NASCAR fans have noticed that one familiar part-time face of the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series has missed out on the early part of the season.
Jeffery Earnhardt, a fourth-generation racer and grandson of NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt, has yet to find a ride for 2026, and per a new post to his Facebook, it’s not from a lack of trying.
In this post, a member of Earnhardt’s team said that the 37-year-old wants to bring his partners and talents to a “top team”:
“We’re blessed with wonderful partners and collectively we all agreed that the best path forward is to grow his sponsor base and race for a top team. . . Jeffrey wants to be on track racing for wins and we know what that takes so that is this years mission. He’s absolutely going to be back on track and when he is, we want to see him have a shot at P1.”
While Earnhardt has not yet announced his plans for the future, this is welcome news for fans of the Earnhardt family.
This year, Jeffery’s older brother, Bobby Dale, is racing in his first full-time ARCA season for a team he co-owns, Rise Racing. However, fans have eagerly awaited the return of Kerry Earnhardt’s two children to the track this year.
Despite his name, Earnhardt has bounced around the top divisions of NASCAR for some time now.
This has included both part-time and full-time efforts across all three NASCAR National Series for teams long-forgotten and some of NASCAR’s most memorable organizations.
Though he has not raced in the Cup Series since 2019, Earnhardt has made his name in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series with part-time starts at Sam Hunt Racing over the past two seasons.
In those starts, mostly at tracks larger than 2 miles and short tracks, Earnhardt has just one top-ten finish at EchoPark Speedway in early 2024.
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