Dave Marcis
He was the last of the independents, a storybook career with a long career in the NASCAR Cup ranks, dating back to the days when it was called Grand National racing.
But Dave Marcis was the proud owner of a proud team, and no one worked harder. He worked on the engines, the bodywork, drove the hauler. Unlike the Good Ol’ Boys of the South, he came out of the highly competitive stock-car ranks of Wisconsin to make his name at places like Talladega and Martinsville.
And he was on hand and made the field for the inaugural Brickyard 400 in 1994.
“I may have gone to the ‘500’ once in the ‘70s,” said Marcis, 69, from his home in Arden. N.C. “But I think the first time I was there was when we tested the IROC cars there and had the tire tests leading up to the race. Of course, I’d driven by there but never went in.”
He hasn’t raced since being in an IROC car, other than running a Legends race in April at Bristol. That’s his only racing activity today.
But he has Camp 28, a restaurant, bar and hotel in Rib Lake, Wis., his shop in the Charlotte area, some trucks and some hobbies.
“I’m busy all the time,” he said. “I try to get up there (in Wisconsin) about once a month, and I expect it’s about 50-50 between here and there. In the winter, I go deer hunting, ice fishing, snowmobiling. We have a lot of area up there for that. I bought a place back in the ‘70s when you could afford it.”
About Indy, he said the race day crowd “narrowed” the front stretch.
“Those Cup guys … it doesn’t take them but a few laps to get it.
“When you came off Turn 4 and saw all those people, you just have to be there to believe it. It looks narrower. It’s an awesome feeling. It’s massive … quite an experience.
“I remember qualifying, going down the backstretch and thinking about all the history there. It was a funny thing. I was so focused that I walked by my wife in the pits and said, ‘How ya doin’?’ and didn’t even realize it was my wife.”
Marcis tested often and got some help from bigger teams along the way. He drove two races for Roger Penske and had an ongoing relationship with Richard Childress and the late Dale Earnhardt, doing a lot of their testing.
“Mark Donohue was the first to hire me with the IROC cars,” Marcis said. “I ended up doing it for 30 years. I had some opportunities to run for other teams, but they wouldn’t have been the full schedule and I wanted to race.”
Marcis qualified a credible 16th for the inaugural Brickyard 400 but an accident took him out early.
It was during another early departure from a race during his career that Marcis gave TV viewers the quote of the weekend. He dropped out to pit road early in a race, and a TV interviewer was right on the scene.
“What happened?” asked the interviewer.
“I just couldn’t keep the smoke in the engine,” Marcis said.
Dave was a class act, my family even made a birthday cake
for my son in the shape of Daves car, with logo’s and all. We sent pictures to him and in return he sent my son a bunch of autographed stuff.
What a great guy.
Rich Celia
I was wondering what a Dave Marcis autographed tire was worth? Anyone?
I stopped at his shop in Skyland, NC. I went by it a couple of times before I saw a little sign on the building. I met him a couple of times. What a down to earth, regular guy. he was the last of the breed of independents. To this day he is still my favorite of all the drivers that ever competed in the cup races.
I have a recent spotting of Dave. Seems he took old #71 out to the very last East Coast Timing Association event at Maxton, North Carolina at the end of October. Here’s a direct link to my photobucket.
http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/oo58/milwaukeemidget/DSC_0114.jpg
I believe he had the fastest pass of the event.
Good seeing him suited up and behind the wheel again!
I met Dave Marcis and his wife at Cabelas in Dundee MI. 3-1-12 in the bargin cave. I think I could of talked to him all day. But instead I took a couple minutes of his time and got a autograph. Which he was kind of nuff to give me. Good luck dave thanks! Nascar 71 fan
i wonder if you are relate to us in detroit mi if you are
It has been almost 12 years to the date(May 7, 2000) that I had the opportunity to fish with Dave Marcus on the James River. It was a fishing tournament for NASCAR folks hosted by professional fisherman Woo Daves. On that eventful day Dave showed more energy than anyone I ever met at his age. Yes he had his Goodyear hat on and those shoes that he made so famous. On that day also fishing was Tony Stewart, Jimmy Makar, and I believe Bobby Labonte and a host of other NASCAR affiliated people. At the official weigh-in of the tournament Dave Marcus was declared the winner and the reigning champion for the 2000 NASCAR tournament. he was only beaten by 2 ounces by a man who just happen to be delivering a load of door prizes that were to be given out as awards. Since Marcus produced the highest weight of fish by any NASCAR affiliated person, he had bragging rights in the pits for a whole year. What an awesome experience it was to fish with Dave that year as well as several years after that. I had the opportunity several more times to fish with Dave on the St. Johns River in Florida during speed weeks when he was setting up the IROC cars. It’s been several years since I last spoke to him and I guess I’ll have to try to see if the phone numbers I have for him are current. That is just one short story that I could tell about Dave Marcus. He truly is a very nice gentleman and quite the character to spend the day with.
Met Dave @ a Winston West race @ Evergreen Speedway in Washington state in 1987 . He & Bill Elliott were there for the show . Couldn’t get close to Bill . Talked to Dave like we were old friends for 30 minutes. He trailered his own car there. Bill was driving someone’s local car. Bill wrecked and left early. Saw Dave next @ Daytona in 92 . He remembered me . Hope someday he gets the respect he deserves. Woulda had a stellar career and been a household name is his career had not have overlapped The King’s . Maybe a little to independent for his own good but I respect what he was able to do on his own money. When he was testing science projects for Chidress at Daytona near the end of his career, he still was able to lead the race. Skill were still there, the cubic dollars required just wasn’t.
Possibly the good thing about the actual penny
stock publication is you can now control the day trade market provided that to follow the actual recommended
investments strongly and also consequently. With today’s bearish market, there has
by no means been recently a much better time for
it to work with an powerful penny stock picker with the amount of futures ripe with regard to
recovery choosing.
The particular web publishers with this program even stand
by their item sufficient use a 60 day total money-back guarantee in case you are disappointed together with your outcomes on virtually
any amount. When you have it, you don’t even have to chance or perhaps
invest anything at all of your family income to verify its effectiveness upfront since you
can simply review the emailed stock select tips along with do
a comparison for the true industry data as it shows up
live, therefore thus, making this penny stock picker fully without risk.
Penny Stock Prophet is surely an possibility that you should certainly
not pass by. You’ll be able to really make quite a bit associated with revenue through purchasing small, and microcap stocks. That is certainly not a scam. There is no far better approach to make a healthy 2nd earnings at home when compared with trading and investing. Picture, you have now the energy to generate enormous earnings and never have to skilled just about any trouble. Every item has been done for anyone, all you want carry out can be comply with. This is a excellent technique that may provde the capability to select the large penny stocks merely nights prior to these people skilled outstanding gains!