Dale Earnhardt Jr. expresses relief after triumphant win for JRM: "Thank you to anybody that walked through that front door"

After JR Motorsports won its 100th NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, July 26, the team's co-owner, Dale Earnhardt Jr., took a moment to reflect on the road that brought them here. JR Motorsports became the fourth team to reach the 100-win mark in Xfinity Series history.

The victory came courtesy of 19-year-old rookie Connor Zilisch in an exciting showdown at the famed oval. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his JRM co-owner and sister, Kelley Earnhardt Miller, have guided the team from its humble beginnings since the early 2000s.

Earnhardt Jr. thanked his team's employees for helping him achieve the 100th win. He said (via SiriusXM NASCAR Radio):

"The one thing I'd like to do is say, thank you to any employee or anybody that walked through that front door in the history of our business to help us get to this point. There's so many employees, current and past, that are part of the story. So, many drivers, current and past, that are part of these wins and I'm thankful for every one of them and I wish they were all in one room where I could say what I really feel about all of them." (0:39 onwards)

JR Motorsports was formed in 2002, starting as a Late Model operation in Mooresville, North Carolina. It wasn’t until March 1, 2008, that they etched their first Xfinity win with Mark Martin's No. 5 Chevrolet leading 81 laps at Las Vegas. Then came Brad Keselowski's win at Nashville in a U.S. Navy-backed car, Regan Smith's finish at Daytona in 2014, and Chase Elliott clinching the organization's first championship that same season.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kelley Earnhardt Miller after winning the 2024 Xfinity Series championship. Source: Imagn

By 2015, Elliott had delivered JRM its 25th win at Richmond. A year later, Dale Earnhardt Jr. himself led 128 laps at the same track to notch his only win as a JRM driver in the No. 88 car. The 23XI Racing driver, Tyler Reddick, won at Daytona in 2018 and clinched victory and their second title at Homestead that same year.

Justin Allgaier, who has been a cornerstone of the team, marked JRM's 50th win at Richmond in 2020. Noah Gragson, who was present on Saturday, won four consecutive races in 2022. And it was Sam Mayer's home track win at Road America that tallied the 75th.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and JR Motorsports hit the century mark

Connor Zilisch celebrates with Dale Earnhardt Jr. after the Pennzoil 250. Source: Imagn

Connor Zilisch started in the top ten and stayed in the hunt for his fifth win of the 2025 Xfinity Series season on Saturday. The 19-year-old was among the top five in both Stages and showed maturity beyond his years in the closing moments of the race.

With four laps remaining, Zilisch restarted in striking position, aided by a well-timed push from Sam Mayer. That momentum carried him past Taylor Gray on Lap 99 of 100. He never looked back and led 19 laps on the day and crossed the bricks 0.339 seconds ahead of Mayer to give JR Motorsports its 100th victory in the Xfinity Series.

After the race, Dale Earnhardt Jr. lauded Zilisch, saying (via SiriusXM):

"It was a really tough day today. Connor and 88 crew did a great job building a great car to obviously get the win. It's tough to see Justin (Allgaier) go out like he did. He wanted to win that 100th win for us. All our drivers want that. So, the competitor looks at all four cars and wonders, 'okay what can we do to be better' and there's some heartbreak in there but ultimately this is a big deal for our company." (0:11 onwards)

Justin Allgaier led 37 laps only to falter at the end when Kyle Larson sent him into the Turn 1 wall with just over 10 laps to go. He, along with teammate Carson Kvapil, finished outside the top 10, while Sammy Smith ended P7.

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Edited by Sumeet Kavthale