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Dale Earnhardt Jr. recently shared his candid thoughts about his Xfinity team's Championship loss to Jesse Love. JR Motorsports co-owner credited the Richard Childress Racing driver for outperforming his three Chevy drivers when it mattered most.Following the Xfinity finale in Phoenix, NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. acknowledged the decisive final stage run by #2 Love. The RCR driver ultimately beat the trio of JRM drivers: dominant season-long runner Connor Zilisch, reigning Champion Justin Allgaier, and Carson Kvapil.In a post-race conversation with Bob Pockrass, Dale Earnhardt Jr. said:"I watched, I saw the #2 [Jesse Love] in practice, and I was like, goodness gracious, man, they came loaded and ready and got to give him credit, man. They dialed him in, wasn't good on the first run. They dialed him in and got him better and better. He was the best when it counted. So that was tough to watch, but our guys worked really hard to do what they did. I'm proud of them. I'm proud of all of our teams for working as hard as they did all year."Furthermore, Dale Jr. also admitted the highs and lows of racing as the 20-year-old Love defeated a powerhouse organization that brought three out of four drivers in the Phoenix finale."I've been in this a long, long time and I know you go to the race track and you're going to be disappointed more often than you'll be happy and even, you know, so you kind of got to know what you signed it up for and knew coming in here. This is a possibility of the results. So certainly I had to work hard to try to be in a better position next year."After an eventful 2025 NASCAR Xfinity season, Dale Jr.-owned JRM will have a big shake-up. His star driver, Zilisch, is set to jump to the Cup Series next year with Trackhouse Racing, running a full-time schedule. Meanwhile, Allgaier will lose his crew chief, Jim Pohlman, to Kyle Busch in NASCAR's premier division."I wanted him to stay": Dale Earnhardt Jr. reflects on losing JRM's big asset in 2026 NASCAR seasonJustin Allgaier's crew chief, Jim Pohlman, will make a switch to the NASCAR Cup Series. He will lead Kyle Busch's No. 8 team under the Richard Childress Racing banner. Following the news, team co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. weighed in with his honest thoughts on losing the championship-winning crew chief.In an episode of Dale Jr. Download, he said:"It is hard to replace a guy like Jim. I told Jim I wanted him to stay, but I knew that he had this opportunity and that it was great for him to go and hear it out, right?""Um, he's worked at RCR before, so he knows that environment. He would know himself whether that's a comfortable environment for him. He's been there. And, uh, you know, he made the choice to go, and I love it. I think, you know, it's tough to replace him."As things stand for the 2026 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s JRM will continue to field Justin Allgaier, Sammy Smith, and Carson Kvapil. Moreover, the Chevy roster will be joined by Truck Series driver Rajah Caruth in select races.
