Dale Earnhardt Jr. 'not nervous' for JR Motorsports first Daytona 500 entry

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is feeling good about JR Motorsports entering the Daytona 500 for the first time. On Dale Jr. Download, Earnhardt and his sister, Kelly Earnhardt Miller, talked about JR Motorsports competing in NASCAR’s biggest race of the year.

“I am not nervous,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said to Kelly Earnhardt Miller. “I almost feel like that we can’t go down. We’re starting at the bottom. There’s zero expectation. We are at the bottom, and the only way we can go is up. I personally hope that this is the start of more opportunities for us to compete at the Cup level.

“Should it be a situation where it’s very challenging, it would only motivate us to continue to go back because that’s how we work. When we don’t entirely succeed a something, we retool and try again. We don’t love to walk away from something without trying to succeed at it.”

Justin Allgaier is driving the No. 40 car for JR Motorsports at the 2025 Daytona 500. The 38-year-old has driven for the team in the Xfinity Series since the 2016 season and won the Xfinity Series title last year. Allgaier has competed in the Daytona 500 twice and finished 27th in 2014 and 37th in 2015.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. shares more on JR Motorsports and Daytona 500

“It’s been really special,” Allgaier told NASCAR.com. “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.”

“We’ve been waiting for the right moment for JR Motorsports,” Earnhardt Jr. said in a press release. “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.”

JR Motorsports opened in 2005 and has won 88 Xfinity Series race victories with four Xfinity Series championships. Dale Jr. and Kelly are owners along with Rick Hendrick and L.W. Miller.