JR Motorsports is one of the teams that have been expected to make a move to the Cup Series over the last few years. With rumors of Stewart-Haas Racing’s charter sale gaining ground, the question of whether now is the right time to move up from the Xfinity Series popped up again in front of team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. However, the racing icon is content with where he is for now.
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Providing an update on his team’s future, he said recently on SiriusXM that he was too fond of the second-tier of NASCAR to quit it. His admission went, “The [NASCAR Xfinity Series] is a very fun place to be. In my heart, I would have a hard time leaving that space and what that might become is exciting as well…If that’s where we belong or that’s where we sorta run this thing out, I’m fine with that as well.”
️ “The Xfinity series is a very fun place to be […] I would have a hard time leaving that space.”
@DaleJr loves what he and @EarnhardtKelley have built with @JRMotorsports in @NASCAR_Xfinity and looks ahead to the future of the series ⬇️
More → https://t.co/WGRTG5gVtL pic.twitter.com/sKPYfqb7xk
— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) May 23, 2024
JR Motorsports has captured three Xfinity championships (2014, 2017, and 2018) and developed many drivers who’ve gone to be big stars in the Cup Series. A promotion to the premier tier will put it in a space where it could compete with the very best in stock car racing and prove its worth on a bigger stage. But that’s not a decision that Dale Jr. could take on a whim.
The two routes that JR Motorsports can take to reach the Cup Series
From where he stands, Dale Jr. sees two lanes that would lead him to own an operation in the Cup Series. The first one requires him and his sister Kelley Earnhardt, the CEO of JR Motorsports, to acquire external financial support for purchasing a charter. This is an idea that has been on both their minds for the last few years, he admits.
The second route will ask him to invest in a single car in an already existing Cup Series team. “If I can’t own my own Cup race team and run it as we do, similar to JR Motorsports, my preference might be more to just invest in a single charter, one particular race car where I would have some influence over that actual car on the race track,” he says.
Rest assured, Dale Jr. is not waiting on his front toes to get into NASCAR’s premier tier. The icon and the suits at JR Motorsports will keep looking for more appealing opportunities for now.
