Dale Earnhardt Jr. nominates "good little driver" who replaced Kyle Larson as JRM's potential Cup prospect

Dale Earnhardt Jr. recently revealed the name of the driver who he would choose for his Cup Series team. The NASCAR Hall of Famer has proved his mettle in the ownership arena with JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series.

With 93 Xfinity Series wins, and 4 driver championships, JRM is one of the most successful NASCAR enterprises in the modern era. But over the last few months, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been asked when he'll take his team to the Cup level.

It's worth mentioning that earlier this year, in the Daytona 500, JR Motorsports made its Cup debut with Justin Allgaier behind the wheel. The #40 Next Gen Chevy Camaro even went on to finish an impressive 9th place.

Recently during a fan interaction at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was asked whether it is his dream to have a full-time Cup team. Moreover, the fan asked Junior who he'd pick to be the driver for his Cup team.

"Well, Justin did a good job for us in Daytona. I think Justin is a Cup talent, Cup quality driver. So, if we did snap our fingers and and get a cup team tomorrow, I think Justin would be our driver. And he's done a really good job driving the Next Gen car for Chevrolet at test and so forth. And last year when he subbed in for Kyle Larson in the #5, I mean, he drove that car past the leaders to get a lap back, which was really impressive. Good little driver and great friend of the company and so that would be pretty cool," Dale Earnhardt Jr. described. [49:30]

Having said that, he claimed that becoming a Cup owner isn't exactly at the top of the list of things he wants to achieve. Junior pointed towards his CARS Tour ownership, emphasizing how important it is for him.

"The CARS Tour is something very very important to me. So trying to make that as big of a success as we can and figuring out how to make grassroots racing a bluecollar affordable sport again is really a huge challenge," he said.

Earnhardt mentioned that nowadays, it's difficult for people to enter a race at their local racetracks because it is 'just so expensive.' Because of this, he claimed he's trying to be 'a good shepherd' of that industry and help that cause.

That, Dale Earnhardt Jr. claimed, is a big part of what he spends his time on.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a chance to be a NASCAR Cup owner in the past

During a recent conversation with Kevin Harvick on his podcast, Dale Earnhardt Jr. admitted that he had a chance to become a Cup owner in the past. He looked back on the days, the NASCAR he knew, when it was possible to get a car, the licenses, the entry fee and enter a Cup race.

But nowadays, Dale Jr. claimed, it takes $50 million to get a charter to begin with.

"That charter is going to be $100 million and $150 million and 200. 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," he said.

But while he suggested that the expensive charter price, which is only going to rise can be a hindrance for prospective owners, it is a great thing for NASCAR and the existing owners.