The 2023 NHRA drag racing season is coming quick, like really quick! The tach needle is climbing well past 7,500 rpm and despite not yet turning his slicks in anger and doing a massive burnout, Factory Stock racer David H. Davies is ready to hit the afterburner in his supercharged HEMI® engine-powered Dodge Challenger Drag Pak. For Davies, 2023 will be his third year piloting his seven-second Mopar® vehicle at drag strips across the U.S. but his passion for the class in which he competes runs deep. It was Davies and his connections within the aircraft maintenance industry that brought the NHRA Factory Stock Showdown (FSS) class a dedicated sponsor in 2021. That was Constant Aviation, and with Davies the CEO of the company, it made sense to be a part of one of the quickest forms of heads-up racing on the planet. It gave this growing class even more visibility among the causal and hardcore fans alike.
“There was a lot of synergies between the work that Constant Aviation does and the NHRA. The skillsets of our technicians and engineers are very closely aligned. The requirement to operate safely and provide quality work – always is something that both organizations can recognize,” noted Davies. “Motorsports in general, especially NHRA drag racing, is something that not only our team members follow and are excited about but our customers as well. Of course, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a fan as well. When the opportunity presented itself, we quickly jumped on board and are excited about this multi-year opportunity.” With the growth of the FSS in 2021 and 2022, Davies saw the need to further enhance his involvement with this exciting class that has current model Challenger Drag Pak, COPO Camaros and Cobra Jet Mustangs duking it out in these intense dogfights at drag strips across the country. There are also many skillsets and interests between young gearheads and the aircraft service industry. “Our involvement with NHRA and Constant Aviation makes sense. Drag Racing is a great recruitment tool for new technicians along with the means of retaining good talent,” said Davies. For 2023, Davies and NHRA will make the FSS class even better as Flexjet has stepped up to be the new series sponsor. Flexjet is a global leader in subscription-based private aviation, and will expanded the number of races featuring the intense FSS competiton. “One of the reasons Flexjet chose to sponsor the Factory Stock Showdown class was to invigorate our employee engagement – just as it did for the Constant Aviation employees,” said Davies.
To better understand Davies, we need to know the man. His passion for Dodge and drag racing go way back. He spent six years in the United States Air Force with various postings and deployments around the world. Upon his honorable discharge from the Air Force, Davies’ need for speed had to be satisfied. That would come in the form of a 2018 Challenger SRT® Demon. Davies excised the SRT Demon’s 6.2L supercharged HEMI V8 engine that cranked out over 800 horsepower at drag strips across the country. “I don’t know how, don’t know when, I’ve always been a Mopar guy my whole life. I’ve driven Mustangs and Camaros and they always felt like go-karts, but the Challenger is a boulevard cruiser. It’s bigger, heaver and just feels like a real muscle car,” smiled Davies. Despite his accumulation of numerous nine-second ET slips from his SRT Demon street car, Davies still wanted to go faster. In late 2020, Davies got wind of the new Challenger Drag Pak program for the 2021 season. Not wanting to get left out, he immediately contacted the Dodge/SRT/Direct Connection team. Davies was put on the exclusive buyers list for this limited production racecar that was designed, engineered and built for NHRA FSS and NMCA FSC competition. But for Davies, who’s a true car guy, he was digging on the new Drag Pak from the get-go. As he explains, “I love the cars that compete in Factory Stock, they resemble the production cars in the parking lots. Remove the parachute off my Drag Pak, and it basically looks just like my Demon street car!”
Once the deal was done, Davies came to Detroit, picked up his brand-new seven-second machine and headed to Summit Racing Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio, with the window sticker still on his Drag Pak. This popular racing facility is only an hour and a half from Davies’ Cleveland residence but hosts a major NHRA and NMCA events. “Our first event was the NHRA Summit Racing Equipment Nationals in June. Before rolling into Norwalk, we only made some eighth-mile shakedown runs on my new Drag Pak. We knew we weren’t going to qualify, but the fact I was able make all-out runs under the lights at Norwalk was so cool and I was excited to be there,” exclaimed Davies.
Davies quickly found out that running a competitive Drag Pak in NHRA and NMCA was totally different than racing his SRT Demon at grassroots events like the Modern Street HEMI Shootout series. Davies knew he’d need to up his game. After a casual meeting with Don Schumacher, Davies decided the quickest and most effective way to run with the big dogs was to join Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) and their Drag Pak program. Since the DSR Drag Pak program consisted of Top Fuel and 2018 NHRA FSS champ Leah Pruett and Pro Stock veteran Mark Pawuk, Davies was in good company. The talent pool at DSR helped Davies’ race program get up to speed very quickly. “After speaking with Don (Schumacher), I knew it was the fast track into figuring out what I needed to do and how I needed to do it. I figured if I was able to run with the DSR Drag Pak team, I could learn faster and quicker than any other way. I learned a lot from DSR, and I can’t thank Don (Schumacher) and the entire organization enough. From the staff in the front office to the guys in the shop, and the team on the road with me like Kevin Helms, Erik Granado and Jason Ayala. I can’t thank all these folks enough for all their support,” noted Davies.
After a full solid season under his belt, Davies is ready to take his race program to the next level and has created D H Davies Racing. Now he’s expanding his reach into other NHRA classes. For 2023, his Drag Pak operations will be run out of Wesley Motorsports in Lansing, Michigan. This is the first step in building the D H Davies Racing brand and with his sponsors back for this year, Davies is taking it up a few notches. “We’re on our own but we’ve put in place many of the pieces we need to be successful in 2023. We’re going to use the experience and knowledge that we’ve learned over the past 18 months and apply it to D H Davies Racing. Our Drag Pak that competes in the Factory Stock class is the cornerstone right now of this team, but we’re actively pursuing other cars and drivers to be part of our expanding team. We are looking at other classes of drag racing to enhance the reach of D H Davies Racing. We’re currently building a land speed car, we’re also talking to some Top Sportsman racers, A/Fuel Dragster drivers, and we’re rapidly working up a plan later this year to enhance the team and classes that D H Davies Racing shows up in. This is just a start that we are doing right now. There’s nothing in motorsports that we haven’t been talking about or talking to people about in the last 18 months,” said Davies.
With passion for the sport oozing out his pores, Davies will also work with younger drivers and help mentor and guide them through their racing ventures. Davies believes in working with others pursuing their racing goals and dreams. From helping a novice racer setting up their car, to driving tips, Davies believes in giving back to the sport he loves dearly. As he reminded us, “It’s easy to forget where you came from and the struggles you had when starting out. I refuse to fall into that trap and forget what it took to get here. I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to follow my racing dreams and keep moving up the ranks. I’ll continue to move up and we ain’t done yet!”
Very Cool Story !!!