JR Motorsports Brings Back No. 88 for Expanded Schedule

The No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro is back in action for five additional starts. The NASCAR Xfinity Series team will make the entry available to three members of the Hendrick Motorsports roster.

JRM announced the news on April 26. The team revealed that HendrickCars.com will sponsor the entry for all five races, starting with Chase Elliott at Darlington Raceway on May 7. William Byron will take over the entry at Texas Motor Speedway (May 21) and New Hampshire Motor Speedway (July 16). Kyle Larson will round out the roster at Watkins Glen International (August 20) and Darlington Raceway (September 3).

“The NASCAR platform has been instrumental in helping us build HendrickCars.com into a national brand, and we look forward to continuing that momentum through this expanded effort,” said Greg Gach, president of Charlotte-based Hendrick Automotive Group, in a press release. “We are committed to our racing programs and supporting our Hendrick Motorsports teammates whenever we can, and we know these additional races will benefit our drivers and teams. We’re also excited to work with Dale Jr. on this opportunity. He’s a terrific partner whose dealerships have created tremendous value for our General Motors customers. It’s a win-win for everyone.”

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Alex Bowman, the fourth member of the Hendrick Motorsports lineup, does not have any starts with JRM on his schedule. However, he teased some future announcements by tweeting that he is pumped for his teammates and that “I will get my turn. Stay tuned.”

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HendrickCars.com Has Sponsored One-Off Truck Series Starts

The five Xfinity Series starts will continue the partnership between JRM co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr., minority owner Rick Hendrick, and HendrickCars.com. It also continued the trend of showcasing the HendrickCars.com brand outside of the NASCAR Cup Series.

The automotive brand, which serves as Larson’s anchor partner in the Cup Series, has supported three members of Hendrick Motorsports in one-off Truck Series starts. The company joined Bowman at Circuit of the Americas, Byron at Martinsville Speedway, and Elliott at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Byron achieved the most success for Spire Motorsports and HendrickCars.com. He led 94 of the 200 laps and secured the first Truck Series win in Spire Motorsports history. Bowman nearly achieved this feat a week earlier, but he sustained damage while battling Stewart Friesen and Kyle Busch for position on the track at COTA. He ultimately finished 25th.

Elliott had a relatively quiet evening in the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet. He qualified seventh in the Truck Series race, avoided incidents on the track, and spent the evening running inside the top 10 before finishing seventh overall.

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Both Elliott & Byron Won Championships for JRM

Byron, Elliott, and Larson have all made starts for JRM before moving up to the Cup Series and pursuing wins. Larson made a Truck Series start for the organization at Chicagoland Speedway in 2015. He won the pole before finishing seventh overall in the No. 00.

Elliott spent two full-time seasons (2014-2015) with JRM while achieving a considerable amount of success. He won four races total in the No. 9, captured the championship trophy in 2014, and finished second in the championship standings in 2015. Elliott also took the No. 88 to Victory Lane at Daytona International Speedway in 2016 while running a part-time schedule with JRM.

Byron only has one year of experience in the Xfinity Series. He ran full-time in the No. 9 during the 2017 season, and he reached Victory Lane four times while posting top-10 finishes in 66.7% of his starts. Byron ended the year as the Xfinity Series champion and then he moved up to the Cup Series.

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