Veteran team owner Rick Hendrick is the owner of NASCAR’s most-winning team, Hendrick Motorsports. However, apart from his successful operation at the Cup level, he is involved with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kelley Earnhardt at the Xfinity level at Junior Motorsports.

For a long time, it was believed that JRM couldn’t enter Cup racing because of Rick Hendrick’s role. But the latest development suggests that JRM is indeed entering Cup Series racing in 2025, as they’ve announced the entry of Justin Allgaier. After 6 years of heartbreak, Allgaier finally secured his first Xfinity championship in his 7th championship four appearance. The #7 will now take on the #40 in the Cup Series at Daytona for JRM.

Does JR Motorsports Have A Cup Car?

JR Motorsports is primarily an Xfinity Series team co-owned by Dale Jr. and his sister Kelley Earnhardt. But they have finally announced their plans to enter Cup racing with driver Justin Allgaier. JRM has partnered with country music star and Grammy winner Chris Stapleton, as Stapleton will sponsor the car with his Traveller Whiskey brand.

“We’ve been waiting for the right moment for JR Motorsports. 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.” Dale Jr. said this in a press release. However, a lot of fans were confused with this welcoming news and started to wonder how JRM was allowed to enter the Cup Series with Rick Hendrick listed as co-owner.

A team owner can field a maximum of four cars in each national series. They were allowed to race in the Xfinity and Trucks series, but four was the limit set by the sanctioning body. Well, it looks like there’s a new process in place that allowed JRM to enter Cup racing despite Rick Hendrick’s ownership stake in the team. FOX reports Bob Pockrass also cleared this doubt online with an update on X.

“Times have changed. I believe NASCAR will allow JRM to enter Cup car even with Hendrick having an ownership piece as investment groups get more involved in sport. Arctos Partners is invested in Fenway Sports Group (that owns a piece of RFK) and Arctos also owns a piece of JGR.” Bob wrote this in reply to a query made by a fan. Moreover, HMS isn’t related to this JRM entry as Greg Ives, Allagier’s crew chief is leading the charge when it comes to assembling the race car.

The Dale Earnhardt Jr.-Hendrick Motorsports Connection

After the bitter split with stepmother Teresa Earnhardt, Dale Jr., and Kelley Earnhardt joined forces with Mr. H. in 2007. It started out as a single-car operation. It would be fair to say that Kelley was the brains behind the operations while Dale Jr. represented the interests of the team on the racetrack. This was something Kelley picked up from her father, Dale Sr., and she has played a vital role in the success JRM has enjoyed over the years.

After leaving DEI, Dale Jr. continued his Cup Series career with Hendrick Motorsports in the #88 car. From 2008 to 2017, Jr. would remain with Mr. H and would go on to add his second Daytona 500 triumph in 2014. However, concussions plagued his progress, and he had to take an early retirement from racing. Since his retirement, Jr. has also been invested in his ownership role at JRM, and they have bagged three championships since he called it quits from competitive racing.

Rick Hendrick tipped his hat to both Jr. and Kelley for their commendable work in scripting a success story in the Xfinity Series. “Listen, you and Dale are family to me. I’ve known you guys since you were puppies. And to be honest with you, you’ve done a lot better job of running an Xfinity team than I was doing. Look at your success, your work ethic… You run the best Xfinity organization in racing.” He said while speaking on Dirty Mo Media.

After scripting a success story in the Xfinity Series, JR Motorsports is now making a huge leap and embarking on a new journey with their Daytona 500 attempt.