December 22, 2023

 Gordon Davies: Northport Street Stock Champ

Gordon Davies continued his mastery of the Northport International Raceway street stock class by winning the title for a third consecutive season.

“(It) was a highly competitive field again this year,” Davies wrote in an email referencing the tight finish among the top three drivers who were separated by just 101 points.

Among those were Davies brother, Richard, who was runner-up, 17 back of the Champ’s 515. Ron Craig collected 416 points.

“I was not always the fastest car in the field, but reliability and finishing the races were the trick,” Davies explained.

The biggest competition this year came from little brother Richard Davies. “Going into the final race, Richard (the # 2 car) had a 30-point lead on me,” Gordon Davies said.

“All he had to do was finish the heat and the main, and regardless of finishing position he would have won,” Gordon said.

Big brother figured that Northport would have a new Champ this year, “So I went into the final races just wanting a big win over the new champ.”

Well, racing luck — the bad kind — struck Richard after the trophy dash. A part failure deep in his drivetrain kept him from even starting the heat or main.

“They worked their butts off to try and band aid fix it, but to no avail,” Gordon said. He was able to place second in the heat and win the main, just enough points to take the title.

Gordon wanted to offer a big thanks to his pit crew and biggest fan and my wife, Cheryl.

The champ also offered a big thanks to Cory Bell and his many volunteers up at Northport. “The track is always in great shape and ready for us to go play on,” Davies said.

This is the latest chapter in a big book for Gordon Davies’ and hie racing passion.

“I have been involved in motorsports since I built my first demolition derby car at the age of 16 in 1979,” he noted in a lengthy bio.

He has run individual demos and also was a member of the Can/Am (Canadiens vs. Americans) team derbies in the 1980’s. He ran bump-to-pass for years at Evergreen Speedway in both the car and the truck divisions.

“I then raced with the Valley Stock class at Evergreen with the Sky Valley Racing Association and the Western Washington Racing Association. He eventually won two championships in the Sky Valley Stocks division.

Davies, 60, also ran a few races with the Northwest Outlaw Street Stock division.

“Before I retired in 2017, I had already built a dirt car to haul over to Northport and race with my little brother,” Davies said. “We relocated to Chattaroy after I retired and started racing full time at Northport.

Along both Northport, Davies has raced at Evergreen Speedway, Skagit, Port Angeles, South Sound, Victoria, Wenatchee, Ephrata, Stateline and Republic.

“I spent most of my career on pavement,” Davies said. “Once I started racing dirt, I was reinvigorated. For me dirt is really a lot more fun than pavement.”

Hayden Plybon 12th at Snowball Derby

Racing luck was not on the side of Spokane’s Haeden Plybon at the 56th Annual Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida on Dec. 3.

Plybon started 19th out of a 36-car field and ultimately finished 12th on the half-mile oval.

“Off the bat we fell back due to a super free race car,” Plybon wrote in a text message. “And after our first set of tires we got it tightened up and started slowly passing some cars.“

After the first 100 lap struggles Plybon was two laps down and had to fight to try to get those laps back but ultimately still finished just a lap down.

Ty Majeski won the race, his second Snowball victory, his first coming in 2020 in what is often referred to as “The Super Bowl” of short track racing. Majeski drives for ThorSport Racing in the NASCAR Truck Series.