Jonathan Davenport’s No. 49 Longhorn
Two of racing’s biggest names will be joined together on the weekend of March 19-20 to compete in the Bristol Dirt Nationals at Tennessee’s Bristol Motor Speedway. Former NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch will join former Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series champion Jonathan Davenport to drive Longhorn Chassis Late Model race cars for Lance Landers’ Double L Motorsports team in the special events on the dirt covered NASCAR track.
The Friday night feature at BMS will pay $10,000 to the feature winner while the Saturday night contest will dole out $50,000 to the driver who is first under the checkered flag.
Busch will be free to compete on Friday and Saturday due to the fact that the NASCAR Cup Series will be contesting a one-day show at the Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, March, 21st. Davenport, on the other hand, will have to forego two points-paying LOLMDS races on that same weekend set to be held at Ohio’s Atomic Speedway and Indiana’s Brownstown Speedway.
The plans for the pairing of the stars from NASCAR and Dirt Late Model were made known in a Twitter post from Ryan Delph of Delph Communications then retweeted by Davenport himself. Here is that tweet:
???????? Jonathan Davenport (@TheFast49) & 2x @NASCAR Champion Kyle Busch (@KyleBusch) are entered for @BristolDirt on March 19-20 at @BMSupdates! As @NutrienAgRetail teammates, both drivers will chase the $50,000 top prize for Double L Motorsports! More at https://t.co/8qtyd7HX4V pic.twitter.com/HKcK0R2tT4
— Ryan Delph (@DelphComm1) February 25, 2021
As has been well documented, the normally concrete-surfaced Bristol Motor Speedway has been covered with dirt for the purpose of running the first NASCAR Cup Series race since the early 1970s on clay. That race will be preceded by a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race. Those events are set for the weekend of March 27th & 28th.
The high-banked half-mile track was last covered in dirt in the early 2000s for events sanctioned by the World of Outlaws. While the Bristol Dirt Nationals will be unsanctioned, there will also be races held in the upper northeastern corner of Tennessee for the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series on April 9th and 10th paying $10,000 and $25,000 to the respective winners.
Kyle Busch(Photo: Getty Images)
The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series will be there between the dates of April 22-24 for the World of Outlaws Bristol Throwdown.
Busch looks forward the his two night foray on the dirt.
“Most of my experience in super late models have come on pavement, but I’ve really enjoyed dirt Super Late Model races when I’ve had the chance to run them,” Kyle Busch said in a press release. “The Prelude to the Dream at Eldora Speedway was a race I looked forward to every year and bringing home the win there in 2012 was something I’ll always remember. I want to thank Nutrien Ag Solutions and Double L Motorsports for the opportunity to get some seat time at Bristol in one of their Dirt Late Models.
He added praise for his future teammate.
“Jonathan Davenport’s resume speaks for itself with all the success he’s had in the Dirt Late Model cars, so I’m looking forward to learning all I can from him. While the cars are completely different than the NASCAR Cup Series cars we will run at Bristol, just getting some experience on dirt with a great team and a knowledgeable teammate will be invaluable for the following weekend.”
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