Jeffrey Earnhardt starts over with StarCom Racing at Daytona

By Nick Tylwalk | Feb 15, 2018

DAYTONA BEACH, FL - FEBRUARY 14: Jeffrey Earnhardt, driver of the #00 VRX Simulators Chevrolet, talks to the media during the Daytona 500 Media Day at Daytona International Speedway on February 14, 2018 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images) /

The last Earnhardt in NASCAR knows he has his work cut out for him, but he’s embracing the challenge just as he always has.

This much is absolutely certain for Jeffrey Earnhardt: Nothing was given to him.

Despite bearing the name of stock car racing royalty, the 28-year-old grandson of Dale Earnhardt and nephew of Dale Earnhardt Jr. has had to claw his way up the ranks to get to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. And just when it looked like he might get a little more comfortable being there, he had the rug pulled out from under him at the most inopportune time.

That cruel twist of fate came in December, a.k.a. the middle of the NASCAR offseason, when the two entities that came together to form Earnhardt’s last team, Circle Sport and The Motorsports Group, went their separate ways. Instead of resting up before the build to Daytona, Earnhardt was suddenly scrambling to find himself a ride.

Fortunately, that part of Earnhardt’s story reached a happy ending pretty quickly. He latched on with a new team, StarCom Racing, ensuring that he would participate in the Daytona 500 and the Cup Series in general. As Earnhardt told FanSided from Daytona media day, the team and driver finding each other at just the right time removed his biggest worry for 2018.

“I’m definitely feeling a lot better now that we’re here,” Earnhardt said. “It’s stressful not knowing if you’re going to have a deal for the upcoming season, and not having anything in place was a pretty stressful moment. Not the most ideal way to spend the offseason, but it all worked out, and fortunately enough, StarCom Racing was looking for a driver and called me up and told me what they had going on, and away we went from there.”

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Now that the racing is about to start, though, there’s a new set of hurdles to overcome. While other teams are grappling with NASCAR’s new ride height rules and the intricate choreography of five-man pit stops, Earnhardt and StarCom are starting from scratch at the biggest race of the year.

“It’s definitely tough going to a new team.,” Earnhardt said. “New crew chief, new spotter, new everything. It’s a whole relearning process, but the guys that they hired are pretty cool dudes, and it should be a fun experience, just a slight setback that you’d rather not have to do.”

That relearning process begins in Thursday night’s Can-Am Duel, where Earnhardt will start 18th in the first race in his No. 00 StarCom Racing Chevrolet. Since only 40 cars are entered and StarCom has a charter (leased from Richard Childress Racing once it folded its No. 27 team for this season), there isn’t the usual worry for small teams of having to race into the Daytona 500.

But because they’re doing it without a safety net, so to speak, the Duel could still be a white-knuckle experience.

“The Duel will definitely be one of the most exciting/nerve-wracking moments of our weekend,” Earnhardt said. “We don’t have a backup car ready to go, and we’ve got to take care of our car in the Duel to make sure that it’s in one piece to go on Sunday. We want to race smart, but you also want to get an idea of what your car’s going to do in the draft, how it’s going to handle, how it’s going to feel, so that way you’re prepared come Sunday.”

As for what he can expect once the Great American Race gets underway, Earnhardt has only one previous Daytona 500 start, which came last season when he finished 26th. He says he has some idea of other drivers he can work with in the draft, but he also admits that they might not realize it’s him in the 00 right away, as it’s “kind of like rebranding yourself all over again” with a new team.

On the other hand, Earnhardt also knows the history of the Daytona 500, which saw a single-car team with an unheralded driver claim victory earlier this decade (when Trevor Bayne took the checkered flag in 2011). Calling the uncertainties of restrictor plate racing an “equalizer,” he sounds confident when he says that there’s as much of a chance of coming out of nowhere to win at Daytona as there is anywhere on the NASCAR Cup Series circuit.

And if a big wreck happens and takes out half the field, as it did last fall at Talladega, Earnhardt also wouldn’t be 100 percent opposed to taking his shot at an unlikely victory with less competition in the mix.

“I know how much it costs and how much work goes into these cars, so I never like to see people tear them up, but it definitely makes it easier when you only have to go out there and outrun 16 cars instead of all 40,” he said. “I’m not saying I hope they wreck out, but if they do, it definitely makes my job a little bit easier.”

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No one expects Earnhardt to be battling for the win on Sunday, as it would require a serious reversal of fortune to go along with his hard work. Considering what he’s gone through over the last few months, he’d probably be happy just to keep the fenders on his Chevy, make all the laps and turn in a better Daytona 500 finish than he did in 2017.

Still, while he hasn’t traded on his name to get his new beginning, he is an Earnhardt — the only one still racing at the top level of stock car racing. JR Nation is huge, and all of its members need someone new to support.

If the stars align correctly again and the 00 is running competitively at the end of the Daytona 500, maybe some of them will be on their feet.

“I like to think so,” Earnhardt said. “I definitely hope to gain more fans, and hopefully the Dale Jr. fans come over and support me, because we all know he’s got the best following there is. Hopefully the Earnhardt fans stay true to the name and continue to follow it, and hopefully, I can give them something to cheer for.”