Kelley Earnhardt makes her feelings known on JRM driver’s maiden Xfinity win of the season
At the NASCAR Xfinity Series event this weekend, the Kelley Earnhardt-owned JR Motorsports saw some ups and downs, but the main highlight of the Saturday race was the first win of the 2025 season for Sammy Smith. The #8 driver had crossed the finish line to take second place, while Jesse Love came in first, but a post-race inspection revealed trouble with Love's #2 car, leading to disqualification.
The JRM driver was awarded victory at the North Carolina Education Lottery 250 race at the Rockingham Speedway. Kelley Earnhardt Miller, who is the CEO of JR Motorsports, congratulated Smith for securing the win with a stories post on Instagram.
"P1 to end the day! Way to go Sammy Smith"
Jesse Love, who won the season-opener at the Daytona International Speedway, was disqualified after his #2 car violated Rule 14.14.2.I-5.h that covers trailing arm spacers and pinion angle shims. Sammy Smith had crossed the line behind him with a margin of just 0.691s, and after the disqualification, he secured his third career win and a $100,000 bonus as the winner of the final Xfinity Dash 4 Cash race of the season.
“It’s a tough way to win that, but I feel like we’ll take ’em any way we can get ’em,” the JRM driver said. “We waited here to see what happens, but overall, it was a good day, and I’m very happy with the progress we’ve made recently." [via NASCAR]
Currently, the Kelley Earnhardt-run team has all four of its drivers sitting in the Top 10 of the championship standings, with reigning champion Justin Allgaier at the top of the table, Carson Kvapil in fifth, Connor Zilisch in seventh, and Sammy Smith in eighth.
Kelley Earnhardt shares a look at employee Easter traditions
Ahead of Easter, Kelley Earnhardt Miller shared a video featuring the employees of JR Motorsports, Dirty Mo Media, and the Dale Jr. Foundation, all companies that she is the CEO of, participating in an Easter egg hunt. In the video, shot by Earnhardt Miller, the employees of her companies ran around a field collecting as many eggs as possible, and within each egg were prizes to be won, such as cash and free lunch at a restaurant.
Earnhardt shared the video to her Instagram account earlier this week, adding a caption about how she feels about the tradition, as well as how it went this year.
"Our employee Easter Egg Hunt is always a favorite of mine! We had a great day and another successful hunt."
The next race in the NASCAR Xfinity Series calendar is the Ag-Pro 300, taking place at the Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, April 26th.