James Richard Davies (August 8, 1929 – June 11, 1966) was an American racecar driver in Champ cars and midgets. He was the second man to win three USAC National Midget Championships.Biography
at the

National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame The National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame is an American Hall of Fame and museum for midget cars. The Hall of Fame is located at Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, and can be accessed during weekly Sunday races during the summe ...

When Davies won the AAA Championship race at Del Mar,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

on November 6, 1949 – aged 20 years, 2 months, 29 days, he became the youngest driver to win a race in a major U.S. open wheel series, a record not broken until

Marco Andretti Marco Michael Andretti (born March 13, 1987) is an American professional auto racing driver. He last competed part-time in the IndyCar Series, driving the No. 98 Dallara- Chevrolet for Andretti Global. He formerly drove in the IndyCar Series fo ...

won the IRL race at Sonoma, California in 2006. Davies raced AAA on a false birth certificate showing him older (as did

Troy Ruttman Troy Lynn Ruttman (March 11, 1930 – May 19, 1997) was an American racing driver. He is best known for winning the 1952 Indianapolis 500 - at the age of 22 years and 80 days, Ruttman remains the youngest ever winner of the event. Competing since ...

and

Jim Rathmann Jim Rathmann may refer to: * Jim Rathmann (racing driver), (1928–2011), American racing driver {{Hndis, Rathmann, Jim ...

), and was racing illegally. Kurtis500B Jimmy Davies

Midget car career

In 1960 he won the USAC Pacific Coast Midget title as well as the National Midget Championship. He repeated as National Midget champion in 1961 and 1962. He won 46 feature events in the midgets in his career. Davies won the Night before the 500 midget race three times, in 1960 and 1961 at Kokomo Speedway, and next year at the

Indianapolis Speedrome The Indianapolis Speedrome is the oldest operating figure 8 track in the United States as it opened in 1941. It is believed by many historians that this is the first figure 8 track where cars intersect. The Speedrome is home to the World Figu ...

. Davies's midget car was stolen but was recovered a year later when a driver was killed in it at Sacramento. Davies recognized the car in the newspaper photos of the wreck. Davies also had success racing midgets (called Speedcars down under) in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

during his career. He won the 1963 Australian Speedcar Grand Prix at the

Sydney Showground Speedway Sydney Showground Speedway, originally known as the Speedway Royal and later the Speedway Royale but often referred to as just The Royale or The Showground, was a motorcycle speedway track, which was located at the old Sydney Showground (Moor ...

, as well as the 1963 and 1964

South Australian Speedcar Championship The South Australian Speedcar Championship is a Speedcar championship held in the state of South Australia on an annual basis during the Australian speedway season. South Australia was the third Australian state behind Victoria and New South Wa ...

s at the

Rowley Park Speedway Rowley Park Speedway is a former dirt track racing venue that was located on Torrens Road in Brompton, South Australia and supplanted the Kilburn speedway (1946–1951) on Churchill Road, and the earlier Camden motordrome (1935–19 ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

. He died on June 11, 1966, aged 36, from injuries suffered in a midget crash at Santa Fe Speedway in suburban

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Career award

*Inducted into the

in 1984.

Complete AAA/USAC Championship Car results

Indianapolis 500 results

* Shared drive with Art Cross,

Johnny Parsons John Wayne Parsons1975 Indianapolis 500 Radio Broadcast - Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network (May 25, 1975) (born August 26, 1944 in Van Nuys, California) is an American race car driver. He is the son of 1950 Indianapolis 500 winner John ...

Sam Hanks Samuel Dwight Hanks (July 13, 1914 – June 27, 1994) was an American racing driver who won the 1957 Indianapolis 500. He was a barnstorming (sports), barnstormer, and raced Midget car racing, midget and American Championship car racing, Champion ...

and Andy Linden

Complete Formula One World Championship results

( key) * In 1954 Davies shared his drive with Art Cross,

and Andy Linden. Davies also shared the 20th-placed car with Hanks and

Jim Rathmann Jim Rathmann may refer to: * Jim Rathmann (racing driver), (1928–2011), American racing driver {{Hndis, Rathmann, Jim ...

. * Between 1950 and 1960, the Indianapolis 500 was included as part of the

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

World Championship.

References

External links

Profile on Historic Racing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Jimmy 1929 births 1966 deaths Indianapolis 500 drivers Sportspeople from Glendale, California Racing drivers from California Racing drivers who died while racing Sports deaths in Illinois AAA Championship Car drivers 20th-century American sportsmen