Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s co-owned NASCAR team JR Motorsports will attempt to make its Cup Series debut at the season-opening Daytona 500 next month, 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 Traveler 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 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 race full-time for JRM in Xfinity, along with Carson Kvapil, Sammy Smith and Connor Zilisch.
Although racing in Cup is a new foray for JRM, Allgaier has experience competing in NASCAR’s premier series having made 88 career starts over multiple seasons. His most recent start was last May at Charlotte, driving a Hendrick-owned car and replacing Kyle Larson. Allgaier finished 13th although the race was canceled just after the halfway point due to bad weather and she had to start from the back of the field after Larson qualified the car.
Earnhardt, a two-time Daytona 500 winner (2004, 2014), has publicly stated several times that he would like to see JRM expand into Cup full-time, although he has stressed that any move would require financial constraints. meaning for the company. So far, such a move has proven cost-prohibitive in an era when charters — the NASCAR equivalent of a franchise in other sports — are valued at more than $20 million. Owning one of the 36 charters guarantees a team certain revenue streams that would not otherwise be available, making operating as a full-time “open” business unprofitable in 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 either have to post a fast time in qualifying to secure one of the four available places, or claim a transfer place in their qualifying race.
Five other “open” teams have already announced their participation in the Daytona 500, held on February 16: Beard Motorsports (driver Anthony Alfredo), Live Fast Motorsports (BJ McLeod), MBM Motorsports (TBA), NY Racing (JJ 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.), although neither team has yet confirmed their plans.
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