2017 was the last time Dale Earnhardt Jr. raced in the NASCAR Cup Series. At 42, many felt he still had a few good years of racing left in him, but the veteran driver wanted to retire on his own terms and not be forced out of racing due to his health concerns. Concussions were one of the major reasons behind Dale Jr.’s retirement call from competitive racing.

However, the JR Motorsports co-owner continued to race in the Xfinity Series and the Late Model Stock car events. This project has been a huge success, and Jr. has set his sights on returning to Cup ownership again. After all, fans have fond memories of Dale Jr. in a leadership role at Dale Earnhardt Inc. And now that he has the ownership rights of the iconic #8 Budweiser car, it might open a door for Jr. to hop back into Cup racing. But the 50-year-old driver has debunked this thought of a dream comeback with a reality check.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. doesn’t fancy his chances against the young talents at Cup level

It’s not a secret that Dale Jr. wishes to join Cup Series racing as a team owner and take his team JRM to the big leagues against the best teams and drivers. However, the current charter system dispute, added by financial constraints, has put his dream project on hold. The only way he sees himself entering the Cup Series is with partners and financial backing.

“We’re always like open to hearing what somebody thinks about partnership with us would look like. But none of them to this point have been that’s it; that’s a perfect match.” Jr. said this on his podcast. So you see, all bets are not off when it comes to JRM’s future to compete in the NASCAR Cup Series. If such a deal would go through, it would see Dale Jr. reinstate his position as team owner and perhaps get back to racing at the highest level.

Die-hard Dale Jr. fans would go bonkers if they got to witness their favorite driver back in the Bud 8 car with JRM in the Cup Series. Well, the host of DLBTV pitched this idea to the man himself, who turned up at Florence Motor Speedway with his iconic race car. “Is the potential of you ever running another Cup race? Is that door still open or has it completely closed?” asked the host, to which the veteran driver responded, “Yeah, I’m never racing in the Cup Series again. Not at this age; I think that’s a young man’s job, and I had my time.”

What Dale Jr. refers to is the changing landscape of not just NASCAR, but a lot of different motorsports. With the growth in the amount of work drivers put in today to prepare for a full season of NASCAR, it takes a massive toll on their bodies. Doing so for multiple years of the end is incredibly difficult, especially if the driver, like Dale Jr., hasn’t been doing so for the last few years. Additionally, teams also favor younger drivers due to multiple factors. They want to look at their long-term future with the team and the prospect of winning titles. This is quite evident by the average age of NASCAR drivers falling to as low as 30.7 in 2021.

While Jr. by no means is out of touch when it comes to racing on the track, his priorities also don’t allow him to entertain the idea of competitive racing anymore. He will be back to his broadcasting role with Amazon Prime and TNT for Cup races in 2025, and not to forget he also had his podcast show to look after. So he’s got his hands full for sure, but the ownership prospect is something that Dale Jr. will keep pursuing.

Could Dale Jr. join forces with Mario Andretti to enter the Cup Series?

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Andretti Global president JF Thormann pitched the idea that the team is looking to expand its racing portfolio with hopes of entering NASCAR and Formula 1. “We are the only ones that compete in the amount of series that we do and the ambition that Mike still has with closing the loop obviously with Formula 1, that’s well documented and hopefully NASCAR.”

Well, Dale Earnhardt Jr. jokingly did pitch the idea of partnering together to form a Cup Series team in case their F1 bid didn’t go through. “If ya’ll wanted to change courses, maybe the Earnhardt’s and the Andretti’s could team up and buy a couple of NASCAR charters, and we can go NASCAR racing,” Jr. said to Mario Andretti on his podcast show. Interestingly, Mario was open to this idea and responded, “Alright, well that’s open too.”

As it turns out, Andretti Global has finally managed to seal their spot in the F1 paddock alongside Cadillac, and something similar could happen with their ambition to expand in NASCAR. It has to be noted that NASCAR hasn’t approved the purchase of two Stewart Haas Racing charters to 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports. Moreover, the two teams that have taken NASCAR to court could lose their charters as well. So there is a possibility that Dale Jr., with the backing of Andretti Global, could enter Cup racing, but again, this is just an educated guess. And a lot of things need to fall in place for this move to go through.