RENO, NV (Sept.2) — Davey Boy as he’s known to race fans here in Nevada and California is a veteran announcer, former racer and fan. On Sunday, October 6, Davey Munoz will put his microphone down for the last time and retire.
It’s been a long road stretching back 50 years that has led to this decision.
“How I get started is very, very interesting,” he said. “I started my racing career in 1970 when I got out of the service running flat track motorcycle races all the way up till 1999. I was in and out of racing and running racetracks but not as a promoter.
Growing up in San Jose most of his friends were flat track motorcycle racers so that’s where he started. Later he would switch to four-wheels and race modifieds as what passed as street stocks back then.
His career in racing came to a complete halt due to medical concerns.
“In 1999 I came down with my first cancer which was pancreatic cancer,” he said. “So I left racing for about four years then my cancer was in 2004 but I recovered from that. In 2005 I felt pretty good and wanted to get back into racing. So that’s when I moved to the Central valley and got ahold of King’s Speedway.”
Munoz told the promoter Dave Swindell he was ready to come back to the sport. Swindell knew Davey’s background and had an offer.
“He said, ‘yea I heard you were back but he only thing I need is an announcer,” Munoz said. “This was in 2005 so he trained me for about two months. Then on opening night I’m all set, had my computer, all the driver’s information and everything.”
What followed wasn’t what either man expected.
“As soon as he introduced me it was “Ah!” I lost my voice, completely lost my voice,” he said. “When the racers were over he was mad since Swindell had to announce and run the track like he was going normally going to do. I said next week I’ll be fine and ready to go.”
While he can laugh about it now it was pretty serious back then.
“So I started right there in 2005 and I was there for almost six years at King’s Speedway as their track announcer,” he said.
From that point he also got involved with other tracks.
“You know a couple of years here and a couple of years there at other tracks. There’s some other ones that I just filled in but then I hooked up with Kenny Shepard from Madera Speedway then he opened u Chowchilla Speedway,” he said. “I had three years there as his track announcer. We built it up pretty good too then he decided to go back to Madera Speedway, which is an asphalt track as that was his baby.”
At Madera they ran Super Modifieds, Winged Asphalt Sprint Cars and other classes. Currently the track has 10-to 15-year-olds running in a couple of classes and getting some national notice for this.
“Kenny taught me a lot when I was with him. I knew the back part of he pits as I was running it back then but he taught me all about the front end of a racetrack. Not just abut the fans but he taught me about getting sponsors both large and small,” he said.
His announcing has it possible for Munoz to meet many people in and around racing.
“I’ve met a lot of people, a lot of race fans, a lot of the top drivers all over the country not just what we had at Madera Speedway,” he said. “I would have never met Ron Capps through drag racing and he’s become one of my great friends as well.”
Of course over the decades he’s faced some challenges but one of them stands out.
With a laugh he said, “My biggest challenge was at Chowchilla Speedway when we had the Dwarf Car Nationals as there were 250 cars there that weekend, a Friday and Saturday night show. I’m the only announcer, there were three different classes and it seemed 10 divisions racing that weekend. After I got done with those two nights I felt like I was announcing for three years. That was a big challenge”
Another challenge was at Madera Speedway when the big late model races were run. They were televised and brought people from all over the state.
“It made me more pumped than a regular Saturday night show as I’ve got new people coming in and had to be on my best,” he said. “It’s the race fans that really get me going as the race cars are there to race but it’s the race fans that really get me motivated behind the microphone cause if I’m not doing my job they’re getting bored.”
After many years there Munoz decided to make a change and moved to Northern Nevada. For the past seven years he’s been announcing at Rattlesnake Raceway in Fallon, Lovelock Speedway and this year Diamond Mountain Speedway in Susanville, California.
Then this reporter asked him if he would change anything.
He answered, “racing has been good to me, it really has. I made quite a bit of money doing this. Would I do it again if I had the chance, yea from the beginning I’d do it again.”
Now that he’s 70-years-old Munoz decided it’s time for another change in his life.
“You know I’ve never really had a weekend to myself unless there were racetrack that we didn’t race on a Saturday night,” he said.
So he’s decided to finally have weekends off to do what he wants to do like fishing and camping. With this in mind Munoz has a fifth wheel that he can tow his boat with as well as buying a new motor for it.
Having weekends off will allow him to visit his son that lives in Las Vegas and also has weekends off. As for attending races, probably won’t see much of him.
“I can’t come to a racetrack and just sit in the grandstands and watch a race,” he said. “I want to do something, I want to be announcing or something. I’ve been to tracks, sat and in my mind doing the announcing,”
When the final race, the Dirt Track Championships are over on Sunday Davey will put down the mic as he’s closing the door on a part of his life and opening another. Fans will not only miss his announcing but the live feed on Face Book he has made a part of his work.
Munoz is going to be missed by the racing community in this region. As for fish in area lakes, they better beware.
• There are two different Show N’ Shines this Wednesday.
For car people the Sparks A&W will have one staring at 5 p.m. and a D.J. will supply music. Nice way to meet fellow car people.
Those that ride or like motorcycles well PJandCo, located at South Wells, has bike night starting around 5:30 p.m. Good food and fellowship for all that attend.
• Teresa’s Garage Radio Show will be on the air from 2 until 3 p.m. Tuesday afternoon. The show covers all things automotive.
I have a preview section at 2:15 where I cover what is going to happen next weekend. You can hear us over the air, streamed on the Internet or watch us live on Face Book.
• If you enjoyed this article please “like,” and share it as widely as possible. Comments are welcome.
Subscribers have articles posted to their inbox as soon as they are up on the site.
We now have four very appreciated sponsors that support his site. Please patronize them as they support your sport and help nvracingnews continue.
Two of them are first class motorcycle shops located in Reno.
Our first sponsor is Reno Motorsports. Not only do they have about anything a rider might want or need and the store also has a full service shop. Their location is at 964 Terminal Way, by the intersection with Mill Street. Store’s phone number is 775-322-1499 and the site is, www.rms-renomotorsports.com.
The next shop, and our newest sponsor is Moto Source located at 3180 Mill Street. Once again the shop has a full service shop plus about any thing a rider might need or want. Phone number is 775-856-3855 and the website is, www.moto-source.com.
The next sponsor is an excellent place if you need collision repair on your car or truck. It’s Concours Body shop, located at 250 Telegraph Street in Reno and has a long history of first class repairs.
Brian Saul is the owner, a car enthusiast himself he’s committed to continuing the shop’s history of quality work. Phone number for the shop is 775-329-4557 and the website is, www.concoursbodyshop.net.
Hungry, want a great place to eat, then try PJ&Company for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and it’s a great place to watch your favorite sports. If you’re a rider, well Wednesday evening is Bike Night, always a great time to see some great looking bikes and meet like-minded people.
The location is 1590 South Wells Avenue, just north of the round about. Phone number is 775-323-6366 and their website is www.pjandco.net
Have a business targeted toward motorsports or an off road demographic? We are always looking for more sponsors and will expose your business to the racing and off road community in this area.
You can contact us either through the comment section of this site or on our Face Book page.
