JR Motorsports will enter a car in the Daytona 500 for Justin Allgaier, marking the first time that the organization has fielded a Cup car in a NASCAR race. The Associated Press first reported the news.
It comes in a race that JR Motorsports owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. twice won as a driver (2004 and 2014).
Allgaier’s car will be sponsored by 10-time Grammy winner Chris Stapleton’s Traveller Whiskey brand. The car will be No. 40. Greg Ives will be the crew chief.
The Xfinity team is owned Earnhardt, sister Kelley Earnhardt Miller and Rick Hendrick. Earnhardt has talked about expanding into the Cup Series but the team has not purchased a charter.
“It’s still sinking in,” Earnhardt said Wednesday of having a car vie for a spot in the Daytona 500. “I did tell Kelley that I wanted to be present for all the moments. ... I want to be involved or at least a witness to everything.
“I’m going to be on pit road when the car is pushed out for qualifying. I’ll be there when it’s going out for practice. I’ll be there when they unload it on Wednesday at the race track. I want to go through tech. I want to see everything.
“I don’t know what’s realistic because there will be some other obligations, but I’m approaching this like it’s a one and only opportunity, a dream come true.”
The Daytona 500 is scheduled for Feb. 16 at Daytona International Speedway. Allgaier, the reigning Xfinity Series champion, will have to qualify for the Daytona 500 since the team does not have a charter.
Kelley Earnhardt Miller said the team had been working since last summer on this effort. Stapleton said he is friends with Hendrick and Hendrick “hooked me up with Dale and this opportunity came up,” Stapleton said. “I was like, ‘well, we’ve got to do that.’”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. said it was natural to have Allgaier drive the car.
“This is also a bit of a continuation, at least for me personally, of celebrating Justin’s (Xfinity) championship, achieving a goal ... that we’ve really been after for a long time,” he said.
Allgaier, who is entering his 10th season with JR Motorsports, recognizes what this entry means to the organization.
“When the opportunity was presented to, obviously, drive the car and be a part of the foray for JR Motorsports in the Cup Series, that’s a big opportunity,” Allgaier said. “I take a lot of pressure on myself in that moment to see this organization on the grand scale of the Cup Series.”
Allgaier has 82 career Cup starts. He ran one Cup race last year, filling in for Kyle Larson in the Coca-Cola 600 while Larson competed in the Indianapolis 500.
JR Motorsports made its debut in 2005 with one Xfinity race. It has run the full Xfinity schedule since 2006, winning series titles with Chase Elliott (2014), William Byron (2017), Tyler Reddick (2018) and Justin Allgaier (2024).
JR Motorsports’ full-time Xfinity teams for 2025 will be Carson Kvapil, Sammy Smith, Connor Zilisch and Allgaier.
