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Load Up: Texan Davidson Looks to Haul In First FFS Victory at Pepsi Max 125

By Chuck Corder

It takes gallons and gallons of gas and nine hours for Chris Davidson to chase his dream in Pensacola.

What seems like a grueling trek to most sane individuals is a Sunday drive to the 35-year-old driver from Pearland, Texas.

Davidson takes solace in knowing no matter where he finishes each Friday at Five Flags Speedway, he’ll always head home having battled the nation’s best Super Late Models.

“Good, bad, otherwise, we’re still racers and we’re gonna come,� the electrical contractor by day said. “It’s the most difficult competition there is. It’s a constant cycle of improvement just to keep up, much less improve.�

Fresh off a runner-up finish at the Buddy’s Home Furnishings Blizzard Series opener last month, Davidson hopes to improve just one spot at the Pepsi Max 125 this Friday at Five Flags.

The grandstands open at 5 p.m., right around the time the SLMs will be making practice runs. Motorcycles, Sportsmen and Bombers all get their shot to shine Friday night.

Admission is as follows: $15 adults; $12 seniors, military and students; $5 children 6-11; and free under-6.

The race, as is the case with all four Blizzard Series events this year, is part of the inaugural season of the Southern Super Series, a touring SLM circuit that competes at some of the south’s most iconic short tracks.

Look for Davidson in his No. 14, but also keep an eye out for Pensacola’s favorite daughter.

Johanna Long, 2010 Snowball Derby champion and current NASCAR Nationwide Series driver, will be making her second appearance at Five Flags this year after helping spot for friend Tommy Rollins in an Allen Turner Pro Late Model feature back in April.

For Long, it’s also her second Southern Super Series start this year.

“Everybody’s on a level playing field,� Davidson said. “The competition yellow with the long (10-minute break around Lap 75) helps everybody tremendously. At the break, if you’re not right, you have the opportunity to get better. I’m sure it’s a better race for the fans that way.�

The new format certainly seems to fit his eye.

Davidson is 18th in Super Series standings despite only competing in two of the six races that have been run to date. He nearly won in Mobile the night after his second in Pensacola last month before a faulty fuel pump did him in late in the race.

Only Austin Theriault in 17th sits higher than Davidson in as few starts.

“The reality is, everybody wants to win races,� Davidson said. “In that respect, we’re like everybody else. At the end of the season, (the points) won’t mean anything much because we won’t run them all. We’d like to, but we can’t.�

He has been a familiar face to Five Flags for nearly a decade.

Davidson has made the long jaunt to the famed half-mile asphalt oval consistently for the last four years once the late model scene in Texas started to fizzle.

There are no late model races in nearby Houston and the closest track for Davidson to compete at is four hours away in San Antonio.

“We might as well drive the nine (hours) and get some real racing in,� he said.

Davidson got some real racing at the 2002 Snowball Derby, flirting with short-track immortality at America’s Favorite Home Track.

With the white flag out, he was out front in his sport’s most prestigious race.

“I couldn’t keep it together,� lamented Davidson, who finished fourth because of tire woes. “We had been leading for a while and I didn’t stop to get tires when we should have. I made a mistake and paid for it dearly.�
Eleven years later, he still is hunting for that elusive first career win in Pensacola.

Davidson hopes when his long drive ends this week in the Panhandle, so will his long wait to celebrate in Victory Lane.

“I hope we can unload the same as we were,� he said. “Maybe we can get up there and have a chance to win the race.�

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