Willie Davis, 1930-2017

He got his nickname in Gasoline Alley, but he made his reputation with Gary Bettenhausen in one of the most successful pairings in USAC history.

Willie "The Cork" Davis, who passed away Sunday in Indianapolis at the age of 87, was one of open-wheel racing's longest-running acts, as his resume and accomplishments stretched five decades from Bonneville to Carrell Speedway to Terre Haute to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

After tearing around the dry lakes of Utah, Davis got interested in sprint cars and midgets during the L.A. boon in the late 1950s and operated out of his shop in Burbank. He also came back to IMS for the first time, helping on the Travelon Trailer Special and campaigning his own sprinter in 1961 – giving Johnny Rutherford his initial ride in USAC.

Davis decided USAC was the place for him, so in 1963 he moved to Indiana and a year later went to work for A.J. Watson and Leader Card Racers. That's also where he picked up his moniker.

The portly native of Northern California was cleaning one of Watson's fuel tanks prior to the Indy 500 and somehow got that wide body inside the opening. Driver George Snider walked by and saw Davis sticking out of the opening and said: "It's Willie The Cork," and it stuck.

"The Cork could do everything on a racecar," said Steve Chassey, longtime USAC and IndyCar racer who drove for Davis and worked alongside him. "He also made a cruise control for a sprinter and that was kinda hairy on a place like Winchester. He started out as a carpenter but fell in love with racing.

"And then he and The Schmuck got together and made some history."

But it was having faith in a raw, second-generation driver from Tinley Park, Ill. that changed Willie's fortunes. In 1967, Bettenhausen asked to drive his sprinter but was told to get more experience and come back in a year.

"Gary was kinda wild but he had so much determination to make it and he was really good with a chassis," Davis recalled several years ago over lunch. "And he wanted to win every race, just like his old man.

"I just had a feeling he was going to be special."

Starting in 1968, Bettenhausen and Davis teamed up to reel off four of the most productive seasons in USAC history and launch the "Larry and Gary Show" in the process.
At that time, Larry Dickson was "The Man" in USAC sprints, and he managed to withstand Bettenhausen's seven victories to claim the '68 title. In '69, Bettenhausen grabbed seven more feature wins and his initial USAC sprint championship. In 1970, Dickson scored 10 wins to his rival's seven and reclaimed the crown. And in '71, Bettenhausen bested Lightin' Larry for another title.

In four years, Gary B. had racked up 25 wins in Davis' City of Syracuse Special while they both worked full-time in the IndyCar series.

But The Cork's finest moment at Indianapolis came in 1980.

Bettenhausen had lost his prestigious ride with Roger Penske in 1975 after suffering a major injury to his left arm and missed his beloved Indy 500 in 1979. His only option for '80 was a gift from Sherman Armstrong, who offered to give Gary an old Wildcat/Offy but no crew. So he immediately recruited Davis, and they threw the car together in time to qualify 32nd, and he charged to third in the race.

"Nothing topped that," beamed Davis, who was a mechanic on Indy cars for 44 years. "Gary's got a crew we threw together at the last minute and one good arm and drives to third in an old s***box. I was so proud."

The Cork was elected to the Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1996 and USAC Hall of Fame in 2016.