JGR's Davis to ring closing bell at N.Y. Stock Exchange

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. -- One of the more memorable experiences for the recently crowned Cup Series champion during Champions Week in New York City is his trip to the famed New York Stock Exchange to ring the closing bell.

In what could be a prelude of things to come, Marc Davis, the 17-year-old development driver for Joe Gibbs Racing, will travel to New York on Feb. 6 to ring the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange.

Davis

Davis is literally on the fast track to becoming a regular in NASCAR's top touring division. And while it's typically the Cup Series champion who rings the closing bell on the exchange, Davis will do it to ring in Black History Month.

Black History Month is a remembrance of the significant contributions made by blacks and the critical events they participated in that shaped America's National Story. The young and talented Davis is an appropriate ambassador for the February celebration.

Davis, who has ascended from racing Late Model stock cars at Carolina bullrings to campaigning full-fledged stock cars in the regional NASCAR Camping World Series East division, has made the most of his opportunity with JGR's driver development program.

The driver development program was founded by Joe Gibbs, a winner of three Super Bowls as head coach of the NFL's Washington Redskins and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and the late Reggie White. In partnership with White, a Hall of Fame defensive end who played for the Philadelphia Eagles, Green Bay Packers and Carolina Panthers during a 15-year NFL career, JGR formed the driver development program in May 2003 to create a grassroots stock-car team that would identify and assist minorities with the desire and talent to make a career in motorsports. In January 2004, the program became reality, thanks in large part to the support of JGR's sponsors.

As part of that reality, JGR was the first NASCAR team to create a driver development program that assisted minorities, the first team to put its development drivers in Victory Lane, and the first to graduate one of its protégés to the Cup Series.

On April 10, 2005, Chris Bristol, one of JGR's original development drivers, started fifth in a 50-lap Late Model race at historic Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway and finished first, becoming the first black driver to win in the track's 55-year history.

Since then, JGR has allowed Aric Almirola, a Tampa, Fla.-native of Cuban descent, to climb from campaigning Late Model stock cars for JGR to earning a ride in the Cup Series, where in 2008 he'll share the No. 8 car with veteran NASCAR driver Mark Martin for Dale Earnhardt Inc.

Davis is the latest driver to find success with JGR. He won multiple races at Hickory in the Limited Late Model and Late Model ranks, and when he won his first race on March 25, 2006, he became just the second black driver to win a stock-car race at Hickory. (Continued)