Draft:St. James Davis

St. James Davis
Born	St. James Harley Davis October 24, 1943 West Covina, California, United States
Died	July 2018 (2018-08) (aged 74) West Covina, California, United States
Cause of death	Cardiopulmonary arrest
NASCAR Cup Series career
Best finish	93rd (1995)
ARCA Menards Series West career
120 races run over 19 years
Best finish	9th (1997)
First race	1978 Winston Las Vegas 100 (Craig Road)
Last race	1998 Kidde Safety 200 (Pikes Peak)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 4 0
Statistics up to date as of June 2, 2025.

St. James Harley Davis (October 24, 1943 – July 2018) was an American professional stock car racing driver. He primarily competed in the NASCAR Winston West Series, running 120 races over 19 seasons and scoring four top ten finishes.

Racing career

1970s

Davis debuted in the NASCAR Winston West Series in 1978, where driving the No. 22 Dodge at Craig Road Speedway, he finished out of the race in 15th with an oil leak. He competed in five other races in 1978, failing to finish in all of them, including failing to start at Sonoma. He also failed to qualify for the season finale at Phoenix International Raceway. He only competed in one West Series race in 1979, where he finished 15th at Ascot Park, running at the finish despite only completing 11 of 100 laps.

1980s

Davis attempted three West Series races in 1980, including his first Cup attempt in a combination race at Riverside International Raceway, although he failed to qualify for both this race and the race at Laguna Seca, and finished 14th in the race at Stockton 99 Speedway. He also made his only appearance in the USAC Stock Car Series, finishing 35th in a race at Texas World Speedway, falling out with engine issues after 10 laps. In 1981, Davis competed in three West Series races, although mechanical issues prevented him from finishing his first two starts and a lap 2 crash at Riverside ended his day early; his best finish in these three races was 12th at Laguna Seca. Davis did not compete in NASCAR in 1982, but returned for two West races in 1983, where oil pump issues knocked him out of the race early at Riverside and he crashed at Phoenix, finishing 18th. He also attempted the 1983 Winston Western 500, but failed to qualify. 1984 saw Davis expand his schedule to nearly the full season, attempting nine of the eleven races. He failed qualify for the combination race with the Winston Cup Series at Riverside and failed to finish every race he ran, with his best finish being 14th at Shasta Speedway. Davis ran the full 1985 West Series season, although he failed to qualify for both combination races. He failed to finish all but one race, that race being an event at Stateline Speedway where he scored his first career top ten in 9th. He attempted the full eight race schedule in 1986, again failing to qualify for both combination events and failing to finish every standalone race, with his best result of the season being a 20th in the race at Race City Speedway. He competed full time again in 1987, once more failing to make the field for both combination races but only failing to finish once, having drive line issues in the season opener. Davis was running at the finish in every other race, scoring a best finish of 12th at Spokane. Davis' 1988 season was similar, as he again attempted every race, failed to qualify for the combination races, and was running at the finish more consistently. His best finish came at Mesa Marin, where he finished 13th. He and his team traveled overseas to compete in the Goodyear NASCAR 500 in Australia. They were involved in controversy after packing their engine builder, Mitch Klon, in the shipping container with the car to save money. Upon arriving in Australia, Klon was turned over to Australian authorities, quarantined, and released into the custody of Bob Jane, where he would earn his return fare doing manual labor for the authorities. The actual race itself was short for Davis, as he fell out of the race after just two laps due to handling issues. The West Series expanded to an 11 race schedule in 1989, and Davis attempted the full season, failing to make the field for the combination races as in past years, and only running at the finish in 3 races, his best result being an 11th at Redwood Acres Speedway.

1990s

Davis continued attempting the full schedule in 1990, again failing to qualify for both combination races with the Winston Cup Series. He was running at the finish of four races in 1990, scoring a best result of 12th in the longest race of the season at Evergreen Speedway. The 1991 season opened at Evergreen, and Davis scored his second career top ten, finishing 10th. He attempted the full season, failing to qualify for the combination races as in past years, although was running at the finish of all but one race. This would ultimately be his final full time season in the series, and he finished 11th in points for the sixth time. Davis competed in seven races in 1992, scoring two straight top tens at Saugus Speedway and Shasta Speedway. These would be his final top ten results in the series. After not competing in NASCAR in 1993, Davis attempted eight races in 1994, failing to qualify for the combination race at Phoenix and failing to finish in every race, scoring a best finish of 14th at Cajon Speedway. Davis again attempted eight races in 1995, failing to qualify for the combination race at Sonoma and failing to finish with various issues in all but one start, with a best finish of 14th at Tucson Speedway despite running 0 laps. Davis attempted ten races in 1996, although failed to start in three of them and was only running at the finish at Colorado National Speedway; his best finish of the season was 15th at Madera Speedway despite failing to start the race. Davis attempted nearly the entire 1997 season, although failed to qualify at Mesa Marin. His best result was 11th at Pikes Peak International Raceway. He also finished in the top ten in points for the first time, ending the season 9th in the standings. Davis' final starts came during the 1998 season, where he attempted five races, failing to qualify for two and failing to finish the three he made; his final start would end after 42 laps at Pikes Peak with engine issues. He also attempted to qualify for a NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Tour race at the Los Angeles Street Circuit, but failed to qualify. Davis made one final attempt in the West Series in 1999, failing to qualify for the fourth race of the season at California Speedway.

2005 chimpanzee attack and aftermath

Main article: St. James Davis chimpanzee attack

Davis and his wife LaDonna had a pet chimpanzee named Moe who was treated as if he was a child. They adopted Moe in 1967 not long after his birth in Tanzania. After he bit several people, he was seized by the city of West Covina, California, then placed into an animal sanctuary near Bakersfield, California. St. James and LaDonna had a long but unsuccessful legal battle to recover Moe, and would often visit him at the sanctuary. On March 3, 2005, St. James and LaDonna came to the sanctuary, Animal Haven Ranch, to celebrate Moe's 39th birthday. They brought him a birthday cake and were seated at a picnic table next to his enclosure. They brought toys, candy hearts, chocolate milk, and a raspberry-filled sheet cake for the party. LaDonna said Moe clapped his hands with joy when he saw them. She cut a piece of cake for him and then, when she went to cut a second piece, she noticed that another chimpanzee had gotten out of its cage. It rushed up to her and bit her thumb off. St. James pushed her under the table to protect her. A second chimpanzee was also loose. The two young chimpanzees involved in the attack were named Buddy and Ollie. Moe did not participate in the attack. Buddy and Ollie, however, attacked St. James simultaneously; one chimpanzee initially attacked his face, the other chimpanzee attacked his foot. The sanctuary owner's son-in-law, Mark Carruthers, retrieved a .45 caliber revolver and shot Buddy in the head. Meanwhile, Ollie dragged St. James' body down a walkway. Carruthers followed and shot him. Buddy and Ollie destroyed a majority of St. James' fingers, his left foot, most of his buttocks, both testicles, part of his torso, and parts of his face including his nose and lips. A paramedic who arrived said, "It looked like a grizzly bear attack." St. James was transported to Loma Linda University Medical Center after the attack. Davis spent six months in the hospital recovering from the attack, including a period of time when he was in a coma. He had a prosthetic eye and two slits in the middle of his face where his nose was. He and LaDonna were uninsured, but initially decided not to sue Animal Haven, before reversing course and filing a lawsuit by 2009.

In 2006, the year following the attack, St. James and LaDonna placed a sign in their front yard that read "Free Moe". They also went to Superior Court in Pomona, California, to get the city of West Covina to honor their 2002 settlement which required it to purchase a home for them in Baldwin Park so that they could reunite with Moe. In 2007, the court ruled that West Covina should pay them US$32,000 because it did not fulfill their obligations under the 2002 settlement, pay them $300 per month towards covering the costs of Moe's housing, and covering travel expenses for their visits to him.

Moe disappeared in the summer of 2008. He had been living at a ranch for performing animals, Jungle Exotics, in San Bernardino. Construction workers reported they had seen him at a home near Jungle Exotics; other witnesses spotted him heading towards a mountain. St. James and LaDonna hired a helicopter to do flyovers in an attempt to flush him out of hiding, and authorities searched the San Bernardino National Forest, but he has never been found.

St. James suffered a stroke in December 2017 and died of a cardiopulmonary arrest in July of the next year. His widow, LaDonna, later became a victim of elder abuse through financial means. The alleged perpetrator, Min Maw, coerced the aging LaDonna to sign over a living will to himself that included the Davis's properties and control of active bank accounts. After the Mongols Motorcycle Club, which had taken over the Davis' house, were finally evicted by authorities, a legal battle began with Maw, which was eventually settled so as to preserve what little remained of LaDonna's stolen assets, rather than risk a lengthy and expensive court case.

Personal life

Davis had an Indian name, Whitecloud, that he wanted to race under, but this was declined by NASCAR. He was married to LaDonna Davis, who was an important part of his race team, serving as the team's owner, crew chief, and engine builder.

Motorsport career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	NWCC	Pts	Ref
1980	Davis Racing	22	Dodge	RSD DNQ	DAY	RCH	CAR	ATL	BRI	DAR	NWS	MAR	TAL	NSV	DOV	CLT	TWS	RSD	MCH	DAY	NSV	POC	TAL	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	NWS	MAR	CLT	CAR	ATL	ONT DNQ	129th	0
1983	Davis Racing	02	Unknown	DAY	RCH	CAR	ATL	DAR	NWS	MAR	TAL	NSV	DOV	BRI	CLT	RSD	POC	MCH	DAY	NSV	POC	TAL	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	ATL	RSD DNQ		134th	0
1984	St. James Racing		Chrysler	DAY	RCH	CAR	ATL	BRI	NWS	DAR	MAR	TAL	NSV	DOV	CLT	RSD	POC	MCH	DAY	NSV	POC	TAL	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	CLT	NWS	CAR	ATL	RSD DNQ		138th	0
1985				DAY	RCH	CAR	ATL	BRI	DAR	NWS	MAR	TAL	DOV	CLT	RSD DNQ	POC	MCH	DAY	POC	TAL	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	ATL	RSD				130th	0
1986		20	Buick	DAY	RCH	CAR	ATL	BRI	DAR	NWS	MAR	TAL	DOV	CLT	RSD DNQ	POC	MCH	DAY	POC	TAL	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	ATL				137th	0
		22W																														RSD DNQ
1987		2		DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL	DAR	NWS	BRI	MAR	TAL	CLT	DOV	POC	RSD DNQ	MCH	DAY	POC	TAL	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	RSD DNQ	ATL			136th	0
1988		22W		DAY	RCH	CAR	ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	CLT	DOV	RSD DNQ	POC	MCH	DAY	POC	TAL	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	CLT	NWS	CAR	PHO DNQ	ATL			129th	0
1989		22		DAY	CAR	ATL	RCH	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	CLT	DOV	SON	POC	MCH	DAY	POC	TAL	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	CLT	NWS	CAR	PHO DNQ	ATL			126th	0
1990				DAY	RCH	CAR	ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	CLT	DOV	SON DNQ	POC	MCH	DAY	POC	TAL	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR					121st	0
			Chevrolet																												PHO DNQ	ATL
1991			Buick	DAY	RCH	CAR	ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	CLT	DOV	SON	POC	MCH	DAY	POC	TAL	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	PHO DNQ	ATL			118th	0
1994	St. James Racing	22W	Pontiac	DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	SON	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	DAY	NHA	POC	TAL	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	PHO DNQ	ATL	127th	0
1995				DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	SON DNQ	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	DAY	NHA	POC	TAL	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	PHO	ATL	93rd	0

Winston West Series

NASCAR Winston West Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	NWWC	Pts	Ref
1978	Davis Racing	22	Dodge	RSD	AAS	S99	SHA	PET	MMR	RSD	IFS	YAK	WSP	LSP	EVG	POR	CRS 15	ASP 20	SON 26	SHA 22	CBS 19	YAK	OSS 20	ONT	PHO DNQ	29th	159
1979				RSD	MMR	RSD	EVG	YAK	POR	AAS	SHA	CRS	SON	EVG	SPO	POR	ASP 15	ONT	PHO							N/A	36
1980				RSD DNQ	ONT	S99 14	RSD	LAG DNQ	EVG	POR	SON	MMR	ONT	PHO												31st	69
1981				RSD	S99 19	AAS	MMR	RSD	LAG 12	POR	WSP	EVG	SHA	RSD 26	SON	RSD	PHO									46th	32
1983	Davis Racing	22	Chevy	S99	SON	RSD	YAK	EVG	SHA	RSD 25	CPL	RSD														30th	85
			Chrysler										PHO 18
1984	St. James Racing	22		RSD	YAK	SIR 22	POR 17	EVG 15	SHA 14	WSR 17		MMR 21		PHO 25												13th	288
		02									SON 18		RSD DNQ
1985		22		SON 14	SHA 16		MMR 19	SIR 14	POR 19	STA 9	YAK 12	EVG 28	WSR 22	MMR 22												11th	393
		22W				RSD DNQ									RSD DNQ
1986		22	Buick	SON 22		EVG 26	RCS 20	TAC 25	PIR 29	WSR 24																11th	221
		20			RSD DNQ
		22W									RSD DNQ
1987		22		SON 19		SGP 12	EVG 21	POR 19	TAC 16	MMR 16																12th	262
		2			RSD DNQ						RSD DNQ
1988		22		SON 16	MMR 13	RSD DNQ	SGP 18	POR 19	EVG 20	MMR 19	PHO DNQ															11th	263
1989				MAD 13	MMR 18	RAS 11	SON DNQ	POR 15	TCR 12	EVG 24	MMR 20	SGS 13	SON 19	PHO DNQ												11th	1259
1990				MMR 23	SON DNQ	SGS 17	POR 21	EVG 12	RAS 17	TCR 17	MMR 19	PHO DNQ														11th	902
1991				EVG 10	MMR 15	SON DNQ	SGS 12	POR 16		SSS 17	MMR 15	PHO DNQ														11th	1042
		28							EVG 26
1992		22		MMR 13	SGS 9	SON	SHA 10	POR 14			CAJ 15	TWS	MMR 26	PHO												12th	935
		22W							EVG 23	SSS
1994	St. James Racing	22	Buick	MMR 26	TUS 23	SON	SGS 18	YAK 20	MMR	POR	IND	CAJ 14	TCR	LVS 22												14th	906
			Pontiac												MMR 26	PHO DNQ	TUS
1995			Buick	TUS 21	MMR 26																					18th	856
			Pontiac			SON DNQ
	La Donna's Motorsports		Buick				CNS 18	MMR 21	POR 24	SGS 17	TUS 14	AMP	MAD	POR	LVS	SON	MMR	PHO
1996			Pontiac	TUS	AMP 26	MMR	SON			TUS 18		CNS 17			SON 23			LVS 24								15th	1021
			Buick					MAD 15	POR		EVG 24		MAD 19	MMR 20		MMR 20	PHO
1997				TUS 20	AMP 24	SON	TUS 14	MMR 15			EVG 13	POR 15			SON	MMR DNQ										9th	1363
			Chevy						LVS 23
			Pontiac							CAL 16			PPR 11	AMP			LVS 35
1998				TUS	LVS DNQ	PHO	CAL 36	HPT	MMR	AMP	POR	CAL 32	PPR 27	EVG	SON	MMR	LVS DNQ									46th	272
1999				TUS	LVS	PHO	CAL DNQ	PPR	MMR	IRW	EVG	POR	IRW	RMR	LVS	MMR	MOT									94th	46

References

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• Animal attacks in the United States
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