Could Dale Earnhardt Jr. Capitalize on Tony Stewart’s Rumored NASCAR Cutdown?

In their relatively short history in NASCAR so far, JR Motorsports has tasted immense success in the Xfinity Series. Moreover, they’ve also proven to be a good training ground for future Cup drivers as so far, they’ve had 10 drivers who raced for them and then graduated to the Cup. All of this has left many wondering just when Dale Earnhardt Jr., the co-owner of the organization, would take his team from Xfinity to Cup.

Over the last few years, Junior has expressed his desire to take JRM to the Cup Series. But he has also not shied away from naming the biggest obstacle in his way; the charter system.

During an episode of his podcast show, the Dale Jr. Download, from last year, Earnhardt claimed that there’s “no way” he is going to spend $30 million on a charter that will operate at a loss. He also expressed his doubts regarding the scale of his Cup operation, whether it’d be a four-car team, a three-car team, or a two-car team. But in the end, Junior pointed to the fact that there weren’t many charters available for sale at that point.

However, soon, things could change in the charter availability scene.

Rumors around Tony Stewart’s team which could pave Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s way to the Cup

According to journalist Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic, Stewart-Haas Racing could be considering a scale-down next year, going from a four-car team to a two-car team, and as a result, putting two of their charters on the market.

“The speculation surrounding Stewart-Haas Racing is that one, or maybe two of his charters, could be in play. I can’t confirm that. I have talked to people who say those charters could be available, and someone who wants them if you’ve got $40-$50 million in your pocket and you want a charter, maybe you go ahead and have a conversation with Gene Haas and Tony Stewart,” Bianchi said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Bianchi also claimed that with Aric Almirola being unlikely to return next year and with sponsors like Smithfield and Anheuser Busch leaving, the team co-owned by Tony Stewart will be left with a big sponsorship inventory leading them to evaluate their future of being a four-car team.

But one crucial aspect of this revelation by Bianchi is the amount for which a charter would be in the market, which is $40 million-$50 million, something that turned off Earnhardt not just last year, but quite recently too.

Dale Jr. had emphasized recently that the charter prices don’t make sense to him

In an interview with SiriusXM last month, Earnhardt Jr. cleared the air regarding ‘the progress’ behind the operation of taking JRM to the Cup Series. “There’s zero movement on our end,” he said.

“You know, me and my sister Kelly, LW, and everybody at JR Motorsports, are always looking forward for an opportunity to get into the Cup Series. We’re interested in that, but it has to make sense.”

Junior claimed that at this point in his life, he wants to think about his family and their future from a personal and financial perspective. He added that taking such a big financial risk wouldn’t be a smart decision. Earnhardt also touched upon a key component of his decision-making process, which is that he and his sister Kelley, would want to run the entire operation, and manage the team, instead of slapping their brand on an existing team, instead of making a compromise.

So even though Earnhardt Jr. wants to take JR Motorsports to the Cup, and even though there could soon be an opportunity if Tony Stewart decides to put two of his charters for sale, the price of the charters, might just be the deciding factor for Junior in deciding against going to the next level with JR Motorsports.