For the first time in its existence, JR Motorsports—a team that has spent years dominating NASCAR’s lower ranks—finally took the plunge into the big leagues. And where did they choose to make their debut? Oh, just the biggest, baddest, most chaotic race on the calendar: The Daytona 500.
Justin Allgaier, tasked with piloting the No. 40 Traveller Whiskey Chevrolet, not only survived the madness but brought home a ninth-place finish, delivering team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. a rather solid result in his team’s Cup Series debut. And let’s be clear—this wasn’t some fluke, some backmarker lucking into a decent finish by avoiding the carnage. Well, actually, he did avoid the carnage, but that’s part of the skill at Daytona.
Allgaier, a driver who has spent years proving he belongs at NASCAR’s top table but rarely getting the invite, put in a smart and measured drive. His previous best result in The Great American Race? 27th. Best Daytona finish? 18th. So, yes, this was an improvement.
He started 19th, settled into the mid-pack, dodged the flying debris of Daytona’s signature “Big Ones,” and kept himself in the mix. Then, on the final restart—when half the field decided they preferred their cars in tiny, scattered pieces—he tiptoed through the chaos and crossed the line in ninth.
“I think we checked all the boxes,” said Allgaier, clearly satisfied with the team’s debut. “I’m really proud of JR Motorsports and everybody on this team. We hit all the markers. We had DVP (damaged vehicle policy). We had pit stops. We had craziness in picking lines. A lot of uncertainty on my part, just knowing the guys you are around. But all in all, it was a solid night.
“Missing the crash there at the end was cool,” he added, almost as an afterthought, as if avoiding multi-million-dollar wrecks at nearly
200 mph is just a casual part of his day. “I assumed the caution was out and I didn’t know we were racing back to the line. That was cool to race back to the line and get a top-10 finish.”
Then, in true Allgaier fashion, he rattled off a list of thank-yous longer than a grocery receipt: Traveller Whiskey, Dale Jr., Kelley Earnhardt Miller, Team Chevy, Hendrick Engines—you name it.
And what did Dale Jr. himself think of this whole operation? Well, considering JR Motorsports had never entered a Cup race before, he wasn’t exactly expecting to waltz in and start bullying the big boys.
“We showed up for our first race, to run in the most elite form of stock car racing, what kind of expectations can you have in terms of being really competitive in the race?” Earnhardt Jr. mused. “I would say that we’re very happy with a top-10, really happy that we got to duke it out with them tonight.
“If you told me we were going to finish 10th two months ago, I would have been really thrilled with the result. Everything about the experience was good, even the challenges we faced.”
A two-time Daytona 500 winner himself, Dale Jr. knows exactly how much effort goes into making a Cup team function, and he gave due credit to crew chief Greg Ives for getting the whole thing off the ground.
“I hope at least Greg (Ives) enjoyed it,” Earnhardt Jr. added, acknowledging the man who had to organize the entire effort while Dale Jr. presumably paced around muttering ‘Please don’t crash, please don’t crash.’ “He was the one who had to manage all the people and get everything going in the right direction. I didn’t understand how detailed that job was until I watched him go through that whole process, so I was very thankful for him as the leader of the team. Everyone who had a role did them well and we executed from the moment they started putting the car together until we got to the end of the race. I’m happy, and we’ll see what comes next.”
So, what does come next for JR Motorsports in the Cup Series? A one-off experiment? The start of something bigger? Who knows. But if their Daytona 500 debut proved anything, it’s that they belong. And if they decide to go full-time? Well, the Cup Series just got a little more interesting.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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