Bartlett driver inducted into International Drag Racing Hall of Fame

OCALA, Fla. — One of the most well-known drag racing figures in the Memphis, Tenn. area, Preston Davis, was inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame on March 16.

Davis, 74, is a Bartlett resident.

The International Drag Racing Hall of Fame is a part of the famed Don Garlits Drag Racing Museum in Ocala, Fla.

Davis and his successful racing career have been linked to another Memphis area Hall of Fame member, Raymond Goodman, whose “Tennessee Bo-Weevil” Top Fuel dragster was one of the most popular and successful drag racing cars in the Mid-South and Southeast U.S.

Davis drove the car starting in 196, and credits the belief that Godman had in him and making certain the “Bo-Weevil” was competitive for his successes.

As a teenager, Davis was bitten by the love of the automobile, and particularly racing. At 21, he joined the Memphis Rodders club. He had started his racing career like many others, at the wheel of a basically home-built race car.

In this case, it was a 1950 Mercury, powered by a small-block Chevrolet engine, competing in the D/Gas class.

As he gained experience, he moved into quicker and faster cars.

Five years later, in 1967, he had moved to the C/Dragster class and had set the then national elapsed time (E.T.) record.

The growth of Davis as a racer came under the watchful eye of Godman, a fellow member of the Memphis Rodders, who saw his potential.

When Davis asked Godman to drive the potent “Bo-Weevil,” Godman agreed. In a sense, Godman was already influencing Davis’s career, since he had built and owned the Memphis area’s premier dragstrip, Lakeland Dragstrip, the only dragstrip in the Tennessee/Arkansas/Mississippi area.

According to Davis, the Lakeland Dragstrip became one of the most important tracks in the Mid-South region, and a number of great racers competed there, which furthered his competitive skills.

When Davis got behind the wheel of the “Bo-Weevil” in 1968, the combination quickly became successful. Davis and Godman won the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Division 2 (Southeast Division) Top Fuel title that year, and repeated in 1970.

In 1971, the dragster was joined by a ’70 Plymouth ’Cuda bodied Funny Car, to take advantage of the fast-growing popularity of the new class.

The change did not affect the duo’s success, and immediately, Davis took the new Tennessee Bo-Weevil Funny Car to a Division 2 championship.

The high point of Davis’s career came in 1972 where he again captured the Division 2 Funny Car title and finished runner-up to Tom (“Mongoose”) McEwen at the National Challenge meet in Tulsa, Okla., which drew many of the leading racers of the era to the event.

Davis left racing in 1974, following a serious engine fire which destroyed the new Mustang body. Davis felt he was getting a message, and that the newly mandated fire suit rule had saved him from more serious injury.

Davis turned to building a construction business with the family, and while he was out of the racing, racing was not out of his blood. He briefly rejoined Godman in 1979 to race at the 25th Anniversary U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, Ind., and for a couple more races, but an ill-behaving race car caused Davis to quit for good. It also marked the final season for Godman and the “Bo-Weevil.”

However, Davis’s racing bug just would not go away completely. At the turn of the century, Davis began an effort to find and restore some of the old “Tennessee Bo-Weevil” race cars, with Godman’s help.

The cars include the 1961 supercharged Chrysler modified, the championship-winning 1970 Top Fuel car, and the 1979 Plymouth Arrow Funny Car … the last of the famed “Bo-Weevils.”

Today, at 74, Davis is back behind the wheel of a race car, participating in the NHRA’s popular “Hot Rod Reunion” nostalgia events for cars and racers of the past.

Davis and his wife, Freda, have been married for 56 years and have four children – daughters Judy and Wendy, and sons Mark and Scott.

Davis said that in addition to being a professionally run operation, the performance of the “Bo-Weevil” and Godman’s personality helped build the sport in the area of the country which was heavily influenced by NASCAR.

“In addition to the car’s performance and the strength of Raymond’s personality, many people were taken by Godman’s Korean War service and his confinement to a wheelchair, and being able to do mechanical work on the car,” Davis said. “He was an inspiration to the many people he encountered over the years while at the track, the race shop and the automotive parts distribution business he operated.

“I owe a great deal of my success to his example and guidance, as well as his mechanical genius.”