JR Motorsports' Kelley Earnhardt Miller: 'We do want to go Cup racing'

It’s really more of a “when” than an “if.”

JR Motorsports co-owner and vice president Kelley Earnhardt Miller, in a call Tuesday with Sirius XM NASCAR Radio, all but confirmed a JRM entry in the NASCAR Cup Series at some point.

“We’re thinking about it every day, we’re working on it it feels like every other day. We do want to go Cup racing. We believe that that’s a good spot for us,” said Earnhardt Miller, the sister of NASCAR Hall of Famer and JRM co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. “We want to stay in the Xfinity Series, too, so you know, what that looks like is certainly up for grabs.”

The timing here is interesting. Over the weekend at Nashville Superspeedway, No. 8 JRM driver Josh Berry indicated he has “a set goal of racing in a Cup car one day.” The veteran has proven to be a contender this year in the Xfinity Series and could potentially be a steady candidate to pilot a ride as the team gets its feet wet at the premier series level.

MORE: Josh Berry expresses interest in Cup Series future | 2023 Silly Season roundup

Earnhardt Miller didn’t provide a concrete timeline for when this could happen, and there are, of course, some hurdles to overcome before it becomes a reality. Still, the intention is fully there.

“The biggest barrier is that charter cost and just looking at the business model and trying to figure out sponsorship and trying to really make that leap,” she said. “I think right now, we saw it last fall where there was a high demand for charters and a lot of conversations went on and purchases went on. I don’t think there’s a lot of charters up for grabs at a reasonable cost right now, I’ll just say.

” … It’s like, when’s the right time to strike? That’s just really what we’re trying to work through and figure out. Right now, we’re focused on re-signing our guys for Xfinity for next year and re-signing our sponsors and then if we have the opportunity to do some Cup racing and kind of put our toe in the water and see. I don’t think we’ll be Cup racing full-time for 2023, that’s for certain. Unless something amazing happens and something really awesome falls out of the sky, but right now our sights are set beyond that and we’re really just trying to figure it out.”

JRM is having a sensational 2022 season in the Xfinity Series, as well. Through 16 races, the team has six wins among Justin Allgaier, Berry and Noah Gragson, including victories in five of the last seven.

Listen to the whole interview here: