"You just never know" - $300M-worth Dale Earnhardt Jr. teases JR Motorsports' possible Cup future amid rising interest

JR Motorsports co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. hinted at a potential move to the Cup Series amid growing interest from private equity firms and sports funds. Dale Jr. is open to collaborating with the right partner to make a jump to the premier series as a team owner.

JR Motorsports, co-owned by Earnhardt Jr., Kelley Earnhardt-Miller, and Rick Hendrick, is a championship-winning team at the Xfinity level. The siblings have previously shown interest in owning a Cup Series charter, with Dale Jr. expressing regret over missing the boat when charter prices were in the single-digit millions.

During his recent Xfinity appearance at Bristol Motor Speedway, Earnhardt Jr., worth $300 million (as per Celebrity Net Worth), reiterated his interest in owning a Cup Series charter. He mentioned that their stance hasn't changed over the years, implying they remain open to discussions with potential partners about entering the Cup Series as team owners.

The 49-year-old NASCAR Hall of Famer mentioned that the increasing interest from private equity firms along with the new charter deal has created some movement and that they hope to capitalize on the right deal. He said (via Kenny Wallace's YouTube channel):

"The door's about where it's been for the last handful of years. You just never know when the phone rings, what's going to be on the other end of the call, these days especially. There's a ton of interest that's coming into the sport, with the new agreement that'll turn up a bunch of potential partners that have been kind of looking at the sport and waiting on that agreement to happen to see really where the dollars net out." [0:18 onwards]

"We may be able to latch on to some of that momentum and some of those happenings, [or] we may not... Yeah, we're just kind of hanging out. If it doesn't happen, I don't know that it will be a massive regret of mine. We race, me and Kelley talk about it all the time, we race, we are born into this, this is who we are," Earnhardt Jr. added.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. insists JR Motorsports will continue to have a presence in NASCAR regardless of whether they manage to secure a charter.

---

Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s sister sheds light on charter interest

Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s sister Kelley Earnhardt-Miller is the driving force behind JR Motorsports, having worked tirelessly to build the championship-winning NASCAR Xfinity Series outfit.

In a recent conversation with Kenny Wallace, Dale Jr.'s sister discussed JRM's interest in owning a Cup charter. She revealed that while they have had talks with investors, the right opportunity has not presented itself yet.

Kelley Earnhardt-Miller also emphasized their desire to maintain control over the team's operations as they wish to be the architects of their success.

"That would be easy, we have talked to investors, we could get the money. Like I say, it's not about that, we could get the money all day long. We are the kind of people that want to be responsible for our own success. We have skin in the game." [at 1:21:42]

Kelley Earnhardt also mentioned that their commitment to running a Cup Series team will affect their decision. She added that devoting the next decade to building a successful Cup team takes a lot of effort and time.