Few race teams in NASCAR have as noble a vision as JR Motorsports. Founded by Dale Earnhardt Jr. soon after his father’s tragedy in 2001, the team has honed remarkable talents over the years. But its specialty is roping in little-known, upcoming drivers and offering them an opportunity to race with heavyweights. And Dale Jr’s sister, Kelley Earnhardt Miller, oversees it all.

Having been a Late Model racer herself, she intricately knows the challenges of cracking the upper leagues of racing. Miller’s vision continues to inspire more drivers to approach JR Motorsports, especially because of the brilliant racers the team has already pushed to glory.

JR Motorsports is a springboard for racing success

Dale Earnhardt Jr carved out his own patch in the world of motorsports. He clinched 26 Cup victories and a championship title. However, he was more famous for his philanthropic duties. The 15-time Most Popular Driver calls underdogs and people behind the scenes of the NASCAR industry to his podcast and gives them a voice. His sister Kelley Earnhardt Miller enjoys a similar reputation while managing JR Motorsports.

She extends a helping hand to rising racers who do not have familiar or political connections in the sport. In an interview with Kyle Petty, Miller recently talked about her and Dale Jr’s awareness of the advantage they have in the sport, and how they use it. “That’s the way Dale and I have always looked at ourselves like we always had our foot in the door. The door was wide open. We were there. We got to go in any room we wanted to go in, and there’s lots of people that don’t.”

Miller then gave an example to explain JR Motorsports’ vision. Josh Berry, currently a Stewart-Haas Racing driver, entered NASCAR via this team and recently acknowledged Dale Jr’s immense support. Miller told his story: “Josh Berry was a 19-year-old banker in iRacing…You know, you meet on iRacing, he comes to drive our Late Model. He had success, but really, him having those eight and ten years under his belt in that car set him up for how well he is able to do now in Xfinity and Cup. That’s why we started Junior Motorsports, to give people that opportunity.”

There is also no particular technique to narrow down on racing talents. Kelley Earnhardt Miller stressed that the natural ability is just visible. “I feel like just watching kids at Millbridge, kids in the Summer Shootout, and people like that…There’s something natural about their ability to get in there and do it.” William Byron‘s case is unique, as he did not adopt a typical racer’s journey. “William ran a year of Legend car racing, got interested in racing on the computer…He told his dad he wanted to go do it, did it, and was good at it. He didn’t have to start at age 5 or 10 or run a bunch of stuff. But everybody’s passed different.”

Yet to notice these budding Victory Lane invaders requires an educated eye. And Kelley Earnhardt Miller has more than that.

Miller resembled her father

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As the CEO of JR Motorsports, Kelley Earnhardt Miller has soared to great heights of success. Since the early 2000s, she has helped the team clinch 58 NASCAR Series victories and three championships (2014, 2017, and 2018). However, while supporting her team and her brother’s dreams, Miller had to forsake her own racetrack ambitions. She joined JR Motorsports as a General Manager in 2001 soon after Dale Earnhardt‘s accident. Miller also left behind a strong potential to become a leading female driver in the sport.

Once an Anheuser-Busch executive talked about how The Intimidator had high aspirations for one of his kids – and that was Kelley Earnhardt Miller. The late racing legend said she had everything – “aggression, mental toughness, a willingness to push the car to its limit — to be a championship driver.” Even Dale Earnhardt Jr admitted to his sister’s fierce racing talents, which were snuffed out by the sexist climate in the 1990s NASCAR. “She could have had a lot of opportunities had it been a different environment and a different culture and a different climate. She was hardheaded and tough and drove hard. She would eventually have polished her abilities to where she would have been a pretty good race car driver at the higher level.”

Sadly, Miller could not pursue her own racing dreams. Yet she persisted in the racing world and went on to become one of the most influential businesspeople in NASCAR. Dale Jr claimed her fierce will even on the business side of the sport: “Nobody pushes her around, especially no male in the boardroom pushes her around.”

Evidently, Kelley Earnhardt Miller knows what it takes to wade through the challenges of NASCAR. And that helps her uphold the vision of JR Motorsports.