Marc Davis' father: Apology in phone call was for Brendan Gaughan’s action

By Bob Pockrass - Associate Editor
Saturday, June 13, 2009

SPARTA, Ky. – Harry Davis did call Rusty Wallace to apologize for the situation that resulted in Rusty Wallace Racing crew chief Bryan Berry being indefinitely suspended for allegedly saying a racial slur against Marc Davis after Davis made contact with RWR driver Brendan Gaughan on pit road.

Wallace has been saying that Davis called him to apologize for the situation from last week’s race at Nashville Superspeedway, where Gaughan was darting into his pit when Davis was turning into the garage and the two cars collided, causing tempers to escalate.

But Harry Davis, Marc’s father, said that he was apologizing for Gaughan, whom he believes should be blamed for what transpired. Harry Davis said Gaughan’s anger and saying that Georgetown University was better than Howard University, whose radio station sponsored the 19-year-old African-American driver, inflamed the situation.

Harry Davis said he didn’t want to make this issue personal but, when contacted Saturday night, did clarify the reasoning behind the phone call and the “apology” to Wallace.

“I was taking the high road and I was reaching out to him,” Harry Davis said about the call earlier this week to Wallace. “Nobody reached out to me or Marc, so I reached out to [Rusty]. I did use the word, ‘apology’ because everybody was a victim to what Mr. Gaughan misrepresented in the accident and he inflamed everything and it was all his fault.”

Harry Davis said he has gotten phone calls from people who took offense to Gaughan’s comments about Howard University, a historically black university. Gaughan said Saturday that the comment wasn’t meant to be racial but a reference to Davis’ sponsor. Gaughan also said he recognized that his anger inflamed the situation.

Berry has told Wallace that he never said the racial slur. Harry Davis said several people heard it, but he doesn’t have ill will toward Berry.

“NASCAR took very swift and very clear action toward Mr. Berry,” Harry Davis said. “I would have directed it against Mr. Gaughan because he caused the whole problem.

“NASCAR has set their own policy of what they want and what they require and [Berry] should follow the NASCAR policy. … I have empathy for Mr. Berry because he’s got a family, he’s got a job and this is a very difficult [economic] time for everybody. Mr. Berry ought to take Mr. Gaughan out behind the hauler and do what Benny Parsons would do.”

Davis’ next race will be an attempt for the Sprint Cup race in two weeks at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Harry Davis said they will attempt three or four Cup races before the Chase For The Sprint Cup and then attempt additional Nationwide Series events.

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Comments

16 responses to "Marc Davis' father: Apology in phone call was for Brendan Gaughan’s action". Post a Comment.
  1. 1
    lhsjrf said:
    Jun 13, 2009 at 9:55 PM

    I do not think rusty handled this situation well at all and said the wrong things.

    I don't know anything about this young man but seems very nice and a very caring Dad. I wish him luck and hope to see more of him in the future.

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  2. 2
    jularwagner said:
    Jun 14, 2009 at 6:04 PM

    NASCAR needs the diversity of all races and also needs women drivers. It is great that they took the steps they took to immediately show they will not tolerate any racial slurs whether they were meant or not. There is no room for this type of thing in the sport. I met Marc very briefly at Nashville and he seemed very nice and I wished him well.

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  3. 3
    jwm1955 said:
    Jun 14, 2009 at 6:11 PM

    First of all Davis turned in front of Gaughan, cutting him off from getting out of his pit.
    If Davis would have done this on a public road who's fault would it be?
    Out of the heat of the moment everybody says things that they do not mean, all we need now is now is a wimp to crying racist in this sport.

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  4. 4
    gatenpin said:
    Jun 14, 2009 at 7:50 PM

    Marc is welcome to NASCAR and his father should stay out of this. I predict there will be wimps crying racist and we cannot stop that. Rusty should appeal Berry's suspension since it was only hearsay. Brandon is not at fault either in this spat since Marc turned left in front of him and that was plain "stupid". Anyone that does that should be suspended by NASCAR or not allowed to race at all. Marc's father does not seem to be big enough to admit that.

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  5. 5
    dale said:
    Jun 14, 2009 at 8:12 PM

    jwm1955, if something like this happened on a public road, it would be Gaughan's fault for not being in control of his car and not paying attention. Check with your police department if you like to confirm. Frankly Gaughan is an idiot. That said, I don't think he meant anything racially by his comments. Too many people instantly play the race card when it is not even in the deck. Gatenpin, I agree with your point about Davis' father staying out of it. I don't agree in regards to fault of the accident though.

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  6. 6
    VWS said:
    Jun 14, 2009 at 10:11 PM

    Mr. Davis father has shown nothing but class in this situation, you know its pretty lame to blame the Dad when his kid is called a racial slur. NICE!

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  7. 7
    rosanne_masters said:
    Jun 14, 2009 at 11:59 PM

    I find it extremely strange that the only people out of several that were in the immediate area that heard the supposed slur were 2 sponsor reps from Davisl. What wonderful hearing those 2 people must have.

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  8. 8
    rosanne_masters said:
    Jun 15, 2009 at 12:00 AM

    Brendan Gaughan is not an idiot. He is a very intelligent man. If you take the time to meet and talk to him, you will agree.

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  9. 9
    raceman28 said:
    Jun 15, 2009 at 9:00 AM

    The remark wasn't hearsay! I was there and there were numerous people heard it. NASCAR interviewed a number of people and their own inspectors before making a decision. I feel Mr. Davis has taken the high road. Mr. Davis doesn't have a TV network to air his side of the story. Rusty and Mr. Davis are both car owners and have the best interest of their teams in their heart!!

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  10. 10
    raceman28 said:
    Jun 15, 2009 at 9:54 AM

    Gatenpin.... Mr. Davis should stay out of it? Look at what Rusty has been doing, using his TV show to blast Marc, Mr. Davis has taken the high road and has keep his mouth shut while Rusty continues to run his mouth. Mr. Davis has reached out to Rusty but what does Rusty do, try to make it look like it is Mr. Davis apologing and taken the blame for the incident. Rusty shouldn't have discussed his and Mr. Davis's conversation on the air!

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  11. 11
    fastgal said:
    Jun 15, 2009 at 11:29 AM

    I agree with Raceman28.  Rusty has ESPN to broadcast his view of the situation, while Mr. Davis does not have such a platform.  It is a pity that someone familar with this situation from the Davis' point of view was not interviewed on Saturday or asked for a statement to reputiate what Mr. Wallace said and no one at ESPN even questioned Rusty's comments.  Mr. Davis reached out to Rusty and he turned the call into what he wanted it be, not what Mr. Davis intended. I heard the comments made by Mr. Gaughan and even in the heat of this situation, for him to tell his crew to keep Marc in the garage until he got  to him is beyond inflammatory.  He should have been reprimanded by NASCAR for such comments. If not for Mr. Gaughan remarks, the crew would have stayed on the box and the entire situation would have been written off as another mad NASCAR driver letting off steam.

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  12. 12
    shawn335 said:
    Jun 15, 2009 at 1:38 PM

    Here comes Al Sharpton, then Jessie (tax avoider) Jackson.

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  13. 13
    jwm1955 said:
    Jun 15, 2009 at 4:01 PM

    Hey Dale I do not know what state you are from,In my state if you turn left accross the front of a driver the person that turned left in front of you is at fault and gets a ticket to go in front of the judge and most likely will have to pay a fine, and then law suit notice. I belive Davis needs to get more training in the arca/remax before he races anymore in the nationwide, and if he pulled that little trick in the sprint cup he would have made a visit to the nascar hauler.
    The pit area is no place to be making stupid mistakes like that somebody could have been badly injured. Every person deserves a chance, but lets be realistic,if he is not ready,don't race.

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  14. 14
    mr_diamond_e said:
    Jun 17, 2009 at 7:29 AM

    #13 JWM1955

    In pretty much all states if you rear end someone the person that hit the person from behind is at fault. Therefore the #62 would be at fault.

    I find it funny that so many people hear think The #10 car should continue to race with a broken car. What if he was dropping liquids on the track? Driver for the #62 car should know the car number of the people that pit 1-3 spots in front of him and 1-3 spots behind him. Since the #10 car was not in those spots then the #62 car should assume the #10 car is going behind the wall because if the #10 car was not going behind the wall then the #10 car would be to the right of the broken white line at that part of pit road. You only cross that line when your getting ready to turn into your pit or go behind the wall. The #62 car knows this rule. The #62 car was clearly at fault for not paying attention on pit road.

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  15. 15
    yellerdogracing said:
    Jul 2, 2009 at 10:14 PM

    All I have to say is take Joe Gibbs Racing's word for it. They must have not seen much else in Marc Davis because this kid has gone from development driver with a whole bunch of potential to having his father field a struggling team for him with little if no sponsorship. I agree that Brendan is a very intelligent guy who does not have to be taken out behind the trialer as Mr. Davis suggests. Maybe he should teach his son not to get in the way to lead lap cars trying to pit while he is taking his hunk of junk to the garage. That might have helped the situation. When your trying to get to your pit, your not expecting to be blasted into the side by an also ran car. Brendan had every right to be upset. And in case Mr. Davis failed to take note, Bredan is an alum of Georgetown, why wouldnt he think it is better then Howard? And to Diamond, why should he figure that the Davis was going to the garage? He could have just been coming in or out of the pits. If your a also ran car, YOU DO NOT GET IN THE WAY OF CONTENDING CARS PERIOD!

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  16. 16
    JGR_P1 said:
    Jul 6, 2009 at 3:37 PM

    #15 becuase I saw it when it happended. 1) the garage entrance is in the middle of the pits so there is no way a competent driver would make that mistake of thinking he is just leaving the pits because the car nose was turned in. 2) Davis did not blast Gaughn in the side it was Gaughn who blasted davis in the rear. So you have no clue what your talking about 3)If your just passing throught pit road you stay to the right of broken line and only cross that line to go into your pit or the garage. if your leaving your pit you pull all the way out past the broken line. In other words you stay in the far right lane until your actually going in the pits. Then when you leave the pits you go directly to the far right lane as soon as possible.

    Gaughn hit Davis in the rear right outside his pit box which was the box next to the garage exit. the only 2 places that davis could have been going was behind the wall or to Guaghn pit box. So that leaves only one place to go behind the wall. Gaughn wasnt paying attention and his spotter was not paying attention. Gaughn's spotter shoud have told him.

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