Stewart Hart Racing announced that they would shut down their four-car team operation at the end of the season. Since then speculation has been rife over who would purchase their charters. Front Row Motorsports swooped in early to buy one days after the announcement. 23XI’s ambitious co-owner, NBA icon Michael Jordan has been linked with buying one of the two remaining charters. Another high-profile name fans want to see buy a charter and enter the Cup Series is Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Despite the clamor for him to buy one of the charters, Earnhardt Jr. has stayed away from any serious negotiations. While Dale Earnhardt Jr has always shown interest, even publicly, sometimes, things aren’t feasible, even for the Earnhardt family. Amid all the conversations and speculations, his sister Kelley Earnhardt Miller has voiced her distaste over fans coxing the JR Motorsports team to buy charters.

Kelley Earnhardt believes owning a NASCAR charter is a “complex” decision

In a conversation that started with NASCAR journalist Kelly Crandall giving their take on what led to SHR’s collapse, a fan replied that Tony Stewart was to blame. His lack of support, per the fan, will lead to suffering for SHR fans and employees. As a counter-argument, Crandall sarcastically replied, “If you had that figured out, then you should have told the folks at SHR to find someone else to take over, and we could have avoided this.” 

Dale Earnhardt Jr fans are earnest and want to see their favorite in the Cup series. Given how their Xfinity Series team has played a huge role in churning out bright talents, be it Chase Elliott, William Byron, or even Tyler Reddick, fans can only imagine what it would be like for JRM to make the leap into the Cup Series. With SHR’s charters now on the market, they voiced how at least one of them should become JRM’s in the near future. However, Kelley Earnhardt reiterated an aspect of NASCAR that many seem to forget – it’s a business.

The bottom line is that NASCAR isn’t just about owing charters and teams. It’s a sport built around families a lot of the time, and soon enough, those teams start feeling like a family, too. And taking care of everyone becomes a priority. Hinting at this and other aspects of the business, Kelly Earnhardt wrote, “I need the same help from all the folks that seem to have it all figured out on how JRM should own a charter. I said it on my podcast with Jeff Dickerson. This is a complicated business with complex decisions to be made every single day. I feel for all that are involved at SHR.”

SHR’s decision to cease operations came after Kevin Harvick and Aric Almirola retired last year. This led to a lot of Anheuser-Busch, Smithfield, and Hunt Brothers Pizza leaving the team. SHR acquired Noah Gragson and Josh Berry to its lineup which included Chase Briscoe but results have been mixed.

Gene Haas founded Haas CNC Racing in 2002 before Tony Stewart joined as the co-owner and rebranded the team as Stewart-Haas Racing in 2009. During its run, SHR won two Cup titles and 69 Cup race wins that included victories at crown jewel events such as the Daytona 500, Brickyard 400, and Southern 500. However, the team hadn’t been to the victory lane since Kevin Harvick’s finish at Richmond in 2022. In 2023, Harvick was the only driver from the team to qualify for the playoffs compared to four that made the postseason in 2020.

In her podcast with Spire Motorsports owner Jeff Dickerson, Kelley said, “It’s one thing to have an asset like the charter and have a value for your company. The problem I keep stumbling upon when I look at the risks I’m willing to take is the whole [business] model. If you really want to be in the sport for the long haul, the value of the charters is one thing, but does it make the day-to-day operations go around?” 

Coming back to her response to the thread about SHR’s exit. While some may not have liked how blunt Kelley was, many supported her. They understood that running a Cup Series team is not easy, mentally or financially. One user echoed the sentiment from Kelley’s podcast, writing, “I think people forget $30 million is just the cost to get in the door. The cost of the cars, tech, people, logistics? Hundreds of millions and a whole lotta work.”

Another fan added, “Everyone has ‘great ideas’ until it’s their money involved. real fans will cheer yall on for Xfinity endlessly. Go JRM!”

 That said, it’s not like Kelley and Dale Earnhardt Jr aren’t interested in taking that step into the Cup Series. It’s just that there seem to be a lot of gray areas that JRM may not be equipped to handle at the moment.

Dale Earnhardt Jr on buying charters for JRM 

Trending

“He Was Caught Red-Handed”- Fans Insinuate Joe Gibbs & Co. Cheating NASCAR After Bizarre Bristol Find

Trackhouse Racing Star Confesses Playing Games With Joe Gibbs’ Disgruntled Grandson Amid Bittersweet Playoff Squeeze

NASCAR Fans Salute Brad Keselowski’s Debated Choice After Tony Stewart’s Underdog Breaks a 4-Year Duck

Denny Hamlin Remains Conflicted on “Strong Accusations” as He Uncovers Truth Behind Failing to Challenge Kyle Larson

Denny Hamlin Bashes NASCAR For ‘Killing Star Power’ With Brutal Verdict on Parity Obsession

With four charters now available to buy, it seems about time JRM invested. But not everything is so beautiful, folks—when it comes to finances, at least! In an episode of Dale Jr Download, Andrew Kurland mentioned how there’s no charter deal in the Xfinity Series. When asked if that helps him better understand Cup teams’ perspectives, Dale Jr replied, “I’m frustrated that I… I don’t know, it’s tough. I wish I had been smart enough to buy a charter when they were cheaper.”

Charter values have increased from $2 million in 2016 to $40 million in just 7 years. That’s a 2000% increase! Considering this, Junior added, “There’s no way at the current selling price that I personally am gonna go out and buy a charter myself.”

Citing the cost, Earnhardt mentioned on his podcast, “Personally, I would rather do something else with that money for the benefit of my girls,” Dale said. “There’s a lot of investments and opportunities, right? I’m not buying a charter and putting millions of dollars away into something that I can’t then recoup or sell for a profit.”

That said, both Dale Jr and Kelley have openly stated that joining the Cup Series someday isn’t out of the question. In fact, in a 2023 interview with Sirius XM NASCAR Radio, Kelley even said they “think about it every day.”

“We do believe that’s a good sport for us,” she said. Much like what Junior said on his podcast, and Kelley on her podcast explained, “The biggest barrier is the charter costs and the business model, and the sponsorships and trying to really make that leap. I don’t think there are a lot of charters up for grabs at a reasonable cost right now.” 

Additionally, there are other financially strong teams, such as 23XI, co-owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, who are interested in purchasing additional charters. You even have the likes of Legacy Motor Club and Trackhouse Racing. So, can JRM compete with them? Moreover, they are acing it in the Xfinity series. So why would they spoil something they have and delve into the Cup Series?

Fans, at the end of the day, love Junior, and they want him in the Cup Series, but owning a team in the Cup Series isn’t so easy. Do you think JRM should bite the bullet? Let us know what your thoughts are in the comments!

Update: Though Dale Earnhardt Jr. hasn’t gone ahead with a charter purchase, Gene Haas will stay in the Cup Series. He announced he has retained one charter and rebranded the team as Haas Factory in June.