Gary Davis has two passions. He loves high performance race vehicles, and he loves showing the youth of today how horsepower can be a substitute for mischief. 

Davis, a retired Lincoln County (Nev.) police officer, uses his 1985 Chevrolet S-10 as the perfect doorway to create a dialogue with teenagers. He also races the tricked-out truck to race at the drag strip located on the grounds of Las Vegas Motor Speedway. 

Davis’ truck is popular, having once appeared on the program Top Gear, and is more than a show piece. A 900-horse, 565-inch Earl Snow-built powerplant makes it a contender in the Non-Electric category of this weekend’s JEGS Performance Street Car Super Nationals XII.  

“(The truck) is pretty deadly,” he said Friday between qualifying rounds. “On Wednesday, it ran an 8.93 twice and then in the evening when the air got a little better; it ran an 8.91. It’s pretty consistent. (Thursday) night, it ran an 8.86 and this morning, an 8.80, which is the quickest it’s ever gone with a 60 foot of 1.26.”

A 34-year veteran of law enforcement, Davis is a member of Beat the Heat program, a non-profit organization using drag racing as a means of teaching lessons of choice and consequence to kids ages K-12. Based in Lincoln County, located north of Las Vegas and Clark County, he has taken his super-powered pickup to schools all over both counties.

“You go in there in uniform, and you’re packing your gun and stuff, but I’ve never seen the reception you get from kids when you’ve got your race uniform on and this truck,” Davis said. “It’s a completely different bonding with law enforcement and youth. 

“We even take it to our high school and let the kids all line up, and we’ve got a couple of practice trees, and they do the reaction time, and then I can put a delay in it and show them what the delay would be if they were under the influence. They love it. They love the competition.”

As for the track, family issues have forced Davis to curtail his racing activities to only five races in the past five years. Still earning his bones in drag racing, he made it to the semi-final round at this event two years ago and is looking for more glory this weekend.

“It was a big learning curve for me to drive at this level, so we’ve been kind of paying our dues,” he said. “The motor, knock on wood, has been so maintenance free almost, you know? Just the valves and check all the torque and everything before I come and usually, that’s been a good deal. 

“It’s a good combination, I think, because it’s a 125-inch wheelbase, it just goes straight. Haven’t had any trouble with it or the track. The track’s been great.”