The 2025 Daytona 500 was a special one for Dale Earnhardt Jr.! After all, he finally brought his Xfinity Series team, JR Motorsports, into the Cup Series. And what better race to debut in than ‘the great American race?’ This also felt like Junior and co-owner/sister Kelly Earnhardt taking the next step in the Earhardt legacy. How Senior ran Dale Earnhardt Inc. in the Cup…now the kids are also walking the same path.
And we’d say the debut was successful! The 2024 Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier piloted the #40 JRM car at the Daytona 500. At first, things weren’t going as planned for Allgaier. He started 19th! But thanks to the wreck-filled race and his holding ground in all the chaos, he managed a P9 finish. Now, for a team to get a top-10 finish in their debut Daytona 500 is unusual. So naturally everyone was impressed and there came the big question: What’s next for JRM in the Cup? Well, Junior’s got an answer.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s ‘practical’ JRM expansion plan
After Allgaier’s finish, Junior in an X post wrote, “Can get used to these cup racin’ updates from the JRM handle.” This got the whole NASCAR community excited, thinking that JRM is bringing a full-time cup ride now. But only if it was that simple! Owning a charter is expensive, and Junior is not ready to bear all the expenses alone.
In the recent episode of the Dale Jr. Download podcast, he opened up on his plans, “I’m not going to give you $40 million for that Charter. I’m not doing that. That’s not something I’m interested in doing. And that’s my prerogative now. I would invest five or 10 in the right situation five absolutely maybe more of my own money right so there’s you know 20% ownership that’s probably very a very comfortable place for me to be in. When I look at an NFL franchise there are majority owners but there’s also a lot of minority people as well. I believe that owning around 20% of the charter would be satisfactory for me personally.
Basically, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is following Denny Hamlin’s footsteps. The veteran driver owns a minority stake in 23XI Racing. Whereas NBA legend Micahel Jordan owns a majority stake. So Junior just needs to get his own MJ for this thing to work. And he believes he can since he and Kelly have so much to offer with JRM. Snd their success in the Xfinity Series (4 championships).
“I believe that I’m also bringing to the table my sister Kelly and our history of owning and operating this race team Junior Motorsports our success stories not only on the racetrack but in licensing marketing engagement activation I will promise you that any most. Every single partner that we’ve ever had, that has ever left and went somewhere else has come right back and said y’all do it better,” Dale Jr. added.
And who are we kidding…the Earnhardt’s don’t need to market themselves! Especially Dale Earnhardt Jr. The Earnhardt name is already one of the most valued names in NASCAR. So getting majority owners might not be that big of a problem. However, there are other problems that might stand in their way.
Obstacles in JRM’s Cup future
Junior and Kelly have very specific things in mind when it comes to getting a partner for JRM. Junior further in the conversation said, “So now the person that comes in here can’t just be anybody you don’t partner with just somebody because they’ve got the money you got to feel good about that person this is going to be a marriage right you need to make sure that person is somebody you can absolutely compromise.” Which is true. Not going with the cliche: ‘Teamwork makes the dream work,’ but good coordination is needed to run any Cup team.
Look at Hamlin and Jordan: old buddies turned NASCAR co-owners. Their old bond kind of helped 23XI Racing. Just in their 4th year, they already have a regular season championship (Tyler Reddick). And also made it to the final 4 last season with Reddick. So the co-ordination between owners is crucial. And it’s not like Jr and Kelly haven’t had offers on the table…it was this reason why they opted out.
“There have been people that have wanted to invest that have we have sat down and talked about the money and that had the money but it just wasn’t the right fit for Kelly and myself and we’re not doing we’re not going to do it uh with any risk involved, ” Junior added. So whenever the Earnhardt Duo gets a perfect partner… willing to put the majority of the money, JRM will run a Cup team.
And let’s say all this works out. Something that might still cause problems is the decline in NASCAR’s popularity and the sponsorship exodus. Sponsors aren’t willing to invest in NASCAR anymore. Look at how Hamlin lost his decades-old sponsor, FedEx. These could also be roadblocks for JRM. But let’s how they navigate them and come to the Cup.
Who do you think should pilot JRM’s possible Cup ride? Allgaier or someone else? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
The post Dale Earnhardt Jr. Rejects $40M Price Tag on His NASCAR Dream to Issue Bold Proposal on JRM’s Ownership appeared first on EssentiallySports.
