According to Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chris Stapleton spent the bulk of Sunday’s Daytona 500 glued to the action on the famous 2.5-mile racetrack.
“The man Chris Stapleton has not left the pit box today when the race has been green,” Earnhardt Jr. said on Facebook Sunday. “He’s totally into this deal. It’s been fun. He was very involved from day one. Design of car and all.”
In January, Earnhardt Jr.’s company, JR Motorsports, announced it had teamed with Stapleton for the inaugural entry for JRM in the NASCAR Cup Series at the 2025 DAYTONA 500. The award-winning Buffalo Trace Distillery bottles Stapleton’s Traveller Whiskey. JRM and the distillery fielded the No. 40 Traveller Whiskey Chevrolet, inspired by the Blend No. 40 in Traveller. Defending NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion Justin Allgaier drove the Chevrolet to a Top 10 finish despite several multi-car pileups at the end of the race.
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“We’ve been waiting for the right moment for JR Motorsports,” said Earnhardt Jr. in a statement. “With Justin winning the Xfinity Series championship and Chris Stapleton’s undeniable star power, the planets aligned for this perfect opportunity to enter this year’s Daytona 500.”
Traveller Whiskey reflects Stapleton’s 2015 breakthrough album, Traveller.
“Traveller Whiskey joining JR Motorsports for their inaugural entry into the Cup Series at the DAYTONA 500 feels like a very natural partnership,” Stapleton said in a statement. “I’m honored to be a part of this historic moment with Dale and Kelley and excited to see Justin race the No. 40 Traveller Whiskey Chevrolet in Daytona.”
Chris Stapleton Says Partnership “Feels Very Natural”
Stapleton joked with Earnhardt Jr. that he just “obviously wanted to see the car.”
“When I thought about pie-in-the-sky things I want to do to advertise this product we have that I’m real proud of, this was one of those, ‘What if we could do this?’” Stapleton continued.
After the race, Earnhardt Jr. and Allgaier were pleased with their No. 9 finish.
“We showed up for our first race to run in the most elite form of stock car racing,” said Earnhardt Jr. He co-owns JR Motorsports with Kelley Earnhardt Miller and NASCAR Hall of Famer Rick Hendrick. “What kind of expectations can you have in terms of being really competitive in the race? I would say that we’re very happy with a Top-10, really happy that we got to duke it out with them tonight.”
Allgaier said he thought he and the race team “checked all the boxes.”
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“I’m really proud of JR Motorsports and everybody on this team,” he said. “We hit all the markers, had pit stops. We had craziness in picking lines. A lot of uncertainty on my part, just knowing the guys you are around. But all in all, it was a solid night.”
Stapleton didn’t publicly comment on the car’s Daytona 500 performance. However, he is approaching some performances of his own. Stapleton announced a host of stadium gigs with George Strait, Parker McCollum, and Little Big Town earlier this month. The run starts May 10 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Other stops include Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York, Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, and SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
Tickets for the stadium shows go on sale Friday. Visit chrisstapleton.com/tour for more information and sign up for the presale at StapletonFanClub.com.
For more information on Traveller Whiskey, visit www.travellerwhiskey.com.
(Photo by John Salangsang/Shutterstock)
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