Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128120
By at. He SCDDTER IVIIJNIIJ "_ro SCOTT ROUSSEAU y ,21: I got the news about you early Sunday morning. It just so happened that I was in a very public place, but that didn't stop me from falling down on my knees and weeping bitterly. I couldn't believe it. I still don't want to. But now I have to sit here anyway, and write this letter, though I never thought that I'd have to write to you this way. Is that rain? I can't tell. I can barely see through it to my computer screen. Memories of you keep pouring through my mind as if pushing their way past a broken floodgate. I remember the first time I'd ever been made aware that there was a Will Davis. I saw a clip of you on Motoworld in 1988. You had won the last 600cc National of the year at Woodstock, Georgia. Remember that? You beat your pal Morehead and then you couldn't figure out how to open the champagne bottle on the podium. Morehead had to help you. So much for your big-time television debuts, huh? My next recollection comes easily. You and I joked about it over and over again, about that time that you shut down the last running of the Ascot Half Mile early by trying to move the wall back a couple of feet after you came off t~rn four. I remember thinking that it was your day to go then, and my jaw dropped when you actually stood up, dazed - to be sure - shook the dust off and walked away with a little bit of help. I remember asking myself, "How tough can one guy be?" I was working for the newspaper, but still didn't know you when you won the Pomona Half Mile in '94, riding that Honda for Louie Aruta and Craig Rogers. Do you remember that one? You smoked 'em bad there. Of course, I'd go on to learn that was kind of your style. Win or lose, you always did it big, never halfway. But then we finally did meet. I was the rookie this time, and you were already a veteran at this dirt track thing, and we struck up a friendship because you were one of the few guys who were really willing to give me a chance. I remember you telling me that every time there was a shift change on the dirt track beat at Cycle News, you would al~ays wonder who they were going to get next, and you were always sort of disappointed, but when you saw how much I was into r what you and the boys were doing, you admitted that maybe "this Roscoe guy" was different. It so doesn't matter now, but thanks for that small measure of faith, anyway. I really hope that I never let you down. Hanging out and hitting the gokart tracks before the races, that was the thing then, remember? I swear that you had little Gary Rogers on the payroll, because every time that I'd try to take you out, he'd knock me into next week. You were a wicked go-kart driver. I never did get a clean shot at you. I guess it'll have to wait. Then there was Oklahoma City in '96, and again I was left in awe. You and Parker were in that epic battle for the lead, and you slammed together so hard off turn two that I swear the ground shook underneath my feet. The impact broke your left leg, but you didn't give up. No way, not you. You charged down into three with your boot half ripped off your leg, tried to make the turn, and low-sided. Then, just as you got up, along came Ricky Graham and tried to cut you in half. Once again, I thought that you had bought it - I think everybody did. But there you were, trying to shake the dust off as they loaded you in the wagon. And do you remember back at the hotel that night? You and I were just laughing about that one at Charlotte this year yet again. You were so sore that you couldn't move, and we couldn't figure out how to get you to your room. I found that bellhop's cart, we carefully propped you on it, and then just as I went to pull it, the handle ripped loose and up and clubbed you in the back of the head. I don't think that I ever heard anyone yelp so loudly before or since. I was mortified, but it was also so damned funny. Parker felt bad about the whole thing, too. I remember that he sprung for the McDonald's that night. I'll always be proud to be able to say that I saw you achieve some pretty cool firsts, such as your first Daytona Short Track win in '96. You always said that Daytona meant as much to you as it did to Richard Petty or Dale Earnhardt because your daddy always talked about the place, and you were never shy about letting folks know how much you loved him for all that he did for your racing career. You wanted to win it for him, and you did it. I also remember you getting your first mile win at Springfield, last year. We always argued - in Coming up in a friendly fashion - about the mile thing. You said that winning a mile would be like winning just another race, but I call you on that one. We both know that it was a special moment for you, even though you wound up getting so sick from the heat afterward. Looking back now, maybe this whole tragedy should in some way have been foreseeable. I say that because I don't think you were ever better than during those three straight weekends back east this year. You conquered Charlotte, and you got so emotional. You did that from time to time, and we had confided that we were both cut from the same cloth as far as that goes. Every time I started to hear it in your voice, I would literally have to turn away. I knew how you felt, how much it all meant to you, how much you appreciated just that one chance to be a winner, even if it meant that you would never stand on top of the box again. I never met a more humble victor with your kind of confidence. You flattened 'em at Harrington, and you were the fastest of the bunch at Hagerstown before the rain came. You'd have won that one, too. Everybody knows that. I told you then that I'd see you at Springfield, and I was looking forward to it because I really wanted to see you win that short track. I know you wanted it badly, and there was nobody who worked any harder than you to get where they wanted to go in this sport. For some people, dirt track is a vehicle, but you made it your road. Sedalia was supposed to be a formality this year, maybe another win for you. Instead, for me, it will always be a place of sorrow. And disappointment. That's right, I'm disappointed because I had such high hopes for you, man. Do you know what I wanted for you? I wanted to see you enjoy that one last season before retiring. I wanted to hear about you returning to places like Springfield or Charlotte to receive the welcome of one of the sport's grand old legends. I wanted to know that you would be around to grow old with your high school sweetheart, and see your wonderful little boy grow up to be man and take the things that you'd taught him to make his own mark in this world. The championship? Will, in my eyes, you were already a champion a thousand times over. You never, ever needed a number one on your motorcycle to prove that to me. And now I keep having this imaginary vision of you. You're seated on your best-running motorcycle, look- Will Davis, 1964-2001 ing back at us all as you're pointed toward the sunset. You give us a wink and a wave, and then you drop the hammer and you're gone. You're a rookie again, in a new series, and I'll bet the competition is probably tougher there than it is here. Say hi to all the boys for us. Tell them that we miss them, and please tell the big guy that he needs to save some of the good ones for us. In the meantime, I'll try and get up from this tragedy, shake the dust off and go racing. After all, I got that one from you. eN • Gennan World Superbike • Holland MX GP • Delmont MX National Finale • Springfield Dirt Track Trlpleheader cue. e n e vv S • SEPTEMBER 5,2001 103