Jonathan Davenport won $50,000 last year at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2021
Dirt Late Model star Jonathan Davenport will compete for Kaulig Racing in the Food City Dirt Race at the Bristol Motor Speedway on April 9th. It will be the 39-year-old driver’s second attempt at NASCAR as he was entered in a Craftsman Truck Series event at the Martinsville Speedway in 2013.
The news was announced on Thursday via social media.
Kaulig has proven itself to be a competitive organization. The team owned by Matt Kaulig currently fields cars on the Cup Series for Justin Haley and A.J. Allmendinger as well as multiple NASCAR Xfinity Series entries. Allmendinger won a Cup race for the organization on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2021 while those two drivers along with Daniel Hemric combined for six top-5 and 13 top-10 finishes in 2022 at the sport’s top level.
Last year, Davenport became the first Dirt Late Model racer in history earn $2,000,000 in a single season aided by the fact that he was victorious in the Dirt Million held in June at Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. ‘Superman’ is also a three-time Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series champion and has won the prestigious World 100, also at Eldora, on five occasions.
The Blairsville, Georgia native will drive a No. 13 Chevrolet for Kaulig on the high-banked Bristol track which will be covered in dirt for the third consecutive year. The car will be sponsored by Nutrien Ag Solutions which serves as one of Davenport’s primary dirt racing backers.
“This is literally a dream come true for me,” Davenport said in a press release announcing the move. “I’ll get to race against the best race car drivers in the world and will get to do it at one of my favorite tracks (Bristol Motor Speedway). I have a lot to learn but have two great teammates in AJ (Allmendinger) and Justin (Haley) to learn from. We started working on this last October during the ROVAL weekend in Charlotte and to see it come to fruition is absolutely amazing.”
Davenport is no stranger to the dirt-covered Bristol Motor Speedway. He collected $50,000 for a triumph in 2021 in the Karl Kustoms Bristol Dirt Nationals. Last season, he earned a $25,000 payday when he took the checkered flag ahead of the pack in a World of Outlaws CASE Construction Late Model Series feature at the east Tennessee facility.
The Food City Dirt Race will take place on the night of Easter Sunday.
I’m beyond excited and grateful for the opportunity from @NutrienAgRetail and @KauligRacing to be able to fulfill a dream of racing in the @NASCAR Cup series. Hope to make my family and fans proud of what we can accomplish on April 9th. #ItsBristolBaby #TrophyHunting https://t.co/vVq0HsjtNI
— Jonathan Davenport (@TheFast49) March 9, 2023
