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Former NASCAR Cup Series driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. was featured in an interview with Racer.com ahead of the Xfinity Series Championship 4 race. During the interaction, Dale Jr. revealed how he believes in his co-owned team driver, Carson Kvapil, and kept him for the next season.Kvapil competed for the Earnhardts in the CARS Tour Series and then clinched back-to-back titles in the Late Model Stock Division. He then made his debut in the Xfinity Series in 2024 with JR Motorsports. The North Carolina native then landed a full-time seat in the #1 Chevy for the team this season and secured a spot in the Championship Four race at Phoenix.However, the Xfinity Series driver failed to win a single race this season, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. had other money-making opportunities for his team. Despite the #1 Chevy driver's performance this year, Dale Jr. convinced his team to keep Kvapil as a full-time driver. Following that, he told the media house:“We had other opportunities this year to do something else entirely with some pretty cool names and up-and-coming projects that would have been good and brought some money. But I kept telling Kelley (Earnhardt Miller) and everybody here, ‘My priority is Carson full-time.’ Yes, this is nice, and this is easier financially, but I’m not giving up on this idea of him running full-time, and here we are.”“We had every intention of Carson being a full-time driver, and we, or me personally, felt like that was what we were going to achieve," he added.Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s co-owned team, JR Motorsports, fields four full-time entries in the 2025 season. Carson Kvapil pilots the #1 Chevy, followed by Justin Allgaier in the #7, Sammy Smith in the #8 car, and NASCAR prodigy Connor Zilisch in the #88 Chevy.“I wanted him to stay”: Dale Earnhardt Jr. got candid about replacing the #7 Chevy's crew chief, Jim PohlmanIn October 2025, Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced Justin Allgaier's crew chief, Jim Pohlman, would switch to the Cup Series with Richard Childress Racing in the next season. During the Dale Jr. Download podcast, the former Xfinity Series champion pointed out how hard it is to replace someone like Pohlman.The JRM crew chief will replace Kyle Busch's current crew chief, Randall Burnett, in the 2026 Cup Series season. Pohlman has worked with the Cup Series team during the 2022 season and handled multiple roles. After his tenure with RCR, the crew chief guided Justin Allgaier to multiple victories and clinched an Xfinity Series championship title in 2024.Reflecting on the same, Dale Earnhardt Jr. stated:"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," he added.Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s co-owned Xfinity Series team has three drivers in the Championship 4 race scheduled for November 1, 2025, at Phoenix Raceway. The season finale race lineup includes JRM drivers Justin Allgaier, Connor Zilisch, and Carson Kvapil, followed by Richard Childress Racing driver Jesse Love.
