Colquitt County native honored during dirt track races at Needmore Speedway

Published 1:00 pm Thursday, July 6, 2023

MOULTRIE — On Saturday night, Needmore Speedway ran a special event honoring the late Michael “Big Mike” Davis, a Moultrie native who was a lover of dirt track racing. He passed away in June of 2017.

To help make this event extra special, Cobb Funeral Chapel — who were in charge of Davis’ arrangements — and the Cobb-Robinson family helped sponsor the event.

“He (Davis) was always involved in dirt track racing,” said Ellen Cobb-Robinson, who personally knew Davis for years. “Mike started teaching his son, Wes, when he was a little boy, and it became something very special that they did together. It was Mike’s favorite thing to do with his son.”

Each year, the Cobb-Robinson family honors Davis by helping sponsor a race.

“Usually we do a cart race,” said Cobb-Robinson. “But, this year we decided to pair together with Needmore and do actual cars because Mike loved cars so much.”

Because of the generosity of the funeral home and the Cobb-Robinson family, the first 100 grandstand spectators received free entry. The evening also included a fireworks display with racer meet-and-greets between the qualifying laps and the feature races.

It was very hot and humid from passing summer storms, but the clouds parted long enough for the evening races to take place undisturbed and it didn’t deter fans from showing up.

The initial drivers meeting was at 6:30 p.m. and then it was time to begin the hot laps.

The evening featured six classes of cars: enduro, street stock, super street, crown vic, 604 late model, and 602 sportsman.

As late as it could be on July 1, and as early as possible on July 2, the feature races were underway.

The second highest purse was $1,500 for the 604 class, which is the highest class of car. They raced around the track 25 times.

Sixteen-year-old Jackson Hice of Ocala, Fla., was the first of the wonky-framed cars to drive past that waving checkered flag.

Those same uniquely identifiable cars drove again in the 602 class, which had a purse of $1,400.

After battling 20 laps, Valdosta’s Cole Exum claimed his spot in the winner’s circle.

“The 602 race was a fascinating race,” said Smith. “There were a lot of slide jobs, or dangerous moves that are awesome to see as a fan. It was just a really exciting race.”

Maybe this was attributed to the fact that racers in the 602 class could use Saturday’s event as a pre-qualifier for the Morgan Sheffield memorial race, hosted by Needmore Speedway in August.

The last three styles of racing vehicles outside the primary feature for the evening were the street stock, super street and crown vic. Each had a feature race of 15 laps.

Cody Allen from Florida won the 300 purse with his Crown Vic.

The street stock winner, Heath Walker, also from Florida, and Douglas’ Brian Grantham driving a super street both went home with $700 after their first place finishes.

This main class feature for the evening with 30 laps was the enduros because that is what Davis drove, and is what Wes currently drives.

“We raised the purse of the enduros because that was a way for us to honor Davis,” said Needmore Speedway owner Chance Smith.

“Mike’s son was on our team for the event,” said Cobb-Robinson. “Though he didn’t win, it was really cool because the trophy had a picture of Mike on it and Wes got to hand it to the winner, who happened to be his boss. It was a very special moment and meant a lot to everyone.”

Ronnie Newsome from Valdosta took first in the enduro class to win the largest of the purses — $2,500.

Needmore Speedway’s next race will be their two-day modified mafia event beginning Friday, July 21. The pit will open at 2 p.m., grandstand at 4 p.m. and races will begin around 7 p.m.