Road Course Ace Reunites With Joe Gibbs Racing

Getty James Davison will return to Joe Gibbs Racing.

The No. 18 Toyota GR Supra will feature a road course ace for the Xfinity Series trip to the Charlotte Roval. Joe Gibbs Racing will reunite with James Davison.

The NASCAR entry list provided the news on October 3. It named Davison as the driver of the No. 18 Toyota GR Supra for the Drive for the Cure 250 presented by BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina on October 8 (3 p.m. ET, USA Network).

This road course race will mark Davison’s sixth career Xfinity Series start and his fourth with Joe Gibbs Racing. He made his debut for the championship-winning organization in 2017 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and finished fourth. He then returned to Joe Gibbs Racing at Road America in both 2017 and 2018 while adding a top-10 finish.

Davison Has Experience in 2 National NASCAR Series

GettyJames Davison has made 40 national NASCAR series starts.

Davison, a two-time winner in Indy Lights, has made numerous starts across a variety of motorsports series. This run features four podium finishes in the IMSA Weathertech SportsCar Championship Series, including the 2022 Rolex 24 at Daytona and the 2015 Chevrolet Sports Car Classic.

The Australian also has 40 career starts in NASCAR, five of which were in the Xfinity Series. He has spent the most time in the Cup Series while primarily driving for Rick Ware Racing. This schedule includes a career-best finish of 22nd at Martinsville Speedway in 2021.

Davison hasn’t driven for Rick Ware Racing in 2022, which is likely a result of the team moving to only two entries. Cody Ware has been the full-time driver of the No. 51 while Ryan Preece, JJ Yeley, Joey Hand, Parker Kligerman, David Ragan, and Garrett Smithley have all shared the No. 15.

The No. 18 Hasn’t Achieved Much Success on Road Courses in 2022

GettySammy Smith (front) turned in a strong performance at Watkins Glen International.

Davison will now have an opportunity ahead of him. He could fight for the best finish on a road course by a driver of the No. 18 Toyota GR Supra. Though he will have to surpass a performance by a two-time ARCA Menards Series East champion.

There have been three drivers that have taken over the No. 18 for a road course race in 2022. Bubba Wallace drove the entry at Circuit of the Americas and Indianapolis Motor Speedway but dealt with mechanical issues. Connor Mosack took over at Portland International Raceway but finished 28th after a crash.

Sammy Smith, the driver that dominated the ARCA Menards Series East, made starts at Road America and Watkins Glen International. His engine expired during the trip to Wisconsin and relegated him to a 24th-place finish. However, Smith went out and finished third at Watkins Glen after battling Kyle Larson and AJ Allmendinger.

Davison will now take over the No. 18 Toyota GR Supra for the final road course race of the 2022 Xfinity Series season. He will have an opportunity to join Smith on the list of drivers that posted top-10 finishes in the No. 18 at one of NASCAR’s road courses.

The weekend will begin on the morning of October 8. Davison will take part in practice at 10 a.m. ET (no TV) before moving on to qualifying at 10:30 a.m. ET (no TV). The Xfinity Series race will then take place at 3 p.m. ET (USA Network) as the full-time playoff drivers battle for spots in the Round of Eight.