Donald Davidson

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Historian Donald Davidson first showed up at the track in 1964, obsessed with the 500 and having memorized a plethora of trivial facts about the event and its participants. Returning in 1965, he was invited by IMS Radio Network Chief Announcer Sid Collins to participate as a commentator on the race-day broadcast, a duty he has performed ever since. The week after that race, he was hired (by Director of Competition Henry Banks) to be the keeper of records for the...See more

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Historian Donald Davidson first showed up at the track in 1964, obsessed with the 500 and having memorized a plethora of trivial facts about the event and its participants. Returning in 1965, he was invited by IMS Radio Network Chief Announcer Sid Collins to participate as a commentator on the race-day broadcast, a duty he has performed ever since. The week after that race, he was hired (by Director of Competition Henry Banks) to be the keeper of records for the United States Auto Club (USAC), and since that time has contributed to dozens of books, written numerous magazine stories and local newspaper columns, given hundreds of talks, been featured on ABC News, and been a guest, along with Mario Andretti and Jackie Stewart, on Ted Koppel's Nightline. He has hosted a call-in radio show every May since 1971, and for 20 years has conducted a four-night course on 500 history for IUPUI, the Indianapolis-based combined campus of Purdue and Indiana Universities. He joined IMS full time in 1998. He is regarded as the ultimate authority on the race, its history and its participants. Donald See less