The NASCAR team co-owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr., JR Motorsports, will attempt to make its Cup Series debut in next month’s season-opening Daytona 500, the team announced Wednesday. JRM is partnering with country singer and songwriter Chris Stapleton to enter a car for driver Justin Allgaier, with Stapleton’s Traveller Whiskey brand sponsoring the effort.
Co-owned by Earnhardt, his sister Kelley Earnhardt Miller, and Cup team owner Rick Hendrick, JRM is a powerhouse in NASCAR’s second-tier Xfinity Series. Since the Earnhardts and Hendrick combined their respective Xfinity teams in 2008, JRM has won 88 races and four championships — most recently with Allgaier last year.
Allgaier, 38, is one of four drivers who run full-time for JRM in Xfinity, along with Carson Kvapil, Sammy Smith and Connor Zilisch.
While racing in Cup is a new foray for JRM, Allgaier does have experience competing in NASCAR’s premier series having made 88 career starts across multiple seasons. His most recent start occurred last May in Charlotte, driving a Hendrick-owned car and substituting for Kyle Larson. Allgaier finished 13th despite the race being called just past halfway due to inclement weather and having to start at the rear of the field after Larson qualified the car.
Earnhardt, a two-time Daytona 500 winner (2004, 2014), has publicly spoken many times about how he’d like to see JRM expand into Cup on a full-time basis, though he’s emphasized that any move would have to make financial sense for the company. Thus far, such a move has proven cost-prohibitive at a time when charters — the NASCAR equivalent of a franchise in other sports — are valued at $20 million plus. Owning one of 36 charters guarantees a team certain revenue streams not otherwise available, making operating as a full-time “open” not cost-effective over the long term.
Because JRM does not hold a charter, Allgaier is not guaranteed a starting spot in the 40-car Daytona 500 field. He will have to either post a fast time in qualifying to secure one of the four available spots or claim a transfer position in his qualifying race.
Five other “open” teams have already announced they would enter the Daytona 500, held on Feb. 16: Beard Motorsports (driver Anthony Alfredo), Live Fast Motorsports (B.J. McLeod), MBM Motorsports (TBA), NY Racing (J.J. Yeley) and Trackhouse Racing (Helio Castroneves). Additional entries are expected from Legacy Motor Club (Jimmie Johnson), Rick Ware Racing (TBA) and Tricon (Martin Truex Jr.), though neither team has yet confirmed its plans.
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