BRISTOL, Tenn. — Right before his first laps in a NASCAR Cup car, Jonathan Davenport turned his attention to the Jumbotron that hulks above Bristol Motor Speedway as suspense came upon Saturday evening’s loud but quiet scene from pit road.

It was loud, needless to say, because of the 15-lap Cup qualifiers that ran course around the Thunder Valley half-mile. But quiet because Davenport watched on by his lonesome, speaking no words to anyone around him as he tuned out his surroundings to cram in some last mental notes — like where to shift on restarts and where to precisely enter the corners — before an overwhelming test.

Then, one thought made the 39-year-old realize the buildup into his NASCAR debut Easter Sunday night on FOX doesn’t have to be overwhelming after all.

“It’s ironic,” Blairsville, Ga.'s Davenport later explained. “We got three hot laps (before the 15-lap qualifier) … normally what we would get in a Super Late Model. I was so loose those first three laps, I was kind of panicking a little bit. So, I was asking my spotter, is everybody else that sideways? He said my times were OK. Then the car came to me.”

The suspense.

Tune into FS2. Heat two just ended with Ryan Blaney ahead of Chase Briscoe and William Byron. Heat three almost ready.

Davenport’s heat four on deck. pic.twitter.com/z4PBYwIC2S

— Kyle McFadden (@ByKyleMcFadden) April 8, 2023

For no experience in a Cup car, Davenport impressed in his qualifier, showing that he can go pound-for-pound with NASCAR’s best and perhaps make something happen in Sunday's 250-lap main event from the 21st-starting position. He started second and beat reigning Cup champion Joey Logano in a drag race to the finish-line to finish fourth.

Davenport also turned faster laps than defending race winner Kyle Busch and Daytona 500 champion Austin Cindric, and if it weren’t for a caution with six laps to go where Davenport missed his shift from third to fourth gear on the following restart, he likely would have finished second and been granted a top-15 starting spot in the main event.

“I guess I just got too excited,” Davenport said. “I didn’t lift enough to get back to third gear. I think that let (leader) Bubba (Wallace) get back to us. I got a really good start, got to third (gear) really good, and just missed fourth (gear) and kind of panicked there. I let (Bubba) get back beside of us. Other than that, I just learned every lap.”

If there’s anything to take away from Davenport’s hectic Saturday, where by the end he charged from 32nd to finish 14th in his Craftsman Truck Series debut, it’s that he feels “right at home” in the Cup car and more comfortable than he imagined.

“I felt way more comfortable in the Cup car (than Truck), really,” Davenport said. “(The Truck) kind of moves around. It’s a little bit lazier than the Cup car. The Cup car’s maybe a little bit tighter feeling. It has more balance I feel like. (The Truck) kind of bounces the nose, and the rear-end doesn’t move a whole lot.”

A whirlwind of buildup for @TheFast49’s first laps in a Cup car ends with a smile.

A fourth-place finish in the heat should start him 21st in the 250-lap main event on Easter Sunday.

Was on his way to a runner-up & top-15 starting spot if not for a caution with six to go. pic.twitter.com/oyspkvHD7e

— Kyle McFadden (@ByKyleMcFadden) April 8, 2023

Though there are reasons for optimism, Davenport's still at a major disadvantage. Sure his dirt experience and same ability that netted him the most lucrative dirt-track season ever last year — more than $2 million in earnings — can work to his favor. But “it’s all about the car," said Davenport, who going into the weekend said that his biggest obstacle would be communicating what he feels inside the car into detail for his crew to make the precise adjustments.

“I feel like I’m pretty good at telling the guys what my car needs just by the feel in my ass,” Davenport said Thursday. “I’m not going to have any of that (in the Cup car). So, I’m going to be that far behind once again getting in the car, no less know how to drive it. Once I figure that part out, I don’t know how to change it to make it feel better — to tell the crew chief or the car chief or whoever in the hell I tell.”

"I could definitely, like, drive the car, and feel what I needed to there,” Davenport added on Saturday. “And I could relate to those guys (on the crew). The (Truck) was just bottoming out so bad I was really just playing defense."

Davenport was at least comfortable for 15 laps on Saturday. He looked comfortable for most of Saturday’s 150-lap Truck race, too. Now he'll try to find a way to shine on Easter’s 250-lap spectacle, the longest race he's ever had to run by a long shot.

Meant to tweet this last night.

Asked Cup champ & Truck winner @joeylogano if there was anything about @TheFast49 that impressed him in the heat.

Davenport beat Logano back to the line to hold onto fourth. pic.twitter.com/Tq7k3jDJJj

— Kyle McFadden (@ByKyleMcFadden) April 9, 2023

Since the Wild West Shootout at Vado (N.M.) Speedway Park, Davenport’s lost roughly 25 pounds. That week, where he raced five times in eight days, he noticed the need to get in better shape, particularly before the big NASCAR weekend.

“This is a great opportunity that Nutrien Ag and Kaulig and Spire Motorsports have given me for the Truck and Cup race,” Davenport said. “So I wanted to be in my best shape possible and obviously do the best I can for myself. If there was going to be an excuse, I didn’t want it to fall back on me.”

Davenport joins an eclectic and superbly-accomplished list of drivers to make special NASCAR Cup appearances this season. Formula 1 champions Kimi Raikkonen and Jensen Button, as well as motorsports extraordinaire Travis Pastrana (who has more than six-million followers on Facebook) and IMSA Prototype champion Jordan Taylor have all appeared in a Cup race this year.

Now it’s Davenport’s turn as he carries the allegorical torch representing the blue-collar, everyman sport of dirt-track racing on prime-time national television.

“I’m just glad we didn’t look too much like a fool there (in the heat) and I didn’t go straight to the back. I felt like I had pace with them,” Davenport said. “As I said, one time I pulled away from Kyle (Busch) and was running Bubba down. We just didn’t need to have that caution. I’d like to kept that rhythm going and I would have tried to move around once I’ve caught Bubba.

“We’ll do it again tomorrow night and I hope I can make a lot of people proud.”