Cycle News Staff | October 1, 2024
The Southern California motocross community lost another racing legend on September 21, 2024, when Davey Carlson passed away peacefully in Mount Kizco, Kentucky, where he had lived the last three years to be with his daughter, Lauren Torres, and his grandchildren, Joe and Claire.
Davey Carlson, a well-known motocrosser in the Southern California area in the 1970s and early ’80s, recently passed away.Davey was a minibike sensation in the early 1970s, dominating at famous venues such as Lions Drag Strip, El Toro Raceway and Saddleback Park on his Hodaka-powered Bonanza minibikes. Carlson’s fiercest rival was future AMA Hall of Famer Jeff Ward, who fondly recalls, “Davey would come over to our house a lot and I would go hang at his place. There are only a few kids I remember racing and hanging with. Davey was a special one.”
Longtime moto-historian and Pro-Circuit employee Norm Bigelow says Davey told him stories of battling with Ward and Brian Myerscough, hanging with Steve McQueen’s family and “riding through a herd of elephants at Lion Country Safari for a magazine cover.”
Outgrowing the minibikes, Carlson continued racking up victories in the ultra-competitive 125 Pro class and seemed destined for factory stardom, but at age 19, he instead opted to join his father in the family business, a decision that he later regretted. He never strayed too far from his moto roots and could often be spotted at moto reunions and vintage events. Steve Weidler, Davey’s dentist and lifelong friend, remembers his “absolute talent, unmatched throttle control and humble nature. He could have rewritten the record books.”
~Steve Bauer
