Jeffrey Earnhardt, the grandson of the legendary Dale Earnhardt and nephew of NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr., has been absent from the track in the NASCAR National Series ranks in 2026. If he doesn’t compete in an event this season, it’ll mark the first time that an Earnhardt hasn’t competed in the NASCAR National Series since 1974, the season before Dale Earnhardt, Sr., made his NASCAR Cup Series debut.
While the 51-year streak seems poised to end, Earnhardt is ramping up for a triumphant return in 2027. According to the 37-year-old racer, who updated his fans in a social media post on Tuesday, he has enough partnership in place, which would grant him the chance to drive part-time in the NASCAR National Series part-time in competitive equipment.
“I’ve got some exciting news. We’re working hard for the 2027 race season to be in competitive equipment racing in one of the three top [NASCAR] levels. Not sure which one we’re going to be in yet. But we have partners in place. Right now, not enough for the full season,” Earnhardt shared.
However, Earnhardt still has time to fill in the sponsorship gaps between now and 2027 to convert his part-time effort in competitive equipment to a full-time run in cars or trucks that he feels will be capable of winning races next season.
“So, hopeful to get to that dollar amount to get to full-time, but we are going to be on track in competitive equipment, where we can race for wins and be competitive every weekend,” Earnhardt said. “Obviously, still working to get more, like I said, to hopefully be full-time. So, anyone out there looking to sponsor, give us a shout. But excited to share the news that we are going to be back on track in 2027, racing for wins, and being competitive. Y’all stay tuned for more.”
Earnhardt, who admits he hampered his early-career development by not taking his developmental driving contract seriously enough with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. in the 2000s, had a rough start to his NASCAR National Series career as he bounced between mid-tier and bottom-tier rides for several seasons.
In 2019, 10 years after his debut race in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, the driver landed a part-time ride with Joe Gibbs Racing in NASCAR’s second-tier series. In the six races driving for JGR, Earnhardt impressed. He led 29 laps in the 2019 season opener at Daytona International Speedway before settling for a 15th-place finish.
He followed up the Daytona result with finishes of sixth and eighth at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway, and then he snagged a then-career-best third-place finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Near the end of the 2019 campaign, Earnhardt moved to a new JGR satellite team, XCI Racing. However, that team fell apart at the seams, which led the driver to scramble to put together rides for the next few seasons.
After subpar campaigns with JD Motorsports, Sam Hunt Racing, and Emerling-Gase Motorsports, the driver was able to mount a one-race deal with Richard Childress Racing to drive the No. 3 Chevrolet, a car that his grandfather made iconic, in the 2022 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series event at Talladega Superspeedway.
Earnhardt, with Larry McReynolds as his crew chief, scored the pole position for the race. And after leading 10 laps on the day and made a miraculous charge through the field in the closing laps of the event. Unfortunately, his rally stalled out on the final lap with a runner-up finish, but he was able to secure his career-best finish that day.
Unfortunately, Earnhardt has been unable to land race-winning equipment since that day.
If he can truly hit the ground running during the 2027 season with race-winning-level equipment, it’ll be very interesting to see how the fourth-generation racer can do.
