Chase Elliott is returning to the team where his full-time NASCAR career began. The 2020 Cup Series champion competed for JR Motorsports in 2014 and 2015 in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series full-time, winning four races and the 2014 championship.
On Tuesday, June 30, it was announced by JR Motorsports that Elliott will return to the team next month for a special one-off race. Piloting the No. 8 NAPA Chevrolet, Elliott will compete in the zMAX CARS Tour at North Wilkesboro on July 17.
The race will mark Elliott’s second start in the CARS Tour. He previously finished runner-up to future Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron in the Super Late Model division at Hickory.
Elliott set to run Dale Jr.-styled No. 8 car
The news of Elliott’s one-off appearance broke on Tuesday by JR Motorsports’ social media team. On X, the team posted a photo of Elliott’s white No. 8 NAPA Chevrolet that he will field in the CARS Tour race at North Wilkesboro.
The significance of the paint scheme is that Elliott will run the Dale Jr.-stylized No. 8, one that was synonymous with Earnhardt Jr. in the early years of his Cup Series career.
“Going short trackin’ on a Friday Night. Chase Elliott will pilot the No. 8 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Late Model at North Wilkesboro on July 17th,” JR Motorsports wrote.
Earnhardt Jr. is the co-owner of the CARS Tour. The series has featured some of the best late model racers in the country, while former NASCAR champions, such as Kevin Harvick, have tried their hand behind the wheel as well.
Elliott will be pulling double duty next month at North Wilkesboro. In addition to the special CARS Tour race, Elliott will be behind the wheel of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for the Cup Series race on Sunday night, July 19.
It will be the first points-paying Cup Series race at North Wilkesboro since 1996. The track previously served as the site of the NASCAR All-Star Race from 2023-2025.
Elliott became the youngest champion in O’Reilly Auto Parts Series history in 2014 after winning three races and the title behind the wheel of the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet.
The Georgia native was back behind the wheel in 2015, finishing runner-up for the title to Chris Buescher.
Kyle Busch planned to run ‘the Dale Jr. 8’ prior to tragic passing
Since the announcement of Elliott’s one-off return to JR Motorsports, some fans on social media have speculated that the No. 8 was supposed to be driven by the late Kyle Busch in the July 17 event.
In the wake of Busch’s tragic passing on May 21, Dale Earnhardt Jr. revealed on “The Dale Jr. Download” that Busch was planning on running his car in a CARS Tour event and wanted to run “the Dale Jr. No. 8.”
Earnhardt Jr. said it was the final conversation he had with Busch as the text exchange about the race came one day before his passing.
“He’s texting me and he’s like, ‘What scheme are we gonna run?’ I was like, ‘You can run any scheme you want.’ I was like, ‘What number do you want to run? You can run 51, whatever you want to run.’ He goes, and he said it, literally, ‘The Dale Jr. 8.’ I was like, ‘You got it,’” Earnhardt Jr. said.
While it is not confirmed that the exact race Busch was supposed to run was the July 17 event at North Wilkesboro, plans between him and Earnhardt Jr. were being put into place.
Following the announcement of Elliott’s one-off race, it has left NASCAR fans heartbroken to know that Busch did not get the chance to run the “Dale Jr. 8” in the CARS Tour.
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