Earnhardt Jr to race Menards/DEI Busch car.

Nextel Cup regular Dale Earnhardt Jr has revealed that he will pilot the #81 Menards/Save Big Money Chevrolet in next weekend's Busch Series Food City 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

It will be Earnhardt's first Busch race at Bristol since he won the second of his back-to-back series championships in 1999, and he forms a second Menards entry in the race alongside Busch series regular Paul Menard's #11 Turtle Wax car. Both entries will be run by the Dale Earnhardt Inc team run by Junior's mother.

"I've been competing in a few Busch races every year, primarily on the superspeedways, but thought Bristol would be a good track to race with my team-mates," said Earnhardt, who has 19 career Busch wins, including this year's season opener at Daytona, and more than $3million in winnings, "I enjoy racing in the Busch Series and haven't won at Bristol, so this should be a fun weekend."

In five career Busch starts at Bristol, Earnhardt drove to runner-up finishes in the 1998 and 1999 spring races, and a third-place finish his last Busch start at the track in the 1999 August race. He also started on the pole in the 1998 spring race.

"It's very exciting to have Dale Jr behind the wheel of the Save Big Money car for the first time," said John Menard, "Menards and the DEI organisation combined resources just last month for what we plan to build into a long and successful partnership both on and off the track, and a major benefit of that relationship, of course, is watching the name Dale Earnhardt Jr become synonymous with Menards when it comes to the home improvement business. This race at Bristol is certainly a first step in that direction."

Paul Menard will be in action in the Busch Series at Michigan Speedway this weekend, before heading to Bristol for next Friday's Food City 250.