Davey Evans working on the Carl Haas entered CanAm Lola.
Written by: Robin Miller 05/06/2008
"Davey Evans was the quintessential old school mechanic who lived, loved and breathed auto racing for much of his 63 years.
He could do just about anything that was needed on a race car and he was just such a pleasure to work with and to know,” said John Tzouanakis, team manager for Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing. “It’s just so tragic that he’s gone.”
Davey Evans died early Sunday morning following an altercation at a westside Indianapolis bar, the Kazablanka on Rockville Road. According to fellow team members, he was savagedly kicked in the head, collapsed and pronounced dead a short time later at Wishard Hospital.
Following an autopsy on Monday, the Marion County coroner’s office determined that stress from the fight induced the stroke and Indianapolis police have ruled Evans’ death as a homicide. Police said they are investigating a person who fought with Evans and that the county prosecutor’s office will decide whether to file charges.It was reported that the attacker had tried to provoke several people into fighting before exchanging words with Evans.
“One of the things we grieve about the most is not only losing him but that his final moments in this world were totally atypical of how he lived his life,” said Brian Lisles, general manager of Newman/Haas/Lanigan. “He was a quiet thoughtful person who just went out to have a meal and a beer and was walking back to the hotel when this happened. We would like to see the person who started this brought to justice.”
A native of London, Evans began working on race cars as a teenager before taking a job with Lola Cars. He came to America in 1970 and began working for Carl Haas, the longtime Lola distributor. After wrenching Haas’ Can-Am and F5000 cars, Evans became a fixture at the Indy car team started by Paul Newman and Haas in 1983. In 1971 in the CanAm series he was Jackie Stewart's mechanic.
photo Gil Munz - scanned for site Ike Smith
