From the Indianapolis Motor Speedway:
Donald Davidson, beloved by race fans worldwide for nearly six decades for his encyclopedic knowledge of Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500, is retiring Dec. 31 as IMS historian.
Davidson has amazed, entertained and delighted millions since he first crossed the Atlantic to visit IMS in May 1964, fulfilling a dream and his fascination with “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” since his teenage years growing up in Salisbury, England.
Truly the end of an era. In addition to being a statistician and historian for organizations including USAC and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, Donald’s long-running radio show The Talk of Gasoline Alley is an institution of the airwaves during the Month of May.
Despite how much Donald means to motorsports, it pales in comparison to who he is in the town of Speedway, IN. From personal experience, I can confirm that beyond his vast knowledge of motorsports, Donald is a kindly English gentleman who became a fixture of his adopted hometown.
In late February, my dad ran into Donald at a local drug store on what happened to be my birthday. Knowing me to be the motorsports history nerd that I am, my dad bought a card and asked Donald to sign it. He obliged and posed for a picture that my dad sent me via text. As I showed the rest of my family, I was nearly in tears of gratitude, and my mom quipped, “Why bother with the cake? We can’t beat that.”
Living in Indianapolis all of my life, it’s easy to forget that I don’t know him personally. Like I said, he is a pillar of this community. I know that this would embarrass him to know end, but the end of his career brings back memories of the final times we saw people like Jim Nabors, Florence Henderson, and Mari Hulman-George at the Indianapolis 500 in an official capacity.
Enjoy your retirement, Donald. You’ve certainly earned it.
Michael Miller 