Dale Earnhardt Jr. is set to make history this season with JR Motorsports’ NASCAR Cup Series debut. JRM’s #40 car will debut at the Daytona 500, piloted by Justin Allgaier. Greg Ives will be the crew chief, handpicked by Junior, who revealed the reason in a recent press interaction.
Advertisement
“I saw how many times he’s qualified a car on the front row at Daytona,” said Dale Jr.
Ives’ track record at Daytona is indeed impressive. He has positioned his cars on the front row in six of his eight Daytona 500 appearances. However, Dale Jr.’s trust in Ives goes beyond this impressive statistic. He is banking on the seasoned crew chief to make the right calls for the team race in race out.
“I’m like, do you have any magic left, Greg? Let’s go to the track and see what we can do. But I think being an open car, there’s some challenges to get into the field,” said Junior.
“I was confident that Greg understood, better than anybody, the things that we would all need to gather into place to go there with the best opportunity we could. Me and him are just really great friends, and I just trust him wholeheartedly with his decisions… He’s got a great track record, in terms of qualifying, and that hopefully can be a big assist for us,” he added.
Dale Jr. believes Ives won’t mind him hovering and peppering him with questions during the preparation for the upcoming race. His confidence stems from their history of collaboration.
Before the 2014 racing season, Ives was assigned as crew chief for JRM’s Chase Elliott in the Nationwide Series, a position he held provisionally until the end of that year. He then led Dale Jr.’s Cup Series crew from 2015 until the driver’s retirement in 2017.
Their partnership yielded a third-place finish at the 2015 Daytona 500. More importantly, those years forged a great working relationship between Dale Jr. and Ives, founded on mutual respect and trust.
Allgaier shares his confidence in Ives’ expertise
Ives went on to work with other prominent drivers since Dale Jr.’s retirement. And, after the shuffle at Front Row Motorsports, when Blake Harris took over as crew chief for Michael McDowell’s #34 car in 2023, Ives returned to a part-time crew chief role.
He then shared responsibilities for Hendrick Motorsports’ part-time Xfinity entry, helmed by a roster of drivers including Kyle Larson, William Byron, Chase Elliott, Boris Said, and Alex Bowman.
Allgaier expressed confidence in Ives’ capabilities, highlighting his wide experience and championship-winning credentials.
“I mean, he was a championship crew chief at JR Motorsports [won the 2014 Xfinity championship with Chase Elliott],” said Allgaier. “He understands the business well, and I think that gives some comfort when you look at trying to assemble people for this organization and for what we’re trying to accomplish. It gives that little bit of comfort that I think makes a big difference.”
Allgaier added that Dale Jr. feels at ease with Ives around, and that comfort extends to him as well.
It remains to be seen how well the #40 entry will perform on debut. Regardless of the finishing position, JRM’s foray into the Cup Series racing marks a momentous occasion for the team, its owners, and NASCAR as a sport.
