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Dale Earnhardt Jr. Makes Big 2025 Daytona 500 Announcement

Originally posted on The Spun | By Chris Rosvoglou | Last updated Jan 15, 2025 4:34 PM ET

On Wednesday afternoon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. finally announced his plans for the Daytona 500. He won't be behind the wheel, but he'll certainly leave his mark in February.

Earnhardt revealed that reigning Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier will represent JR Motorsports in the Daytona 500. His car will be sponsored by country music singer Chris Stapleton's whiskey label, Traveller Whiskey. Of course, Allgaier will have to qualify for the race at Daytona International Speedway. If he does, he'll be the first driver in JR Motorsports history to compete in a Cup Series race.

As you'd imagine, Allgaier is fired up about this opportunity. His crew chief will be none other than Greg Ives.

"This is an incredible honor to be driving JR Motorsports’ inaugural entry into the Cup Series," said Allgaier. "Entering into the Daytona 500 has been a goal of this company for a long time and I know that we are going to have everything we need to go out and contend for the win. This is going to be special for sure."

Should fans expect to see JR Motorsports race full-time in the Cup Series? For now, the answer is no.

"There’s no conversation or plan beyond the Daytona race, but as we always have been, we have been open to opportunity and possibility," Earnhardt said. "It’s got to make sense."

JR Motorsports co-owner Kelley Earnhardt-Miller said they'll use the results from the Daytona 500 to weigh their future in the Cup Series.

"I'm excited because we get to experience it," she said, via Fox Sports. "And then that gives us just one more experience in our bucket that we can look forward to and say, ‘OK, how could we make this happen, again? Or do we want to make this happen in a full-time situation? I've just been kind of riding the wave of the charter stuff for several years, obviously, with the conversations, and I'm just sitting back and waiting to see how things are going to shake out and what the opportunities look like."

Who knows? Maybe we'll see Allgaier run the table on Feb. 16.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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