Will Dale Earnhardt Jr. Buy A NASCAR Cup Series Team? He Finally Answers The $40 Million Question
Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s first outing running a NASCAR Cup Series car could hardly have gone better.
JR Motorsports’ reigning Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier qualified for the race through the Daytona Duels and finished the chaotic event in ninth place.
It was a one-off open entry in a car entered through a collaboration with Hendrick Motorsports and there currently aren’t any plans to run another race this year. But there could be another and plenty more, if the price is right.
Earnhardt said during his podcast on Tuesday that if the car’s sponsor Traveller Whiskey or another sponsor came along and wanted to pony up for another race this year, it’d be easy as writing the check, but starting a full-time Cup Series team with a charter would take more than that.
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“What’s a charter going for?” he asked his co-host. “$40 million,” was the answer. “$40 million? Damn, that’s a lot, I was hoping that a charter would cost me twenty-five,” Earnhardt said.
“I’m not going to give you $40 million for that charter. I’m not doing that, that’s not something I’m interested in doing. That’s my prerogative. Now I would invest five or ten in the right situation.”
Earnhardt said he’d need to work with an investor or investors who would cover the rest, but not just anyone.
“You don’t partner with somebody because they’ve got the money,” he explained. “You’ve gotta feel good about that person. This is going to be a marriage. Right? You need to make sure that that person is somebody you can absolutely compromise, make decisions, communicate with for a long 10, 20-year process.”
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Earnhardt said he would’t risk the harmony of JR Motorsports otherwise, but does see a very big payoff at the end of the road because he doesn’t think it’s far-fetched that NASCAR charters will be worth $200 million or more someday, after growing from zero to $40 million since 2016.
Earnhardt revealed that he’s already had plenty of offers from investors, but the right opportunity hasn’t presented itself yet.
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