Davenport lands NASCAR ride at Bristol
Jonathan Davenport, last year's top-ranked Dirt Late Model driver, will make his NASCAR Cup Series debut in the Food City Dirt Race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway on April 9 with Kaulig Racing, the team announced Thursday.
The Blairsville, Ga., driver will pilot the No. 13 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 with sponsorship from Nutrien Ag Solutions, a sponsor also on Davenport's Double L Motorsports Late Model. He'll be teammates to NASCAR Cup winners A.J. Allmendinger and Justin Haley.
Davenport's Food City Dirt Race on-track activities begin with a practice session April 7 before April 8's heat race action. The April 9 race that'll go for 250 laps around the half-mile will be telecast at 7 p.m. on Fox.
Davenport is coming off the richest season in dirt racing history with more than $2 million in winnings, a ledger bolstered by his dominant Eldora Million victory last June at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.
Among the 39-year-old's long list of 2022 accomplishments include his fifth World 100 title in eight years — one behind legendary Billy Moyer's all-time mark of six wins in the prestigious race — and victories at the Knoxville Late Model Nationals, North-South 100 and Topless 100. One of Davenport's 24 wins last year came at the dirt-covered Bristol Motor Speedway, an April 29 victory worth $25,000 with the World of Outlaws Case Late Model Series.
The three-time Lucas Oil Late Model Series champion has four victories through 17 races in the Dirt Late Model this season.
