Dale Earnhardt Jr. speaks about progress in acquiring 2024 Cup charter for JR Motorsports

Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s JR Motorsports has dominated the Xfinity Series over recent seasons, gaining a huge following in the process.

Naturally, the conversation has been about when Earnhardt Jr. would take his race team to the Cup Series, if he’ll ever do it. Well, the former Hendrick Motorsports wheelman joined SiriusXM NASCAR Radio to give some thoughts on the matter.

Evidently, Earnhardt Jr. is interested in the possibility, but he has his reasons for not doing so just yet.

💰 "We're interested in that, but it has to make sense." – @DaleJr

While he, @EarnhardtKelley & @JRMotorsports want to go Cup racing, Jr. says there has been "zero movement" in acquiring a charter for '24.

More from his #TMDNASCAR visit on the SXM App → https://t.co/qesEcbI9Hq pic.twitter.com/mH2tmpu2x0

— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) July 12, 2023

“There’s zero movement on our end,” explained Earnhardt. “You know, me and my sister Kelly, LW and everybody at JR Motorsports, are always looking forward for an opportunity to get into the Cup Series. We’re interested in that, but it has to make sense.

“I think beyond just trying to get into the Cup Series, I think about my own family, my kids, their future and what I need to do. What’s smart for me, personally, financially, to make sure that long after I’m gone, everything is in good order. For me personally to take such a large risk financially, I feel like I’m being a bit selfish, so you know, I would be looking — me and Kelly I think would be more interested in a partnership of some kind, to get ourselves to that level. And there’s opportunities there, but they haven’t felt just right.”

Continuing, Earnhardt Jr. explained that there are certain boxes that need to be checked if he’s going to take JR Motorsports to the Cup Series, and they simply haven’t at the moment, so he’s not planning on forcing it.

“Another key component for me and for JR Motorsports is that we want to manage the team,” added the NASCAR Hall of Famer. “We don’t want to slap our name on a current product, or a current organization, and they have their own shop and all that, we don’t want to do that. We want to run the team, out of our building and make the decisions on personnel, and all those things. So finding all of those, checking all of those boxes is hard.

“All of the opportunities that have come our way haven’t checked those boxes, and I don’t think we’re willing to do, I don’t think we’re willing to compromise just to be there. That’s not a reason to do it.”

When Dale Earnhardt Jr. does in fact take JR Motorsports to the Cup Series, they’ll instantly compete with his former team in Hendrick Motorsports for the most popular team in the sport.

However, his reasoning for not doing so just yet makes sense, but that won’t stop fans from wishing it comes to fruition sooner rather than later.