Father-Son Team Look for More Moments
in Defending World Challenge Title
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (Apr. 15, 2009) - A family photo hangs in the Davis' Huntington Beach household, father and son enjoying a special moment together. It’s from last year’s Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, and dad is hugging son wearing a smile wider than Shoreline Drive.
The proud papa is driver and team owner Mike Davis and his son, Brandon, had just won the race. Now, the duo is back for 2009 and Brandon is looking to defend his title in the ACS Grand Prix of Long Beach Presented by Lala Motorsports.
"I’ve got a picture up on the wall where I’m giving Brandon a big teary-eyed hug,” said Mike Davis, who drives the No. 11 ACS Express Racing Ford Mustang Cobra, “That was a very special moment, a moment in life that stays with you forever.”
But that’s history, and Brandon has put that memory in the past for the time being. The driver of the ACS Express #10 Ford Mustang Cobra is focused on the future, and that includes winning Long Beach again. He may have had a few chills run up the spine when he returned to the site of his victory to give press rides at the annual Pro/Celebrity Media Day on April 7, but they quickly faded.
“The feeling I had returning to the track was not so much of a flashback, but of last year being such a big learning curve,” he said. “I was new to the car, new to the series and it was the first time I had been on the track. Now, it’s like putting on an old pair of shoes. This year, we’re staring so much farther ahead of where we were last year.”
Brandon is no one-race wonder. In addition to Long Beach, he also won at Road Atlanta and finished third in the 2008 World Challenge GT Drivers’ Championship. He began 2009 on the podium, finishing third at Sebring.
“The goal for Long Beach, as it is at every event, is to win,” he said. ”But, our ultimate goal is to win that Championship. Long Beach is our biggest event of the year. It’s not just the race, but everything around it. I’ve been coming here for years watching my father and now all my family and friends get a chance to see us both race together.”
Mike Davis, who fielded an SCCA Trans-Am series championship car for Boris Said in 2002, is a long-time sports car veteran. He has 43 Trans Am and 22 World Challenge races under his belt and knows what it takes to succeed here.
“You don’t win Long Beach on the first lap,” he said. “You’ve got to get through the first 4-5 laps and let the field spread out. There are people who are really fast the first half of the race but may not finish. Brandon has enough maturity to know you can be fast at first, but it’s more important to be fast at the end.
“The best-case scenario is for both us to be on the podium.”
ACS Express Racing is also supported by these associate sponsors: Red Line Oil and Mothers Polish and Wax.