Open-wheel and sports car racer James Davison is slated to make his NASCAR Cup Series debut Saturday at Pocono Raceway in the Pocono Organics 325. The Cup Series will race at Pocono both Saturday and Sunday, and Davison is expected to be behind the wheel of the #77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet for both races.
Davison originally planned to make his series debut in the Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway last weekend, but NASCAR, ultimately, did not clear him for that race, based on a lack of superspeedway experience. NASCAR has not been holding practice sessions ahead of races since its return from a break during the coronavirus pandemic.
“I have been contacted by NASCAR and informed that although I was previously approved to race, they had to reconsider their position on superspeedways, given there won’t be practice prior to Sunday’s race at Talladega,” Davison [@JD33Davison] tweeted. “I was pumped about the opportunity to take the green flag; however, I fully understand and appreciate NASCAR’s position. I’m approved to race next weekend at Pocono and equally thrilled to make my series debut there.”
NASCAR also, for the most part, has not been setting starting grids by traditional qualifying sessions. Instead grids have been set by random drawings or based on results from previous races. A random draw has put Davison 35th on the 40-car grid for Saturday’s race at Pocono. His starting position for Sunday’s race will be determined by his finish in Saturday’s race.
Davison has four races of NASCAR Xfinity Series experience. All four of those races were road-course races, the three most recent of them for Joe Gibbs Racing. His best finish in the series was a fourth at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. His most recent Xfinity race, also at Road America, in 2018 produced an eighth-place finish.
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