NASCAR: Dale Jr. reveals possible JR Motorsports Cup driver

Dale Jr. revealed who he wants to see join JR Motorsports if and when they begin competing full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series.

JR Motorsports are in their 18th season competing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and over the last few years, there have been rumblings that they may be looking to make the jump up to the Cup Series sooner rather than later. Those discussions are back in full swing following recent comments from team co-owners Kelley Earnhardt Miller and Dale Jr.

Earnhardt Miller indicated that the organization is not targeting the 2023 season to make their full-time debut at NASCAR’s top level.

She noted that the charter system, specifically the financial aspect of securing one of the sport’s 36 charters, is the main obstacle preventing the team from making that commitment. Dale Jr. has said the same thing on multiple occasions.

However, she also admitted that the team’s “sights are set beyond that”.

A part-time effort for JR Motorsports has not been ruled out for the 2023 Cup Series season. But could they make the move to the series as a full-time team in 2024?

It’s far from a guarantee, but Dale Jr. has an idea of who he wants as his driver if that move is made. Speaking on The Dale Jr. Download at Nashville Superspeedway last weekend, he stated the following.

"“I was hoping that Martin Truex Jr. would want to come over and help us start our Cup team at JR Motorsports. That’s coming full circle, I mean, I helped him get started, so he might as well help us get started!”"

Truex, who has long been a close friend of Dale Jr., just announced last month that he plans to return to Joe Gibbs Racing for a fifth year behind the wheel of the #19 Toyota next year, following months of speculation that he might decide to retire.

However, he admitted that he hasn’t yet thought about 2024, considering the fact that it took him six months just to make the decision not to retire after 2022.

So if everything falls into place and the opportunity presents itself, why not JR Motorsports?

The 42-year-old Mayetta, New Jersey native began his Cup Series career with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (DEI) back in 2004, and he became the full-time driver of the team’s #1 Chevrolet in 2006. He spent the first three seasons of his full-time Cup Series career with the organization, and he earned his first career victory at Dover Motor Speedway in June 2007.

But the connections go beyond that.

Truex is a two-time Busch Series (now Xfinity Series) champion, and he won his two titles in 2004 and 2005 with Chance 2 Motorsports, a former team owned Teresa Earnhardt and Dale Jr.

From 2006 to 2008, while he competed for DEI in the Cup Series, he competed in select races for DEI and JR Motorsports in the Busch/Nationwide Series.

The Earnhardt family gave him his start in NASCAR. Now here we are, nearly two decades later. Could Truex, now an established veteran who owns a Cup Series championship and 31 Cup Series victories, repay the favor and give Dale Jr. his start as a Cup Series team owner?