NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr admits Cup Series regret in huge financial reveal

NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr has revealed a Cup Series regret in a damning statement which revealed the true costs of running a NASCAR team.

Earnhardt Jr had a fine NASCAR career during his racing days, competing in 631 Cup Series races over 19 years.

These days, the NASCAR legend is also a team owner at JR Motorsports, who compete full-time in the Xfinity Series.

Earlier this year, JR Motorsports also ran in the Cup Series at the sport's crown jewel event, the Daytona 500, qualifying for the race as an open team and finishing ninth with Justin Allgaier driving the No. 40.

READ MORE: NASCAR champ Ryan Blaney jokes he will 'wreck the s**t' out of Cup Series rival in All-Star Race

Dale Earnhardt Jr issues damning NASCAR statement

It doesn't sound as though JR Motorsports will be competing in a heap more Cup Series races anytime soon, however, with Earnhardt Jr highlighting the sheer cost of entering a Cup race these days, revealing that he regrets not previously buying a charter.

“I have been around long enough to remember that if you and I just woke up one day and said, ‘Man, we’re going to enter a Cup car in any race we want,’ we can go find us a car, find us a driver, get all the parts and go do it, right? Now, there’s a couple hoops," Earnhardt Jr explained on Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour.

"You’ve got to get licensed and got to enter the car, pay the money, the entry fee, all that good stuff. But it was pretty much an understandable challenge.

“Today, to just get out there and compete, you need that $50 million charter, and that charter is going to be $100 million and $150 million and $200 million. It’s going to go to the moon over the next several years.

"It was a good time to buy it 10 years ago. I regret that I didn’t. But it’s become this place where only people with that kind of money can play.”

Continuing further, Earnhardt Jr explained that the NASCAR world he used to know no longer exists, admitting that it is hard for him to stomach that he is unable to go and run an open car each week.

"The NASCAR that I knew, in terms of just being able to field the car and go race, doesn’t exist anymore," the two-time Daytona 500 winner continued. "That’s hard for me to just believe, that for me to go run an open car isn’t realistic. It’s not realistic for anybody to do it every single week.

"But while that is tough for me to stomach, it is incredibly great for the current people that are involved in the sport.

"Great for NASCAR, great for the France family, great for the owners and teams that have those charters that are appreciating year after year, hour after hour.

“They’re just going up. But for somebody who’s trying to get in? You can’t play unless you've got a big entity behind you. Somebody with real cash.”

READ MORE: NASCAR legend Kyle Busch makes family announcement as new deal revealed

Related

NASCAR

NASCAR confirm veteran driver OUT of Richmond race

• August 14, 2025 15:00

NASCAR Today

NASCAR Today: Michael Jordan wins BIG in court as team confirms driver release

• August 14, 2025 14:30