Did somebody let the cat out of the bag early?
Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s NASCAR team, JR Motorsports, has dominated in the sport’s lower series (previously known as the Xfinity Series which will be known next year as the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series).
The team has been around since 2005, and has turned into one of, if not THE, top teams in the Xfinity Series. They’ve won four championships and 108 races in the series, leading many to naturally wonder whether there were plans for JRM to expand to the Cup Series at some point. And Junior hasn’t been shy about expressing his desire to someday be a Cup Series team owner, but said earlier this year that it didn’t make financial sense for the team given the cost of the Cup Series charters:
“What would need to happen is, an investor, somebody who wants to partner … The rest of the money has to come from somewhere else, and that has to come from somebody who wants to invest in the idea that that $40 million charter is going to be $100 or 150, 200, $250 million down the road … That’s why, if it happens it happens, is kinda the way you got to feel about it.”
JR Motorsports has run one race in the Cup Series though. Last year, the team partnered with Chris Stapleton’s Traveller whiskey to enter a car in the Daytona 500, sponsored by the country star’s whiskey brand and driven by JR Motorsports Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier.
Junior was emotional when his car raced its way into a race despite not being guaranteed a starting spot, and Allgaier had a respectable run in the Great American Race, finishing 9th after starting 19th. (For comparison, that’s one more top 10 than two full-time drivers had in 36 races in 2025).
Oh, and the car looked sharp as hell too.
After the race, Junior expressed interest in running more races with Traveller if they were interested, though there hasn’t been an official announcement on whether JR Motorsports would again attempt to make the Daytona 500 in 2026. But it seems like their plans may have accidentally leaked early…
An email sent out this afternoon from JRM appears to confirm that the team will once again be partnering with Traveller whiskey to enter a car for Justin Allgaier in the 2026 Daytona 500.
There was also a link to their shop page, which has since been deleted.
Allgaier has been full-time with JR Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series since 2016, and is the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion, but he would once again be forced to race his way into the Daytona 500 since the car would be competing as an open car (versus being guaranteed a starting spot with a charter).
It’s not clear how the information got leaked, but it appears that they hadn’t planned on announcing the Daytona 500 entry yet. Personally I’m blaming Andrew Kurland, whose last day at Jr.’s media company Dirty Mo Media was today. Causing some chaos on his way out the door. (I’m kidding, Andrew is a Whiskey Riff reader and a big Eric Church fan so he’s a good dude in my book).
And maybe it’s not officially official yet, but it looks like JR Motorsports will be attempting to make their second career Cup Series start in February.
Personally, I hope they don’t change a thing about the paint scheme. That thing was beautiful.
