JR Motorsports announced Wednesday that reigning Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier will attempt next month’s Daytona 500 piloting the No. 40 Chevrolet in partnership with 10-time Grammy Award-winning artist Chris Stapleton.

This marks the first time JR Motorsports has entered a car in a Cup race and it comes at the event Dale Earnhardt Jr. won twice as a driver.

Dale Earnhardt Sr. is survived by his wife Teresa Earnhardt and four children: Kerry Earnhardt, Kelley Earnhardt Miller, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Taylor Nicole Earnhardt. The 2025 Daytona 500 will take place at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 16 at the Daytona International Speedway.

JR Motorsports has recently shared its lineup of crew chiefs for the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series. JR Motorsports has a remarkable legacy in the racing world. It was established by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kelley Earnhardt Miller, and Rick Hendrick in 2002, and has since been an iconic presence in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

For the first time in JR Motorsports history, the team co-owned by two-time Daytona 500 winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his sister Kelley Earnhardt Miller will field an entry in the Daytona 500 with NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier as the driver.

JR Motorsports has run in the second-tier Xfinity Series since 2006, but a Daytona 500 attempt with Justin Allgaier marks the team's first-ever Cup Series entry.

The 67th Daytona 500 is scheduled for Feb. 16. It will be Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Cup Series debut as a team owner. He's a two-time Daytona 500 winner.

JR Motorsports will field a No.40 Traveller Whiskey Chevrolet at the Daytona 500 after partnering with Buffalo Trace Distillery and musician Christ Stapleton.

It was always going to be Justin Allgaier. The post Why Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dropped a List of Potential Daytona 500 Winners for His Unexpected Cup Venture appeared first on EssentiallySports.