Davison expanding racing résumé with Cup Series start in New Hampshire

Australia’s James Davison is returning to the seat of a NASCAR Cup Series machine. This time around, he’ll drive the No. 53 Signing Day Sports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for Rick Ware Racing.

The Melbourne, Victoria-born driver, who has since relocated to Miami, Florida, has spent the last several years widening his racing résumé. From racing Indy cars in the Indianapolis 500, to his sprint car debut just three weeks ago — Davison’s nearly drove them all.

Davison has five starts in the Indianapolis 500 with a best finish of 12th in 2019.

In 2016, Davison made his stock car debut, driving for King Autosport in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. In 2017 and 2018, Joe Gibbs Racing hired him as a fill-in driver in three road course races at Road America and Mid-Ohio. He finished 4th at Mid-Ohio in 2017, and even won a stage at Road America that season.

This season, Davison was slated to debut in the NASCAR Cup Series at Talladega Superspeedway in the GEICO 500, however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, practice and qualifying are not scheduled for NASCAR competition. Late in the week, NASCAR decided to withdraw Davison’s approval for the race at the fastest track on the circuit. Instead, he raced at the Pocono dobuleheader the following week.

The Pocono weekend for Davison was behind the wheel of the Spire Motorsports No. 77 Camaro. In those two starts around the Pocono Raceway, Davison finished 34th on Saturday, and 30th on Sunday.

His start in this Sunday’s Foxwood Resort and Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS) will be vastly different from his debut weekend.

The Pocono Raceway is one of the most unique circuits in the Cup Series campaign, being 2.5-miles long and shaped like a triangle with all three different corners. The rules package utilized at the Long Pond, PA. track is the standard 550-horsepower engine rule with an 8-inch rear spoiler.

This weekend’s race at NHMS is around the 1.018-mile oval with minimal banking. The rules package is also extremely different, with the 750-horsepower rule and only a 2.75-inch rear spoiler.

The 33-year-old will be teamed up with Todd Parrott as crew chief, who has served that role across twenty-five seasons across several teams and won the 1999 NASCAR Cup Series Championship with Dale Jarrett and Robert Yates Racing.