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NASCAR: Dale Earnhardt Jr. says Marco Andretti Xfinity Series appearance is unlikely in 2018

By Asher Fair

FORT WORTH, TX - JUNE 09: Marco Andretti, driver of the #27 Andretti Autosport Honda, sits in his car during practice for the Verizon IndyCar Series Rainguard Water Sealers 600 at Texas Motor Speedway on June 9, 2017 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images)
FORT WORTH, TX - JUNE 09: Marco Andretti, driver of the #27 Andretti Autosport Honda, sits in his car during practice for the Verizon IndyCar Series Rainguard Water Sealers 600 at Texas Motor Speedway on June 9, 2017 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images) /
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Dale Earnhardt Jr. stated that a NASCAR Xfinity Series appearance for Marco Andretti at JR Motorsports is not likely in the 2018 season.

IndyCar driver Marco Andretti recently hinted that he may be interested in driving in a NASCAR Xfinity Series race for JR Motorsports, a team that is co-owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr., his sister Kelley Earnhardt Miller and Rick Hendrick, the team owner of Earnhardt Jr.’s Cup Series team, Hendrick Motorsports.

Andretti, 30, was taking questions from fans on his Twitter account during a long flight from Newark, New Jersey to San Francisco, California when he was asked about potentially driving in the Xfinity Series for JR Motorsports.

Here is what Andretti was asked and how he responded to the question.

Earnhardt Jr., however, said that an appearance for Andretti in the Xfinity Series is not a likelihood, at least not in the 2018 season, since the team’s provisional driver lineup is full, which would make it a challenge for the team to set up an extra for Andretti to drive for a race or two.

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"“We’ve got four teams and they are all full. So it’s probably not got any life, but we are friends and we’ve talked about it for two to three years. He has some interest in coming over and running some road courses and so does [Graham] Rahal and a bunch of other guys.”“If I had a field full of race cars, we would have a blast, all our buddies racing, but it’s just hard to do. We’re really thankful to be in the position we are in to have four full cars racing for a championship. As fun as the all-star idea and car is, and as many races as we won with [Kevin] Harvick, the real goal is to have a team running for the championship.”"

Those four drivers are Elliott Sadler, Justin Allgaier, Michael Annett and Tyler Reddick. However, Earnhardt Jr. did add that the prospects of having Andretti in a JR Motorsports Chevrolet in the Xfinity Series for even just a race would be exciting and great for the sport.

"“If we did have those opportunities, we certainly would entertain it, and I think it would be great for the sport to have an Andretti out there running in stock car. No matter where it is at, it would be awesome.”"

Next: Five most overhyped Cup Series drivers

Andretti, who finished runner-up in the 2006 Indianapolis 500 as a teenager, has started exactly 200 races in IndyCar with two wins to his name. He has not won in any of his last 109 starts, with his most recent win coming back at Iowa Speedway in the 2011 season. That win ended a 77-race win drought for him that dated back to his first career win in his rookie season of 2006 at Sonoma Raceway. Will we see him in the Xfinity Series even for just a race or two within the next few years?

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