| By: Robert Janis
Growing Up With an ATV
 Joe
Davis is 21 years old now but he's been riding ATVs
since he was only 3 years old. It was his
dad who first introduced him to the off-road world.
"My dad raced motorcycles in California and he rode
and still rides ATVs, but he doesn't race them,"
said Davis. His dad took him to his first
ATV race, he thought it was "cool" and he wanted
to do it. So he just showed up at a Hair Scramble
Race in Missouri in 1997 or 98 when he was 14 or
15 years old, signed up and went on the track.
He rode a 1987 Honda TRX250R. That first race
is certainly not one to remember. "It wasn't
good. I crashed three times," he quipped.
Undaunted, he went on in the sport and is now
being sponsored by West Plains Motorsports, West
Plains Missouri, a dealership that sells ATVs.
Davis has been employed by West Plains Motorsports
as a technician since April, 2005. He's also
sponsored by Dirt Work Motorsports." I received
sponsorship from Dirt Works because I am a working
buddy of the owner and it's a new company that's
trying to get established," said Davis.
A resident of West Plains, Missouri, he has been
racing in the Expert Class in Missouri and surrounding
states since 1999. His experience in that
first race was not a trend. Davis finished
second in the Arkansas-Missouri Series in 2001.
Although he did not race in 2003 through 2005, he
is poised to make a comeback in the 2006 racing
season.
He races GNC motocross and has participated mostly
in local events although he has done some national
racing. He was ranked third nationally in
2002. His experience racing has taken him
as far away from Missouri as Michigan. In
fact, his favorite track is Red Bud in Buchanan,
Michigan. "It has great dirt, it's rough,
and it's fast," said Davis.
He explained that in order to race in national
events he needs to qualify at the track. "I
go to the track, sign up and do the qualifiers,"
he said. "That would be heat races on Saturday.
Depending on how many racers are involved you need
to finish in the top six or eight in each heat.
If you don't make it through the heats you can compete
in the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ). Usually
the racers who finish first and second in the LCQ
make it to the Sunday races." He added that
racers who finish in the top 10 for a year do not
have to qualify for each race but are automatically
qualified in the Pro Class.
He finds racing to be tons of fun. "The
only downside is that it is expensive," he said.
"It takes a lot of money to buy an ATV to race.
One can cost as much as $17,000 to $18,000.
The travel expenses are high too. I probably
wouldn't be able to do it without the help of my
sponsors."
He feels that the sky is the limit for ATV racing.
"If the factories stay in it and keep producing
high quality ATVs like they are now, I think ATV
racing will be as big as dirt bike racing," he said.
As for his own future in the sport, Davis hopes
to race for many more years. "I am progressing my
skills and I hope to go on to be a National Pro,"
he concluded.
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