Dale Earnhardt Jr. is no stranger to the Daytona 500, having won it twice and made 18 starts in NASCAR’s marquee event.
But since the sport’s 15-time most popular driver retired from NASCAR Cup Series competition at the end of 2017, it’s been a foregone conclusion that his days of Daytona 500 appearances are over.
Well, they still are … but only as a driver.
Fired up for the 500! 🔥@DaleJr | @JRMotorsports pic.twitter.com/lCNJtr3ksc
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) January 15, 2025
Earnhardt Jr. Is Breaking New Ground For JR Motorsports With Daytona 500 Entry
JR Motorsports — the team that Earnhardt co-owns with sister Kelley Earnhardt Miller and Rick Hendrick — announced Wednesday that the organization will field a car for next month’s Daytona 500.
Why is this news super significant? Well, for a few reasons. One is that JR Motorsports is fielding the car in partnership with 10-time Grammy Award-winning singer Chris Stapleton and Buffalo Trace Distillery’s Traveller brand, which will serve as the primary sponsor on the No. 40 Chevrolet. Also, the driver is a high-profile one — reigning NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier, an Xfinity Series veteran who competes full time for JR Motorsports in NASCAR’s No. 2 division.
Lastly, but most importantly, this will mark the first time that JR Motorsports, a competitor in the Xfinity Series for two decades, will campaign a Cup Series entry. And to do it in the sport’s premier race — the Daytona 500 — makes it even bigger.
Earnhardt Jr. plans to stick close to Allgaier’s No. 40 ride throughout Daytona Speedweeks so he can savor every moment.
“I’m going to be on pit road when the car is pushed out for qualifying,” Earnhardt, who scored his first Daytona 500 victory in 2004 and triumphed again a decade later, said at Wednesday’s team announcement. “And I’ll be there when it’s going out for practice. I’ll be there when they unload it on Wednesday at the race track. I want to go through tech (NASCAR technical inspection).
“I want to see everything. I don’t know what’s realistic, because there will be some other obligations, but I’m approaching this like it’s a one-and-only opportunity … a dream come true. I told Kelley that I want her there for all of it, as well, because we’ve done this together from the start.”
See y’all in Daytona. pic.twitter.com/iCvILhtw1W
— JR Motorsports (@JRMotorsports) January 15, 2025
JR Motorsports Still Has Work To Do To Be Assured Of Daytona 500 Start
Before a JR Motorsports car takes the green flag for the company’s first Daytona 500, some unfinished business remains. That’s because Allgaier, being with a team that’s never before competed in the Cup Series, isn’t guaranteed a spot on the Daytona 500 starting grid. He’ll have to race his way in via traditional qualifying or one of two qualifying races, now known as the Bluegreen Vacations Duels.
With only the front row for the Daytona 500 set by traditional qualifying, and everyone else’s starting position determined later on by how they finish in the Duels, Allgaier would prefer to lock in his spot at the first opportunity.
“I think your mindset has to be to try and go qualify,” he said. “That has to be number one. That’s the easiest way to do it, because then you can race the Duels in a different capacity. You can allow yourself to do a little bit more learning. You can work on some of the things that are going to be key for the 500. You can work on some setups, balance changes and things like that.
“If you don’t qualify in and you have to race your way in through the Duels, I think your mindset changes.”
Fielding A Daytona 500 Entry Will Be A ‘Full Circle’ Moment For Earnhardt Siblings
Since making its NASCAR Xfinity Series debut in 2005, JR Motorsports has achieved phenomenal success both on and off the track. Along with attracting some terrific sponsors and recording 88 wins, the organization has captured a single championship with four different drivers. That quartet of champs consists of current NASCAR Cup Series standouts Chase Elliott (2014), William Byron (2017) and Tyler Reddick (2018), along with Allgaier.
But JRM, which has also produced a slew of championship-winning Late Model entries, has never competed on a stage even remotely as grand as the Daytona 500. Or as many call it: The Great American Race.
No matter how Allgaier fares, it will undoubtedly be a week that Earnhardt Jr. and his older sister — the CEO of JR Motorsports — will never forget.
“We’ve been talking about the opportunity to be in the Cup Series,” said Earnhardt Miller, who along with Dale Jr. is one of two children of the late legendary Dale Earnhardt Sr. and his second wife, Brenda. “Obviously, we’re a family of racers. This is our life. This is our passion.
“To be able to have a Cup entry at the Daytona 500 — a place that’s really special to us and a place where the Earnhardts have had a lot of history and a lot of success with both my dad and Dale Jr. — you know, it’s just really kind of full circle.”
Inside JRM’s Daytona 500 Debut: Kelley & Dale Jr. React To Partnering wi… https://t.co/AWGM9Ga8Zz via @YouTube
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) January 15, 2025
