NASCAR insider clears doubt on JR Motorsports fielding Cup car despite Rick Hendrick’s ownership 

NASCAR reporter Bob Pockrass explained that JR Motorsports running a Cup Series car would be allowed by the stock car racing association despite Rick Hendrick having an ownership stake in the team. JRM announced recently that it will make its Cup Series debut in 2025.

Pockrass took to X (formerly Twitter) to clear up the confusion regarding Hendrick having two teams on track this year that he owns, the other being Hendrick Motorsports. Replying to a question from a follower asking what has changed between now and a time when teams with the same owner couldn't have two teams on the grid, the journalist wrote:

"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."

JR Motorsports announced earlier this week that it would be running a single car in the Cup Series, which would be driven by NASCAR Xfinity Series 2024 champion Justin Allgaier. He will be driving the #40 Chevrolet, a collaboration between the Dale Earnhardt Jr.-owned team and musician Chris Stapleton sponsored by Traveller Whiskey.

Regarding the team's debut in the top-tier of national stock car racing, Allgaier said (via NASCAR):

“To be at an organization like this and to be able to make a team debut at the Daytona 500, that’s special. Obviously, we have to qualify our way in. We have a lot of work to do. It’s going to be difficult. But there wouldn’t be anybody that I’d rather tackle this opportunity with than [JRM co-owners] Dale [Earnhardt Jr.] and Kelley [Earnhardt Miller] and LW [Miller, JRM director] and everybody at the race shop.”

Allgaier won his first championship title this past season, after he secured two race wins along with 10 top fives and 20 top tens. This was also JR Motorsports' fourth title win, after winning in 2014, 2017, and 2018.

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JR Motorsports co-owner on how the team's Cup Series debut came to be

JR Motorsports owners Dale Earnhardt Jr and sister Kelley Earnhardt Miller celebrate with driver Justin Allgaier after winning the 2024 Xfinity Series championship- Source: Imagn

Kelley Earnhardt Miller, CEO of JR Motorsports and the listed team owner for the #7 Xfinity car that just won the championship, revealed how the team's debut next month came to be.

Speaking about the collaboration between the team and the musician, along with the help of part-owner Rick Hendrick, Earnhardt said (via NASCAR):

“It was a conversation that Chris and Mr. Hendrick were having, and of course, Mr. Hendrick knows what we’ve talked about over the last several years about wanting to potentially Cup race. So he passed the opportunity over to us and told us to take the reins and see what we could do with it. So we were able to land it and put it together.”

Kelley also discussed the decision to have Allgaier, who has run two full-time Cup Series seasons in 2014 and 2015, to pilot the team's first entry:

“There’s nobody like Justin who knows our organization, who knows our needs, who can meet those needs and really deliver for this partner all year long”

JR Motorsports' #40 Chevrolet will make it's debut at the Daytona 500 at the Daytona International Speedway on February 16th.