It takes a special person to promote a Stock Car race. This Saturday at I-35 Speedway the 3rd Annual Gary Davis Super 66 Stock Car Special will be held. One of the top Stock Car purse payout structures in the entire USA will be paid, winner is paid $3,000, second place $2,000, and third place $1,000, and everyone in competition will take home money! The promoter of this race is lifelong Kansas City Area racing supporter Vicki Davis, who has been a racer’s wife, a racer herself (Racing Grandma at I-70 Speedway), works in the Media Center at Kansas Speedway after starting as one of the original Pit Tour Club members in 2001, worked as a track secretary, and after losing Gary to cancer three years ago has taken on the role of race Promoter.
This race is Vicki showing her love for her husband of 37 years. Their racing history begins at the old Lakeside Speedway then located at the 92nd and Leavenworth Road. From attending the races, they became auto racing participants in 1988 with Gary earning NASCAR Charger Rookie of the Year. In 1989, they took their racecar and moved to the asphalt of the new Lakeside Speedway. In 1991, Vicki became active as a Board of Director with local racing fan club the Central Auto Racing Boosters (C.A.R.B.). She and Gary held various offices in this organization through the years from Sergeant-at-Arms to Vice-President. Vicki was an original selection committee member for the C.A.R.B. Hall of Fame in 2004.
Vicki began her racing career as most women do in racing through a powder puff derby. On September 14, 1991 in a borrowed racecar she won her first race. When Gary hung up driving duties after the 1998 racing season, he built a truck for Vicki to race at I-70 Speedway. Track announcer Bob Libbey coined her the Racing Grandma and when they painted the truck pink, she became local legend the Racing Grandma. After both Gary and Vicki hung up their driver’s safety equipment, they remained active in racing working as officials at Lakeside Speedway.
Four years ago, she made an eye appointment for herself, and Gary told her make one for him that he had been having some eye issues. At his appointment he was immediately sent to an oncologist where it was discovered he had cancer behind the eye. On the same day golfing legend Arnold Palmer passed, Gary lost his battle with cancer. Vicki’s love led her to create this race, the Gary Davis Super 66 Stock Car Special.
The first Gary Davis Super 66 race was held in 2017. In 2018, the race moved to its current home I-35 Speedway. This year it is one of the United States Racing Association (USRA) Ironman races, a special sanction which will draw top Stock Car Drivers from the entire country. The race was originally scheduled on June 22, but Mother Nature intervened. This Saturday, July 13, Stock Car drivers from numerous states and several local tracks will convene at I-35 Speedway to compete in this Gary Davis Super 66 Stock Car Special. This race is testament to the love of racing and the love of a couple as Vicki honors her husband and keeps his memory alive for those in the racing community.