JR Motorsports

The JR Motorsports race shop in Mooresville, North Carolina
JR Motorsports began in a shed on the property of Dale Earnhardt, Inc. in 1998 with just one employee, as the marketing division of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s race team. It wasn't until 2002 that Earnhardt Jr. turned the business into a race team when T. J. Majors drove in the street stock division at Concord Speedway in North Carolina. Upon Earnhardt Jr.'s signing with Hendrick Motorsports, the Hendrick and JR Motorsports Nationwide Series teams were merged.

The first win for the team came at Motor Mile Speedway in Radford, Virginia, in 2004. (At the time, Earnhardt Jr. was co-owner of another racing venture, Chance 2 Motorsports.) JR Motorsports in its current form, competing in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, started in 2006 when sponsorship from the United States Navy funded the team. The team originally wanted to open in 2007, but the Navy sponsorship accelerated operations.

Today, the team operates out of a 66,000-square-foot (6,100 m) race shop near Mooresville, North Carolina.

In early 2019, it was announced that JR Motorsports had formed a driver development program with GMS Racing, Drivers Edge Development, to train young drivers. Drivers in the program would race in JR Motorsports' Late Model and NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series teams, as well as GMS Racing's NASCAR K&N Pro Series, ARCA Menards Series, and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series teams. The inaugural class of drivers, which was announced on January 24, 2019, included Noah Gragson, John Hunter Nemechek, Zane Smith, Sheldon Creed, Sam Mayer, and Adam Lemke. Carson Hocevar also joined the program later in 2019. The 2023 season was the last for the program when GMS Racing closed down. The class of drivers in the DED program that year included GMS Truck Series drivers Rajah Caruth and Daniel Dye, as well as JRM late model driver Carson Kvapil.

On April 11, 2021, Earnhardt Jr. hinted that JR Motorsports may move up to the Cup Series, given the proposed savings associated with the debut of the Next Gen car in 2022. The challenges for the team are acquiring a charter and securing sponsorship for a Cup program.

On August 24, 2022, Director of Competition Ryan Pemberton parted ways with JR Motorsports after working with the team since 2012. On September 1, Mike Bumgarner was announced as Pemberton's replacement.

^ Crandall, Kelly. "The Racing Writer's Podcast: Episode 40:Kelly Earnhardt Miller". omny.fm. Archived from the original on September 26, 2018. Retrieved September 26, 2018.

^ "Drivers Edge Development – NASCAR Talk". Retrieved February 18, 2019.

^ Krall, Charles. "Carson Hocevar Joins Drivers Edge Development Program for 2019". ARCA Racing. Retrieved August 1, 2019.

^ "Dale Earnhardt, Jr…Cup Series owner?". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. April 11, 2021. Retrieved April 12, 2021.

^ "JR Motorsports and Director of Competition Ryan Pemberton Part Ways". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. August 24, 2022. Retrieved August 24, 2022.

^ "Mike Bumgarner Named Competition Director at JR Motorsports". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. September 1, 2022. Retrieved September 2, 2022.