This NASCAR veteran raced in the Cup Series from 1968 to 2002, made 883 starts, won five races, and survived generations of the sport, from Richard Petty to Dale Earnhardt to Jeff Gordon. More than three decades in NASCAR left him with trophies, watches, gifts, and one-of-a-kind memorabilia that told the story of his career. Now, someone has broken into his home and stolen pieces of that history.
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Dave Marcis returned to his Arden home on Friday, August 28, after a week away to find it burglarized, with thousands of dollars worth of memorabilia stolen. The former Penske driver and Marcis Auto Racing owner found items scattered across the floor, and the basement door had been opened.
“It was a relief to know that someone has been arrested,” said Marcis’ daughter, Shawn Beam, who also said that the person in custody didn’t know the family. Beam told ABC News 13 that Marcis had first called to ask whether she or her husband had been at the house. When she said no, he told her someone had been inside, and the family contacted police.
“He was gifted some Rolex watches from Roger Penske when he retired. They took those,” said Beam, before revealing her father’s reaction to seeing the missing items. “He said, ‘All that stuff, it’s just gone. Everything.’ I said, ‘Well, they didn’t take everything.’ He said, ‘They might as well have.’”
That reaction carried even more weight because Marcis had lost his wife, Helen, just eight months earlier.
Some of the stolen watches and memorabilia were gifts the couple had received and cherished together. “It’s all personal stuff,” former NASCAR driver Robert Pressley said, noting that some of the watches had been gifted to Marcis and his wife. The burglary did not just take pieces of his NASCAR career. It also took memories tied to his life with Helen.
Apart from the Rolex watches gifted by Penske, the thieves also took one of Marcis’ race suits, one-of-a-kind rings, and several rifles, including one gifted to him by Dale Earnhardt.
The case took a turn when someone contacted Marcis’ daughter on Facebook, claiming they had unknowingly bought one of the stolen items.
That item led the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office to Smiley’s Flea Market, where more of Marcis’ stolen belongings were being sold. Police have since made an arrest, with the suspect facing felony breaking-and-entering charges.
While some things are being traced and brought back to Marcis’ possession, Beam did agree that it would be impossible to trace everything down.
“Hopefully we can retrace a lot of steps and get the really sentimental things back.”
Marcis’ career also had a fitting symmetry. He made 33 Daytona 500 starts, beginning his Cup career at Daytona in 1968 and making his final Cup start at the same track in 2002.
Although he drove for teams including Penske and Larry Hedrick Motorsports, Marcis became best known for doing things his own way behind the wheel of the No. 71 for Marcis Auto Racing. That independent streak became a defining part of his NASCAR legacy.
That is why so many of the stolen items carried meaning beyond their price.
They were reminders of the teams, drivers, and relationships Marcis built over decades in NASCAR. With an arrest made and some belongings already being traced, his family can now only hope that as much of that history as possible finds its way back home.