James Davison

James Davison (born 28 August 1986) is an Australian professional race driver who drives an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in the Blancpain GT World Challenge America, the No. 53 Camaro for Rick Ware Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series on a part-time schedule. He has also competed in the NTT IndyCar Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series. He is sometimes also called JD (or J. D.) Davison.[1][2]

James Davison
Davison at the 2015 Indianapolis 500
Nationality	Australian
Born	28 August 1986 Melbourne, Australia
Related to	Jon Davison (father) Lex Davison (grandfather) Diana Davison (grandmother) Richard Davison (uncle) Alex Davison (cousin) Will Davison (cousin) Tony Gaze (step-grandfather)
Blancpain GT World Challenge America career
Debut season	2016
Teams	AE Replay XD Nissan GT Academy
Starts	20
Wins	16
Poles	1
Fastest laps	1
Best finish	4th in 2015
Previous series
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008-09 2010–12	Victorian Formula Ford Formula BMW USA Champ Car Atlantic Star Mazda Championship Firestone Indy Lights Grand-Am Series
IndyCar Series career
8 races run over 7 years
Team(s)	No. 51 (Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing & Byrd Belardi)
2019 position	28th
Best finish	28th (2019)
First race	2013 Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio (Mid-Ohio)
Last race	2020 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis)
Wins Podiums Poles 0 0 0
NASCAR Cup Series career
15 races run over 1 year
Car no., team	No. 53 (Rick Ware Racing)
2020 position	37th
Best finish	37th (2020)
First race	2020 Pocono Organics 325 (Pocono)
Last race	2020 Season Finale 500 (Phoenix)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 0 0
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
4 races run over 3 years
2018 position	56th
Best finish	47th (2017)
First race	2016 Road America 180 (Road America)
Last race	2018 Johnsonville 180 (Road America)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 2 0
Statistics current as of 8 November 2020.

His father Jon Davison was a Formula 5000 competitor and was the long-running promoter of racing events at Sandown Raceway. Davison's grandfather, Lex Davison, was a four-time winner of the Australian Grand Prix. He is a cousin of V8 Supercar drivers Alex and Will Davison. He also competed as a coxswain as part of Scotch College's championship-winning rowing crew in 2003.

Racing career

Junior formula

In 2004 he joined the ranks of Formula Ford in his native Australia, running in both the Victorian and National Championships. At the end of 2004 he won a scholarship at the BMW Junior Scholarship Finals in Valencia. For 2005 Davison competed in the Formula BMW USA Junior Series, qualifying on the front row at the Canadian Formula 1 Grand Prix in Montreal, won at the US Grand Prix held at the world-famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway, was second at the Denver street circuit and Mid-Ohio and third at Barber Motorsports Park and Road Atlanta. Based on these performances, Davison became part of the Confederation of Australian Motorsport Elite Driver program which included attendance at the Australian Institute of Sport and financial support from the Foundation. At the end of the season, he qualified and finished tenth at the Formula BMW Final at Bahrain.

2006 saw him again compete in the United States in the Formula Atlantic series for Team Australia. After the Denver round, he was dropped by the team for fellow Aussie Michael Patrizi.[3] 2007 saw Davison progress into the Star Mazda Championship where current IndyCar Series drivers Marco Andretti and Graham Rahal previously competed. Driving for Velocity Motorsports, Davison proved to be an outstanding competitor finishing second in the Championship; earning three pole positions and one win.

Davison driving in Indy Lights at St. Petersburg

Indy Lights

2008 found him in the Firestone Indy Lights series, racing for Sam Schmidt Motorsports. He struggled throughout the first half of the season, but captured his first series pole at Nashville Superspeedway, a concrete oval, in July. His first win came in bizarre circumstances in a wet race at Mid-Ohio. While running second on the last lap, race leader Jonny Reid went into pit lane instead of the finish line, handing Davison the victory. Davison also received the Sunoco Most Improved Driver Award at the IRL Championship Celebration held in Las Vegas. Davison finished second in the 2009 Firestone Indy Lights Championship with a new team Vision Racing, again winning at Mid-Ohio. Davison was running at the finish of all fifteen races and finished in the top ten in all but one.

IndyCar

In November 2011 he tested for Andretti Autosport at Palm Beach International Raceway, Florida.[4] He shared the car with Indy Lights driver Gustavo Yacaman.[5][6]

In 2013 Davison tested a car for Dale Coyne Racing at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. A few weeks later it was announced that he would drive the team's No. 18 car at the race there. It will be his first open wheel race appearance since 2009.[7] Following the horrific accident by Sebastian Bourdais during qualifying for the 2017 Indianapolis 500 it was announced that James would be stepping into the number 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda for the remainder of the season. In the later stages of the race, Davison matched a record set by Tom Sneva in 1980 and became the third driver in Indy history to start 33rd and lead laps in the race, having led two laps. He then got caught up in a late wreck with 17 laps to go. A year later, Davison barely qualified for the 2018 Indianapolis 500, bumping out longtime IndyCar rival James Hinchcliffe.[8]

Sports car racing

2010 saw him make his sportscar debut in the Grand-Am Series for Starworks Motorsports Corsa Car Care Dinan-BMW Riley partnering Ryan Dalziel and Mike Forest in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen[9] finishing seventh.[10] He was then drafted in to run at the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen the Crown Royal 200 also at Watkins Glen. In 2011 he drove for Michael Shank Racing at Laguna Seca.

Driving with The Racer's Group in an Aston Martin in 2014, he scored four consecutive GTD class poles across the final races of the 2014 and first race of the 2015 season.[11]

In 2015 he joined Nismo factory team to drive a Nissan GT-R in the Pirelli World Challenge. He continued with Always Evolving Racing in the GT-R in 2016 before moving to The Racer's Group for the 2017 season.[12]

NASCAR

Davison made his first NASCAR start in 2016, driving the No. 90 King Autosport car in the Xfinity Series for the Road America 180. He started 18th and went down one position after making contact with Scott Heckert on the last lap.[13][14]

Davison at the 2015 Indianapolis 500

In 2020, Davison raced in the Cup Series for the first time in the Pocono Organics 325 at Pocono Raceway with Spire Motorsports.[15] His Cup debut had been delayed on two occasions earlier in the season, with a Daytona 500 start for Jonathan Byrd's Racing ultimately failing to materalise,[16] while his GEICO 500 entry at Talladega Superspeedway with Spire was disallowed due to his lack of experience on such tracks.[17][15] He returned to the series at Loudon with Rick Ware Racing.[18]

Motorsports career results

Season	Series	Position	Car	Team
2004	Victorian Formula Ford Championship	6th	Van Diemen RF95 – Ford	Alex Davison[19]
	Australian Formula Ford Championship	21st
2005	United States Formula BMW Championship	6th	Mygale FB02 – BMW	HBR Motorsport
	Formula BMW World Final	10th		Team Meritus
2006	Champ Car Atlantic	17th	Swift 016.a – Mazda Cosworth	Walker Racing
2007	Star Mazda Championship	2nd	Star – Mazda	Velocity Motorsports
2008	Indy Lights	9th	Dallara IPS – Infiniti	Sam Schmidt Motorsports
2009	Indy Lights	2nd	Dallara IPS – Infiniti	Vision Racing
2010	Rolex Sports Car Series	34th	Riley & Scott Mk. XX – BMW	Starworks Motorsport
2011	Rolex Sports Car Series	56th	Riley & Scott Mk. XX – Ford	Michael Shank Racing
2012	Australian Carrera Cup Championship	20th	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	McElrea Racing
2013	IndyCar	32nd	Dallara DW12-Honda	Dale Coyne Racing
2014	Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge - GS	37th	Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3	TRG - AMR
	United Sports Car Championship - GTD	21st
	IndyCar	29th	Dallara DW12-Chevrolet	KV Racing Technology
2015	Pirelli World Challenge - GT	4th	Nissan GT-R GT3	AE/Replay XD/Nissan GT Academy
	United Sports Car Championship - GTD	15th	Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3	TRG - AMR
	IndyCar	38th	Dallara DW12-Honda	Dale Coyne Racing
2016	Pirelli World Challenge - GT	7th	Nissan GT-R GT3	AE/Replay XD/Nissan GT Academy
	WeatherTech SportsCar Championship - GTD	37th	Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3	TRG - AMR
	Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America - ProAm	11th	Lamborghini Huracán LP620-2	TRG - Lamborghini
	NASCAR Xfinity Series	63rd	Chevrolet	King Autosport
2017	Pirelli World Challenge - GT	45th	Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Lamborghini Huracan GT3	TRG/DIME Racing
	WeatherTech SportsCar Championship - GTD	71st	Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3	TRG
	IndyCar	35th	Dallara DW12-Honda	Dale Coyne Racing
	NASCAR Xfinity Series	43rd	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing
2018	IndyCar	41st	Dallara DW12-Chevrolet	A. J. Foyt Enterprises Byrd-Hollinger-Belardi
	NASCAR Xfinity Series	56th	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing
2019	IndyCar	28th	Dallara DW12-Honda	Dale Coyne Racing Byrd-Hollinger-Belardi
2020	NASCAR Cup Series	37th	Chevrolet	Spire Motorsports Rick Ware Racing

American open-wheel racing results

(key)

Champ Car Atlantic results

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Rank	Points
2006	Team Australia	LBH 13	HOU 10	MTY 21	POR 25	CLE1 13	CLE2 13	TOR 12	EDM 13	SJO 7	DEN 22	MTL	ROA	17th	69

Star Mazda Championship

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Rank	Points
2007		SEB 3	HOU 7	VIR 4	MMP 2	POR 13	CLE 17	TOR 5	RAM 4	TRO 11	MOS 1	RAT 5	LAG 3	2nd	389

Indy Lights results

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Rank	Points
2008	Sam Schmidt Motorsports	HMS 22	STP1 13	STP2 14	KAN 11	INDY 17	MIL 6	IOW 15	WGL1 Ret	WGL2 11	NSH Ret	MDO1 7	MDO2 1	KTY 2	SNM1 14	SNM2 13	CHI 5	9th	333
2009	Vision Racing	STP1 8	STP2 17	LBH 7	KAN 8	INDY 6	MIL 5	IOW 10	WGL 2	TOR 5	EDM 10	KTY 4	MDO 1	SNM 3	CHI 2	HMS 5		2nd	447

IndyCar Series

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Rank	Points
2013	Dale Coyne Racing	Dallara DW12	Honda	STP	ALA	LBH	SAO	INDY	DET	DET	TXS	MIL	IOW	POC	TOR	TOR	MDO 15	SNM 18	BAL	HOU	HOU	FON	32nd	27
2014	KV Racing Technology		Chevrolet	STP	LBH	ALA	IMS	INDY 16	DET	DET	TXS	HOU	HOU	POC	IOW	TOR	TOR	MDO	MIL	SNM	FON		29th	34
2015	Dale Coyne Racing		Honda	STP	NLA	LBH	ALA	IMS	INDY 27	DET	DET	TXS	TOR	FON	MIL	IOW	MDO	POC	SNM				38th	10
2017				STP	LBH	ALA	PHX	IMS	INDY 20	DET	DET	TXS	ROA	IOW	TOR	MDO	POC	GTW	WGL	SNM			35th	21
2018	A. J. Foyt Enterprises w/ Byrd-Hollinger-Belardi		Chevrolet	STP	PHX	LBH	ALA	IMS	INDY 33	DET	DET	TXS	RDA	IOW	TOR	MDO	POC	GTW	POR	SNM			41st	10
2019	Dale Coyne Racing w/ Byrd/Hollinger/Belardi		Honda	STP	COA	ALA	LBH	IMS	INDY 12	DET	DET	TXS	RDA	TOR	IOW	MDO	POC	GTW	POR	LAG			28th	36
2020	Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing & Byrd Belardi			TXS	IMS	ROA	ROA	IOW	IOW	INDY 33	GTW	GTW	MDO	MDO	IMS	IMS	STP						34th	10

Indianapolis 500

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Team
2014	Dallara	Chevrolet	28	16	KV Racing Technology
2015	Dallara	Honda	33	27	Dale Coyne Racing
2017	Dallara	Honda	33	20	Dale Coyne Racing
2018	Dallara	Chevrolet	19	33	Foyt with Byrd / Hollinger / Belardi
2019	Dallara	Honda	15	12	Dale Coyne Racing with Byrd / Hollinger / Belardi
2020	Dallara	Honda	27	33	Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing & Byrd Belardi

Sports car racing results

(key)

Rolex Sports Car Series

Year	Team	Make	Engine	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Rank	Points
2010	Starworks Motorsport	Riley	BMW	DP	DAY	HOM	BAR	VIR	LRP	WAT1 7	MDO	DAY2	NJ	WAT2 Ret	CGV	MIL		34th	24
2011	Michael Shank Racing		Ford		DAY	HOM	BAR	VIR	LRP	WAT1	RDA	LAG Ret	NJ	WAT2	CGV	MDO		56th	11
2012	Michael Baughman Racing	Corvette	Chev	GT	DAY	BMP	HMS	NJ	BIP	MDO	RA	WAT1	IMS Ret	WAT2 8	CGV	LAG	LRP	57th	23

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship

Year	Team	Make	Engine	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Rank	Points
2014	The Racer's Group	Aston Martin Vantage GT3	Aston Martin 6.0 L V12	GTD	DAY 22	SEB 19	LAG 13	BIP 4	WAT 11	MSP 12	IMS 7	RA DNS	VIR 12	COA Ret	PET 10		25th	196
2015					DAY 13	SEB 2	LAG 5	BIP 2	WAT	MSP	LRP	RA	VIR	COA	PET		15th	113
2016					DAY 20	SEB	LAG 3	BIP	WAT	MSP	LRP	RA	VIR	COA	PET		37th	32
2017					DAY	SEB	LBH	COA	DET	WGL	LIM	ELK 13	VIR	LGA	ATL	PET	71st	18

Pirelli World Challenge

Year	Team	Make	Engine	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Rank	Points
2015	Always Evolving	Nissan GT-R		GT	AUS1 6	AUS2 16	STP1 6	STP2 16	LBH 5	BAR1 1*	BAR2 11	MOS1 9	MOS2 20	DET 5	ELK1 2	ELK2 2	ELK3 1*	MDO1 2	MDO2 2	MIL1 2	MIL2 2	SON1 7	SON2 6	LAG 7	4th	1562
2016					AUS1 4	AUS2 13	STP1 19	STP2 2	LBH 4	BAR1 4	BAR2 8	MOS1 5	MOS2 2	LRP1 12	LRP2 5	ELK1 5	ELK2 18	MDO1 17†	MDO2 5	UTA1 [N 1]	UTA2 [N 1]	SON1 11	SON2 7	LAG 7	7th	1210
2017	The Racer's Group	Aston Martin Vantage GT3		GT	STP1 2	STP2 21	LBH																		45th	44
	Dime Racing	Lamborghini Huracan GT3		SprintX				VIR1 13	VIR2 9	MOS1	LRP1	LRP2	ELK1	ELK2	MDO1	MDO2	UTA1	UTA2	COA1	COA2	COA3	SON1	SON2

1. J. D. Davison had been suspended at Utah Motorsports Campus after making avoidable contact at Mid-Ohio while on probation.

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Cup Series

NASCAR Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	NCSC	Pts	Ref
2020	Spire Motorsports	77	Chevy	DAY	LVS	CAL	PHO	DAR	DAR	CLT	CLT	BRI	ATL	MAR	HOM	TAL	POC 34	POC 30	IND	KEN	TEX	KAN																		37th	56	[20]
	Rick Ware Racing	53	Chevy																				NHA 30							DAR 39	RCH 37	BRI 35	LVS	TAL 30	CLT 29
		51	Ford																					MCH 38	MCH 37				DAY 39
			Chevy																							DAY 30	DOV	DOV
		53	Ford																																	KAN 32	TEX	MAR 36	PHO 33

Xfinity Series

NASCAR Xfinity Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	NXSC	Pts	Ref
2016	King Autosport	90	Chevy	DAY	ATL	LVS	PHO	CAL	TEX	BRI	RCH	TAL	DOV	CLT	POC	MCH	IOW	DAY	KEN	NHA	IND	IOW	GLN	MOH	BRI	ROA 19	DAR	RCH	CHI	KEN	DOV	CLT	KAN	TEX	PHO	HOM	63rd	22	[21]
2017	Joe Gibbs Racing	20	Toyota	DAY	ATL	LVS	PHO	CAL	TEX	BRI	RCH	TAL	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	IOW	DAY	KEN	NHA	IND	IOW	GLN	MOH 4	BRI	ROA 37*	DAR	RCH	CHI	KEN	DOV	CLT	KAN	TEX	PHO	HOM	47th	52	[22]
2018		18		DAY	ATL	LVS	PHO	CAL	TEX	BRI	RCH	TAL	DOV	CLT	POC	MCH	IOW	CHI	DAY	KEN	NHA	IOW	GLN	MOH	BRI	ROA 8	DAR	IND	LVS	RCH	CLT	DOV	KAN	TEX	PHO	HOM	56th	29	[23]

^* Season still in progress
¹ Ineligible for series points

References

1. "Under the Helmet with JD Davison". jamesdavisonracing.com. 15 May 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
2. "Always Evolving NASCAR Xfinity Series debut". jamesdavisonracing.com. 22 August 2016. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
3. Patrizi to replace Davison at Team Australia, Motorsport.com, 21 August 2006
4. http://www.speedcafe.com/2011/11/05/james-davison-to-test-indycar-this-week/ Speedcafe.com. Retrieved 7 November 2011
5. http://www.speedcafe.com/2011/11/07/andretti-confirms-davison-indycar-test/ Speedcafe.com. Retrieved 7 November 2011
6. http://www.speedcafe.com/2011/11/11/james-davison-pleased-with-indycar-test/ Speedcafe.com Retrieved 14 November 2011
7. Aussie James Davison to make IndyCar debut at Mid-Ohio for Dale Coyne Racing, Motorsport, 25 July 2013, Retrieved 2013-07-26
8. Horner, Scott; Ayello, Jim (20 May 2018). "Indy 500 2018: James Davison sheds no tears for James Hinchcliffe". Indianapolis Star. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
9. http://www.speedcafe.com.au/2010/05/28/james-davison-set-for-sportscar-debut/, Speedcafe.com, 28 May 2010
10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 6 February 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link), Grand-Am website, 14 July 2010
11. http://www.jamesdavisonracing.com/news/?i=27118/
12. https://www.frontstretch.com/2017/02/22/james-davison-returns-to-trg-in-pirelli-world-challenge/
13. "James Davison 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results - Racing-Reference.info". racing-reference.info. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
14. "James Davison Talks About His Xfinity Debut". 30 August 2016. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
15. DeGroot, Nick (18 June 2020). "James Davison's Cup debut deferred to Pocono". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
16. Spencer, Lee (14 December 2019). "James Davison to run Daytona, Indy for new partnership in 2020". RacinBoys. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
17. DeGroot, Nick (16 June 2020). "James Davison to make NASCAR oval debut at Talladega". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
18. Srigley, Joseph (27 July 2020). "James Davison Returning to NASCAR Cup Series for Rick Ware Racing at New Hampshire Motor Speedway". TobyChristie.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
19. http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?25/04/2004.SAND.Q3, Natsoft Timing, 14 July 2010
20. "James Davison – 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
21. "James Davison – 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
22. "James Davison – 2017 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
23. "James Davison – 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 16 June 2020.

External links

• Official website
• James Davison driver statistics at Racing-Reference
• Profile on Driver Database
• Profile on Speedsport
• Indy Lights Profile
• 2006 Atlantic standings
• 2007 Star Mazda review
• Grand-Am Profile