In a community like Dawsonville where race car driving is part of the history, respect and deference will always be given to names like Raymond Parks, Lloyd Seay, Gober Sosebee and Bill Elliott.

Downtown, the street names reflect the pride that is taken in the legends of racing and when talk turns to the next NASCAR driver from Dawsonville, Chase Elliott is undoubtedly the first name on people's lips.
Another local driver, however, is making a name for himself-Spencer Davis.

Davis is a Dawsonville native who seems to have been born with racing in the blood.

"I've known I wanted to race and do it for a living since I was 5," Davis said. "My father [Scott Davis] was my inspiration for it and I had gotten started when I was 5 in Go-Karts."

Davis won more than 30 races on the national Go-Kart circuit and his first major win came in 2011. He won the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway in Florida.

In 2012, Davis picked up victories in Pro and Super Late Model series in the southeast and in 2013 he ran over 60 races with wins in Texas, Nashville and North Carolina.

He has just finished his second season in NASCAR's K&N Pro East series where he had one win, five top five finishes and seven top 10s in the 2016 season that only consists of 14 races. He was eighth in points out of 58 drivers.

The one win was a photo finish at Dominion Raceway where he beat Justin Haley by .005 seconds. Haley was the driver who went on to win the K&N Pro Series East Championship.

"Highlight of the season had to be Dominion since that was my first K&N win and we did it in a good fashion," Davis said. "It was a very good overall race with a tight finish."

The 17-year-old driver is homeschooling so that he can balance his schedule effectively. With the way things are going, that could be an ongoing issue.

Davis was named a part of the 2016-17 NASCAR Next class in May of this year.

The honor means that industry executives and veteran racers believe the driver has a record of success and the necessary talent to advance within NASCAR.

Ultimately, it means garnering more of the requisite attention to move ahead.

When looking over the list of NASCAR Next alumni, names like Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, Darrell Wallace Jr., Daniel Suarez and Chase Elliott make it clear that Davis is in good company.

"It was a real big honor to be inducted into the 16-17 NASCAR Next class. So many people that have gone on to make it have went into this class," he said.

There is not a lot of down time for the young driver who splits time between Dawsonville and North Carolina and says he misses his hometown when he isn't here.

Davis was also recently included in the NASCAR Heat Evolution video game.

"When I am not racing, I work on personal cars of my own to restore them as well as going hunting when it's in season," Davis said. "I also golf quite a bit and fish."

Being a driver from Dawsonville and the implications of that are not lost on Davis.

"I do feel proud to be an up and coming driver from Dawsonville and it means a lot," he said.
"The fans and all from Dawson are real supportive and hardcore."

When asked about the driver's names on the street signs in downtown, Davis says he thinks Spencer Davis Street is not out of the question.

"I feel like if I can make it a little farther in my NASCAR career, I will definitely be able to have a street named after myself, that is, after they name one for Chase," he said.