To hear Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Elliott Sadler talk, it’s mildly surprising the two friends haven’t combined for a formal competitive venture before now.
But Earnhardt and Sadler will join forces next year when Sadler and sponsor OneMain Financial come to JR motorsports for the 2016 NASCAR XFINITY Series season.
“Me and Elliott have been great friends since we’ve been racing late models together, and he actually drove our car a couple of times at JR Motorsports, so this is really a lot of fun for me,” Earnhardt said on Friday at Dover International Speedway during the announcement of the new deal.
“I’m excited to work with Elliott full-time, to give him the best opportunity we can, to put him in the best cars we can and to get to work with our guys—our company. Once we told them the news, they were really excited to work with Elliott and OneMain… Winning races is great, but when you do it with your friends, it’s even better.”
Sadler, who will move from Roush Fenway Racing to JRM at the end of the season, echoed Earnhardt’s sentiments.
“It’s neat to see our paths kind of crossing again this much later in life compared to when we first met each other driving Late Models,” Sadler said. “It says a lot about our friendship, I think, it says a lot about our trust for each other and definitely about our passion to race together.”
JRM will reveal Sadler’s crew chief and car number when those details are in place.
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