DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Tom Davey, who passed away last year, was named the recipient of the 2023 RRDC Bob Akin Award.
He was honored at the annual Road Racing Drivers Club members’ dinner on Jan. 24, prior to the running of the 62nd Rolex 24 At Daytona, the season opener of the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Each recipient of this honor, considered the top prize in motorsports for amateur, vintage/historic or semi-professional drivers, is selected by Akin’s son Bobby, RRDC members Brian Redman and Judy Stropus, and approved by RRDC president Bobby Rahal.
The distinctive trophy was conceived by the RRDC in 2003 to honor the memory of longtime RRDC member and past president Bob Akin, who lost his life following a testing accident in 2002.
It was designed by Steuben Glass in Corning, N.Y., and is given to a driver who best exemplifies the extraordinary qualities and characteristics that Akin represented, including a passion for motorsports and automobiles, a high level of sportsmanship and fair play, and who has contributed to the sport of motor racing and the community at large.
The primary award, etched with the names of the recipients, is displayed at the International Motor Racing Research Center in Watkins Glen, N.Y. Each honoree receives a smaller replica.
Davey was a champion race driver whose day job as writer and filmmaker produced a body of work that has enriched motorsports for decades. One of his proudest achievements has been the creative evolution of SAFEisFAST.com, launched by Jim Mullen in 2010 with grants by the FIA’s Institute for Motorsport Safety.
Following several successful seminars, the program was taken online. Joining the enterprise in 2012, Davey brought his filmmaking skills and production values to bear to yield the encyclopedic storehouse of insider racing knowledge that is today’s SAFEisFAST.com. With Mullen’s guiding hand, it’s been Davey’s gift to the industry.
SAFEisFAST.com is the culmination of a career that produced some 200 motorsports TV programs, including the ESPN “Secrets of Speed” series and Fox Sports international weekly motorsports program “V-Max.”
During the late ’60s and through the ’70s and ’80s Davey was a five-time SCCA National Champion — winning twice in open-wheel cars and three times in GT machines. He was runner-up in the World Super Vee Championship, finished third in the Pro Super Vee Championship Series and third in the World Formula Vee Championship.
He also scored GT class victories at Sebring and Watkins Glen and participated three times in the Baja 1000.
“A deep thank you goes to the RRDC for once again having this award in my dad’s name. It means the world to our family,” said Bobby Akin, who was not present, via a statement.
“I admired Tom’s dedication to the RRDC and the Safe is Fast program. He and Jim Mullen were instrumental in creating something near and dear to my father’s heart: teaching young drivers how to go fast as safely as possible. What I did not know about him was how good a driver he was. He was a class guy who never, at least to me, boasted about his past successes, as a writer, filmmaker and champion race-car driver.
“Tom was a great friend, talent and gave so much of himself to the RRDC.”
Jim Mullen accepted the award on behalf of Tom Davey.