Personal History
British born, Davidson was from Salisbury, Wiltshire in South West England. He first learned of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway when he became passionately interested in Grand Prix motor racing in the mid-1950s. It did not take long for his interest to transfer over to the Indianapolis 500, plus other forms of American oval track racing. Davidson sought out books, magazines, and other various publications relating to auto racing. He then proceeded to memorize the results of every Indianapolis 500. He has been described as having Selective Retentive Easy-Access Memory.
Davidson saved up his own money and first visited Indianapolis in May of 1964. He had relatives in Chicago, with whom he arranged to stay with during part of the trip. He had written to IMS radio announcer Sid Collins and amazed the crowd by being able to recite the record of every driver who had ever competed in the "500." He was quickly and warmly welcomed by the Speedway staff as well as participants, and within hours of his arrival, he was given free credentials. Collins invited Davidson to make a brief appearance as a guest on the radio broadcast of the 1964 race.
Read more about this topic: Donald Davidson (historian)
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