Last season Davis set the PDRA E.T record of 4.032 and the MPH mark of 182.92 at the very first PDRA race, but the marks were both eclipsed in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Aaron Glasser.

On the subject of performance, Davis had this to say when asked about the new car’s on-track potential: “I don’t want to go out on a limb and make any big predictions, but the new car should be faster than the current car, and it’s a really good and really fast car itself,” Davis said. “I can run 4.00s about anywhere in my current car and last season I went 3.977 at the PDRA race at Martin, Michigan, and 3.995 at the first VMP race. I expect to go faster in the new LJRC car. I’m going to keep last year’s PDRA car and use it in NHRA competition.”

In his first season with PDRA, Davis, along with Pete March, his crew helper for over 11 years, finished fifth in points. He said that last year's finish has only motivated him more.

"We made some mistakes and had some parts breakage during the season; we will improve on both in 2015."

Davis, of Suwanee, Georgia, has been racing since the age of 18, and in the early stages of his career spent much of his time running in a heads-up racing program at the old Atlanta Speed Shop Dragway. The category was called King of the Hill, and Davis earned his nickname by going undefeated for three and a half years.

In 1988 Davis discovered Top Sportsman and in the intervening years he became a driving force behind the class’ rise to prominence as drag racing’s quickest and fastest dial-in doorslammer category.

“I heard about the Top Sportsman class that the IHRA was racing, and some friends told me It would be something I’d really like," Davis said. "I decided to build a '90 Beretta for the class, which we finished in September of 1989. A week later we went to test at Atlanta Speed Shop Dragway. After just two runs the car was race ready, so we loaded up and went to Warner Robins Dragway for a Dixie Pro Stock race the same day. On one of my first passes I ran 4.999 with the 565-cubic-inch motor with one four barrel and nitrous. It was the first time I’d run the car and I won the event. During the race I took out Gene Fulton and beat Blake Wiggins in the final. The next weekend I went to the last IHRA race of 1989 at Bristol to get my feet wet in Top Sportsman racing and prepare for my run at the 1990 championship. During that race I finished runner-up to Ron Miller."

From that point on Davis was in love with Top Sportsman. He won IHRA world championship titles in 1990, 1991 and 1997, and division titles in 2000 and 2002. When the IHRA was bought out in 1999, however, Davis and others didn't like the changes that were made by the new ownership. Change was in the wind, and the timing was perfect for Davis to make a move.

“NHRA Division 2 director Bill Holt contacted me in late 2001, as I remember it, and told me he was interested in talking about the Top Sportsman class running in his division," Davis said. "I jumped at the opportunity and the rest is history. Bill and I started Top Sportsman in NHRA Division 2 as a five-race experimental series in 2002. It was an overwhelming success and became an official class in 2003. These days it's one of the NHRA’s most popular classes.”

Davis later assisted getting Top Sportsman going in a now-defunct eighth-mile racing organization. He liked the fast 16-car fields and that brought him to the PDRA prior to their inaugural season in 2014.

“I got together with Jason Scruggs and Bob Harris when they first got PDRA going and worked with them on getting sponsors, setting the rules and the structure of the class,” Davis said. “I really loved the PDRA-type format because I love to go fast and I still enjoy having to qualify. I’m a staunch supporter of the PDRA and I think it has a great future. The PDRA Top Sportsman class is the baddest of the bad, in my opinion.

"The PDRA has an outstanding ownership group, guys who are all racers themselves, and the camaraderie and atmosphere at the events is second to none," Davis said. "Bob Harris and crew did an outstanding job in just their first year. All they have to do is keep doing what they did last season and the series will grow.”

Asked what he saw in the future for PDRA and drag racing in general, Davis said: There are a lot of factors involved as far as future growth is concerned. Everyone knows that the economy still isn’t where it should be, and that has a major impact on the ability to get and maintain equipment, run up and down the road to events and race competitively. But racers have always found a way, and I think that will be the case for years to come.”

“Ronnie Davis has been a key player in sportsman racing in general and Top Sportsman racing in particular for many years, and we at the PDRA are proud to say that he is a big part of our organization and our racing programs, now and in the future,” said PDRA Race Director Bob Harris.

Ronnie Davis Racing greatly appreciates the support of these fine companies: Rock Racing Batteries, Star E.V. Golf Carts, Hickory Enclosed Trailers & Race Performance Motor Coach, Hoosier Tires, CSR Performance Products, VP Racing Fuels, Moroso Performance Products, Magnafuel, Braswell Carburetors, MSD, Abruzzi Transmissions, Larry Jeffers Race Cars, Braille Battery, Jon Kaase Racing Engines, Permatex, Weld Racing, Coan Converters, Showhauler Motorhomes, WJ Enterprises, Lovendahl Shock Solutions, Driveline Service of Atlanta, Jesel, Headman Hedders, Federal-Mogul and Sonnax Transmission Gears.

Photo: Thanks DragStory.com