Special Section his dad , possessing skills in the riding
and tuning departments .
“ Most of the time , he can probably tune as good as I do because he ’ s been brought up in it ,” Davis says . “ He can hear the bike go down the track and he knows if I missed a gear change or it ’ s too rich or whatever , he knows . When he gets older , he ’ s definitely going to be a forced to be reckoned with .”
While some father-son teams in drag racing have raced side by side in the same class , Davis says he ’ ll probably prefer to be behind his son on the starting line , not next to him in the other lane .
“ I think I ’ m going to just pass the torch ,” Davis says . “ I ’ ve always just enjoyed the tuning part of it . I ’ ve rode these things for so many years . I still enjoy riding them , just not as much as I enjoy tuning them and trying to get it to the next level . I ’ m just going to be the guy standing on the starting line sending him down the track .”
Luck had little to do with Davis ’ success over the last several races . Out of the four PDRA races where the class competed , Davis won three and runnered-up at one , with Paul Gast being the only rider to defeat Davis in PDRA competition . Davis attributes the consistent success to years of data and a durable engine combination .
“ Last year at the end of the year I switched over to this new cylinder head that Monster makes ,” Davis says . “ This year , this motor hasn ’ t been apart this whole season . I go home , I check it , look over it , leak it down , nothing ’ s wrong with it , so I send it to the next race . It ’ s been real easy on parts this year . The performance side , we still struggle with that some . Maybe by Virginia we can figure out how to get back into the 3.90s like we have been . The biggest thing is zero parts failure .”
Davis also credits the people and companies who support his racing program . His wife , Brandy , and their son , Brayden , go to the races with him and help at every step of the process . His father and his stepmother , Tracy , support the team at home . Davis ’ “ number-one fan ,” Donna Broadway , also regularly travels to the races to cheer on the Davis team . Other supporters include Timblin Chassis , Fast By
Gast , MTC , Schnitz Performance , Worldwide Bearings , Perry ’ s Performance , Cycle Masters , Nettles Cabinets , Kipp Pittman and Shot Gun Graphics . Davis is also always sure to thank Drag 965 for sponsoring the class .
Travis isn ’ t the only Davis racing at PDRA events , as Brayden is also a championship racer in the series ’ Jr . Dragster classes . The father-son duo won world championships together in 2017 when Brayden won the Top Jr . Dragster title , then they shared the winner ’ s circle together at the 2019 World Finals . Though he still has a couple years left in Pro Jr . Dragster , the younger Davis is already eying up the two-wheeled machines .
“ He ’ s just waiting until he reaches the age to be able to get on these bikes ,” Davis says . “ We ’ ll slowly bring him up to speed on these things , but he ’ s got his heart set on racing these motorcycles in the future . He ’ s a real , real talented bracket racer . He ’ s won a lot of races , won a lot of good money races that people put on down here . Even though we ’ ve struggled this year in Pro Jr ., just to get qualified , it ’ s just a tough field to get in . He ’ s very talented at what he does .”
Given everything he ’ s learned at the track , Brayden will likely take after
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