JR Motorsports is attempting a NASCAR Cup Series race for the first time.
The team owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr. is entering the 2025 Daytona 500 with Justin Allgaier behind the wheel. Allgaier won the 2024 Xfinity Series title and has driven for JR Motorsports in NASCAR’s No. 2 series since 2016.
The car will be sponsored by musician Chris Stapleton’s whiskey brand.
“We’ve been waiting for the right moment for JR Motorsports,” Junior said in a statement. “With Justin winning the Xfinity Series championship and Chris Stapleton’s undeniable star power, the planets aligned for this perfect opportunity to enter this year’s Daytona 500.”
Allgaier has finished in the top five in the Xfinity Series standings in each of the past six seasons. His title in November was the first of his career.
JR Motorsports has been an Xfinity Series mainstay since launching in 2005. However, the team hasn’t attempted to move up to the top series in NASCAR like many other Xfinity Series teams have done in the past 20 years. Junior retired from full-time NASCAR competition at the end of the 2017 season and has made at least one Xfinity Series start for the team he co-owns with his sister, Kelley Earnhardt-Miller, in every season since.
The team’s Daytona 500 entry officially means there are more than 40 cars attempting to be in the 40-car 2025 Daytona 500 field. The No. 40 car is the 41st confirmed entry with cars expected to be fielded for Martin Truex Jr. and Jimmie Johnson. The No. 66 MBM Motorsports team has said that it is entering the race, but is now in need of a driver.
MBM said Mike Wallace would drive its car, but inexplicably made the announcement before Wallace was officially approved by NASCAR. On Monday, the team announced that Wallace hadn’t been approved by NASCAR. Wallace, 65, hasn’t competed in a national series NASCAR race on an oval since 2015.
Helio Castroneves is one of the drivers entered in the race and is guaranteed a spot, thanks to a new provisional recently announced by NASCAR. If Castroneves doesn’t qualify for the 500 on speed through qualifying or through the Duel qualifying race, he’ll be added to the field as a 41st car.