DAYTONA BEACH — Dale Earnhardt Jr., like his father before him, bagged a lot of trophies for winning races at Daytona. But he never seemed to enjoy himself here as much as he did this past February, when he didn’t even turn a lap around the 2.5-mile tri-oval.
And now he’s going to do it again.
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JR Motorsports, the Xfinity Series team co-owned by Junior and his sister Kelly Earnhardt-Miller, will again field a No. 40 Chevrolet for driver Justin Allgaier and attempt to make the 2026 Daytona 500. In another repeat effort, the single-car effort will partner with music star Chris Stapleton, carrying sponsorship support and branding from the crooner’s Traveller Whiskey.
As always, the Daytona 500 will kick off the 2026 regular season. The 68th edition is scheduled for Feb. 15.
Daytona a big deal for Dale Earnhardt Jr.
JR Motorsports has been a longtime fixture, and four-time champion, in NASCAR’s Xfinity Series, which is rebranding this coming year as the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. Allgaier, the 2024 series champ, piloted the team’s Cup Series debut in the 2025 Daytona 500, but only after barely qualifying for The Great American race in the 150-mile Duel three days earlier.
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On that Thursday night, everyone learned just how much it meant to Junior for his team to make the Daytona 500 in its first attempt.
DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 13: NASCAR Hall of Famer and JR Motorsports owner, Dale Earnhardt Jr. celebrates with Justin Allgaier, driver of the #40 Traveller Whiskey Chevrolet for qualifying for the Daytona 500 after the NASCAR Cup Series Duel 1at Daytona International Speedway on February 13, 2025 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
“Man, we got here and we got a taste of it, and holy moly,” Junior said after the Duel. “I didn’t really know exactly how badly I wanted to do this or wanted to be a part of something like this until we started going through it,
“We race. We love to race, and racing is hard, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. This was rough emotionally, but damn it, it’s fun when it works out.”
Three days later, Allgaier finished ninth in the big race.
For the Earnhardts, 51 total wins at Daytona
The Earnhardt name has been a big part of the Daytona story for over 40 years. Dale Sr. won a wide variety of races at Daytona — a record 34 in all — and his long-sought Daytona 500 victory in 1998 is among the greatest Daytona highlights of all time.
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Junior, like everyone else, was no match for his dad’s Daytona record, but it wasn’t without trying. He won two Daytona 500s, along with two of Daytona’s summertime 400-milers. In the Xfinity Series, where he was a two-time series champ, he won six times at Daytona, including four straight between 2002-04.
Junior also won five of the Thursday qualifying races and won twice in the preseason Shootout, now known as the Clash, giving him 17 Daytona wins overall.
As a team owner, JR Motorsports has nine Daytona victories in the Xfinity Series.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Dale Earnhardt Jr. back to NASCAR Daytona 500 as team owner in 2026
