MARNE, Mich. — “I get a bunch of fans that come up to me and say ‘you drive this? You can’t even drive on the road yet’,” said Ryleigh Davis.
She might not be legally able to drive on the highway, but she’s holding her own in limited late model races at Berlin.
15 year old Ryleigh Davis has always been in the drivers seat.
“When she was about two and a half I bought a little two seat go cart when we lived in Jenison and she would, I would work the gas pedal but she would drive us all over the neighborhood. So that’s probably where the bug started,” said Chad Davis.
From go carts, to quarter midgets. Ryleigh has driven them all.
“My dad used to race out here and he kinda got me into it. I grew up here watching the races so I got into it with quarter midgets and then hoped into this this year,” said Ryleigh.
With it being her first year in the big car, there have been some learning curves. Ryleigh is the youngest, and only girl to compete in any division at Berlin on a regular basis.
“Everyone is really good to me and it’s more fun to drive. It’s an adrenaline rush and going out there and having fun and trying to make more improvement every weekend. It’s kinda intimidating but I feel like it’d be more intimidating for them to be beat by me when I get up there,” said Ryleigh.
“A lot of the drivers she’s racing against, I’ve raced against before and we’re all pretty much all friends and she’s starting to gain their respect. She runs a nice clean line and she doesn’t bounce off anybody and they respect her too,” said Chad.
The Davis’ have always been a tight knit bunch but a few years ago, Chad was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia and quality time spent with his family, especially at the track, just means more.
“It means a lot just with everything going on. I try to make it a priority, but Ryleigh’s racing is also a priority so I try to make the balance and even it out. And just try to keep that normalcy in our life,” said Chad.
Ryleigh has three top ten finishes in her seven races this season and hopes to continue to improve. Having a course like Berlin in her backyard gives her access to high-level competition every time she races which is she hopes will get her to NASCAR one day.
“I’ve heard it from a bunch of drivers that this is one of the hardest tracks to drive and just being able to learn on this track I feel like will give me an advantage in the future. It’s always been a dream to get to NASCAR and I’m trying to get there and it’s just one step at a time,” said Ryleigh.
Ryleigh will next race at Berlin in the SRX event on Thursday, August 3rd.
