Kertus Davis

Prior to beginning his racing career,  Kertus Davis got his first taste of climbing behind the wheel of a go-kart in his backyard with his family. Davis’s father got Kertus, at the age of five, a yard kart and built a track in the yard for Kertus to ride around. Davis began his racing career at the age of eight, competing at local go-kart tracks in his hometown of Gaffney, South Carolina.

"When I was a kid growing up I didn’t have much of a choice, if I wanted to race I had to work on my own cars," said Kertus Davis. “It wasn’t until the 2005 and 2006 seasons that we had four full-time employees and that included myself and my father.  "We took nothing and did a lot with it," Davis continues. “To even make races was an achievement. There was a lot of hard work and dedication, and a lot of times I was working for free."

At the age of 17, Davis had won the South Carolina State Karting Championship, finished second in the State Nationals in North Carolina and was third in the World Karting Association Nationals. From the age of 14 to 17 he built go-karts to sell. As Davis got older he also helped his father run a business that built show cars for sports agency Keystone Marketing.  "Growing up I helped my dad with his businesses in between working on cars to go racing with," said Davis. "When I was 16-years-old my dad had to get a full-size semi from Daytona Beach (Fla.) to another location. So, I jumped behind the wheel and drove the semi to the location it needed to be dropped off at. I told my dad I could drive anything. "In between all the races, Davis helped his father work at the family owned go-kart racing business.

In 1998, Davis began racing Late Model Stock Cars at local asphalt tracks around South Carolina to gain experience. Within 1998 and 1999, Davis competed in 15 Late Model Stock Car events in Greenville Pickens, Myrtle Beach and Timmonsville, South Carolina. Along with racing in Late Model Stock Cars, Davis also made three starts in a USAR Pro Cup car in 1999.  Davis made his first start in a USAR Pro Cup car in Mobile, Alabama.

In 2000, Davis competed in the USAR Pro Cup Series for his rookie season against the other rookies of the class Jon Wood, Clay Rogers and Brian Vickers. Competing in 20 events with over 40 competitors in an event, Davis finished the season 17th in points with a number of top-ten finishes.  After completing his second full season with USAR in 2001, Davis finished 11th in the Southern Division championship points standings and added eight top-10 finishes and eight top-10 qualifying efforts to his credit. Davis also broke into the NASCAR Busch Series, making three starts for Moy Racing in their No. 77 machine.

In 2002, Davis competed in five Busch Series events for Moy Racing in the No. 77 and in the family owned Davis Motorsports No. 0 entry, along with seven USAR Pro Cup events. In 2003, Davis focused on competing full-time in the USAR Pro Cup Series for Premiere Motorsports. Davis earned his first victory in the Pro Cup Series in Smithton, Penn. after leading 240 of 250 laps. Davis finished 13th among 60 drivers in the overall championship standings and third in the Northern Division.  Running a limited schedule in 2004, Davis competed in three Busch Series events for Davis Motorsports and five USAR Pro Cup events for Premiere Motorsports.  Competing in 28 of the 35 Busch Series events in 2005, Davis earned his best finish of 10th at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway and his career best start of 11th at Pikes Peak (Co.) International Raceway. Davis also competed at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in a USAR Pro Cup event.  Davis competed in 22 of the 35 Busch Series events in 2006, along with one Pro Cup event at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.

From 2007 through 2009 Kertus has drove for JD Motorsports and Jay Robinson Racing.  As of late, he has decided to come home and work for his father Johnny at JD Motorsports .  JD Motorsports is a family operated business, it only makes sense for a father and son to grow together and build something special.