James Davison has had an on again, off again relationship with Indycar. When he was in Indy Lights, he competed against several current Indycar drivers. The last three years he has driven in the IMSA Weather Tech Series, winning the pole in GT Dayona class at the Rolex 24 and he won twice in Pirelli World Challenge driving for Nissan in 2015.Davison, speaking to fans as part of the Fast Cars Fast Girls podcast series, says while he enjoys racing, ‘The Indy 500 is where I want to be.”

He had his first start in the 500 in 2014, driving for KV Racing. He started 28th and finished 16th. The following year, driving for Dale Coyne, he started last because he had a sportscar commitment on qualifying weekend. Tristan Vautier qualified the car for Davison. He finished 27th after first lap contact and an incident in the pits.

Last year, he had a deal fall through because of the limited availability of Honda engines and chassis for Chevrolet teams. When Sebastien Bourdais was injured during qualifying, Davison got the call to replace him. He again started 33rd, but led two laps late in the race. His day ended in a five car pileup in turn one with about 16 laps to go. He feels that he lost a chance to win the race.

2018 is the earliest he has had a 500 program in place, driving the Johnathon Byrd car owned by Brian Belardi in a partnership with A. J. Foyt Racing. He admits the one off teams are behind the full timers, but he feels they can be competitive.

“if we don’t qualify but I know the team put forth maximum effort on everything, I will have no regrets.”

Davison discussed the new car and his thoughts echo what other drivers have said- it is difficult to pass and the front end is loose in the corners.

Davison has started in the back in each 500 he has been in, but has always improved his position. As long asm he qualifies, Davison will be someone to watch on race day.

Pit Lane Parley Podcast

Due to technical difficulties, recording of the Pit Lane Parley podcast had to be postponed. Recording is planned for this evening. I will announce the air date and time. They have a not so special guest I happen to know.