![JR Motorsports To Attempt The Daytona 500 With Justin Allgaier, Sponsored By Chris Stapleton’s Traveller Whiskey]()
![Chris Stapleton Dale Jr. sports culture]()
NASCAR and country music: name a better combination... I'll wait (but you probably can't find one).
This afternoon, it was announced that JR Motorsports, which is co-owned by
Dale Earnhardt Jr., his sister Kelley Earnhardt Miller, and Cup team owner Rick Hendrick, is attempting to make its debut in the NASCAR Cup Series.
The team will field an entry in the 2025 Daytona 500 with Justin Allgaier as the driver, and he will drive the No. 40 car for Chris Stapleton's Traveller Whiskey brand (to correspond with the blend No. 40 in the product), with Greg Ives as the crew chief.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DE3EgYHvYdn/
Allgaier has been full-time with JR Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series since 2016, and he's also the reigning 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion who must make the field on speed or through the duels, as the organization doesn't have a charter.
According to an interview Dale Jr. did with
FOX Sports reporter Bob Pockrass, he says having his team compete at this level is something he's always wanted to do. When Chris and his team came to them with the idea, it was an obvious "yes":
"I don’t want to do it any more than I want to do it now. I’ve always wanted to do it. I don’t know that we ever had a plan that we were going to enter the 2025 Daytona 500. Chris and his team came to us with an idea, and this is the way stuff kind of comes together sometimes."
He also added that they have no further "conversation or plan" beyond this particular race to continue competing in the Cup Series:
"There’s no conversation or plan beyond the Daytona race, but as we always have been, we have been open to opportunity and possibility. It’s got to make sense."
Chris Stapleton told FOX Sports that he talked to Rick Hendrick
"I always thought it would be cool that, if I did have something like a whiskey, we could have it on a car. Mr. H. called me and said, ‘Dale Jr. is thinking about building a car for the Daytona 500. Would that have been interesting to you?’"
There are expected to be at least eight cars vying for the four open spots in terms of Allgaier's chances at making the race, and Jr. says they see it as a "continuation" of the celebration of his recent championship win:
"Justin winning the championship, this is a bit of a continuation of that celebration."
It's also expected that Martin Truex Jr. and Jimmie Johnson will enter into the 2025 Daytona 500, so it will certainly be a challenge for Allgaier and the Jr. Motorsports team to make it through qualifying, but I know fans will be excited to see this car on the track either way, because it's been speculated for xuite some tine that they would eventually try to field a car at the sports top level.
Plus, seeing Stapleton be a part of it makes it extra special, and I just know that car design is going to look bada** too...
