Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s JR Motorsports team earned a long-awaited start at last Sunday's Daytona 500, and driver Justin Allgaier did not disappoint. The 38-year-old NASCAR star shepherded the No. 40 Chevy to a ninth-place finish in a field featuring the best drivers in the sport.

Justin Allgaier, who has raced in only seven NASCAR Cup Series events since 2016, is stepping into Cup in the 500. It's a big deal for him, but even more so for his team owner, Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Dale Earnhardt Jr was emotional after Justin Allgaier raced the JR Motorsports car into the Daytona 500 for the first time on Feb. 13. The NASCAR legend tells why.

"Where else do you go and barely make the field and cry tears of joy? Nowhere," Earnhardt said of the fabled speedway and race.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. blinked back tears as the moment socked him at Daytona International Speedway — a track bursting with triumph and tragedy for his family — that he was, with a country star and a NASCAR champ in tow,

Dale Earnhardt Jr. blinked back tears as the moment hit him at Daytona International Speedway. He was back in the Daytona 500.

JR Motorsports is a championship-winning Xfinity Series team owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and sister Kelly. In a first Cup effort, they made the 500.

The final few laps and even the very end of the 2025 Daytona 500 were marred by massive crashes that wiped out several race leaders in the late stages. While most fans have laid the blame at the drivers,

With a famous last name and a resume worthy of it, Dale Earnhardt Jr. pondered if owning a NASCAR Cup Series team was truly his destiny. JR Motorsports, the Xfinity Series team he and Kelley Earnhardt Miller have helmed since 2005,