled near the top-five during the event before tire wear began to set in after he made a charge from the 12th starting spot.
Without a caution to aid his run towards the front,
Davis began slipping back before crossing under the
checkered flag with another top-10 finish.
“We started 12th and quickly made our way up
through the field,” said the 15-year-old driver. “We
gained three spots right off the bat on the high side.
I sat there and was going, but we came from too far
back and when we needed a little extra bit I couldn’t
get it. We salvaged a top-10 and the rookie of the
race.”
Following the race on Friday night, Davis and the
No. 79 Coors Light 21 Means 21 team headed to Hickory Motor Speedway for the KOMA Unwind Modified Madness event. After a solid qualifying run started him fourth on the grid, Davis battled at the front of the pack with the leaders before a broken left front A-arm ended the team’s chances and gave Davis a 16th place finish.
“Mr. David (Hill) and the whole Hillbilly team gave me a great Coors Light 21 Means 21 Pontiac the whole day,” said Davis. “We were right up front on the board, fourth in qualifying, and it’s just tough when your night starts to turn bad. Luckily it didn’t happen at Loudon, where it’s a mile track. It would have been a lot more severe.”
Despite not being able to record the finishes he thought he deserved, Davis was very excited about the competitiveness his team showed this weekend in both races. He looks at the weekend as a big confidence booster moving forward as a rookie driver in Modified ranks.
“It’s a confidence booster here in the NASCAR ranks and KOMA series knowing that the rest of the drivers know that you’re up front and knowing that you can contend for a win as a rookie,” said Davis. “Just to have people like Jason Myers and Tim Brown come up and say you’re doing an excellent job as a rookie and they’re glad to race with you is assuring for a driver like me.”
Up next for Davis will be a trip north to Loudon, New Hampshire to compete with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour on Saturday, July 12 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The start at New Hampshire will be Davis’ first career Modified start on a one-mile track.
For more information on Spencer Davis, follow him on Twitter at @SpencerDavis_29.
