NASCAR News: Daytona 500 winning Car Owner Bill Davis dies

Bill Davis, a respected NASCAR team owner who achieved victories across all three national series, including the prestigious Daytona 500 and Southern 500, passed away at 74.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Bill Davis Racing fielded cars for NASCAR Hall of Famers like Mark Martin, Bobby Labonte, and Jeff Gordon. The team’s flagship No. 22 car, driven by Ward Burton, secured all five of Davis’ Cup Series wins, highlighted by the 2001 Southern 500 at Darlington and the 2002 Daytona 500. His teams also celebrated 11 victories in the Xfinity Series and 24 in the Craftsman Truck Series, with Johnny Benson Jr. clinching the 2008 Truck Series championship.

Born January 18, 1951, in Fayetteville, Arkansas, William A. Davis III followed his father into the trucking industry, starting as a Peterbilt salesman before founding his own company in 1975 in Batesville.

A motocross enthusiast, Davis competed locally and nationally. Through his trucking business, he met Julian Martin and his son Mark, an aspiring racer from Arkansas. Davis supported Mark Martin’s early career in the American Speed Association and later in the Xfinity Series after Martin joined Jack Roush’s Cup Series team in 1988. This marked the start of Davis’ 30-year NASCAR journey, prompting him and his wife, Gail, to relocate to North Carolina in 1990.

Davis gave Jeff Gordon, then an up-and-coming sprint-car driver, his NASCAR break in the Xfinity Series. Gordon earned the 1991 Rookie of the Year award in Davis’ No. 1 Ford and secured their first NASCAR wins in 1992. Plans to move to the Cup Series with Gordon in 1993 fell through when Gordon signed with Hendrick Motorsports after a promising sponsorship meeting with Target.

Instead, Davis signed Bobby Labonte, launching another Hall of Famer’s career in 1993. Davis later said the visibility from his time with Gordon helped solidify his place in stock-car racing.

In 1995, Davis teamed up with Ward Burton, leading to their first Cup Series win at Rockingham Speedway. The partnership, which later saw the team expand to two cars and switch to Dodge, culminated in the Daytona 500 and Southern 500 victories. “This just adds so much credibility,” Davis told the Associated Press in 2002. “It doesn’t get any bigger than winning the Daytona 500.”

After selling his NASCAR operations in 2008, Davis returned to Batesville to focus on his trucking company and venture into the cattle industry. He was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.