page_title: JR Motorsports
section_title: Car No. 9 history
hierarchical_section_title: JR Motorsports / Xfinity Series / Car No. 9 history
caption_attribution_description: English: The Chevrolet Camaro of William Byron at the NASCAR Xfinity Series Johnsonville 180.
context_page_description: JR Motorsports is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series. The team is based in Mooresville, North Carolina, co-owned by former NASCAR Cup Series driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., his sister Kelley Earnhardt Miller, and the owner of his former Cup Series team, Rick Hendrick. As of 2020, the team fields four full-time entries in the Xfinity Series: the No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro SS full-time for Michael Annett, the No. 7 Camaro full-time for Justin Allgaier, the No. 8 Camaro full-time for multiple drivers including Jeb Burton, Daniel Hemric, and Earnhardt, and the No. 9 Camaro full-time for Noah Gragson.
context_section_description: Chase Elliott (2014–2015)
  The No. 9 car made its debut in 2014, when an 18-year-old Hendrick development driver named Chase Elliott was signed to drive a fourth entry for JR Motorsports. The car was renumbered to 9, the longtime number of Chase's father Bill Elliott. In a surprise move, NAPA Auto Parts, which recently left Michael Waltrip Racing and was rumored to depart from the sport, signed on to sponsor the full season. After the Boyd Gaming 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the team was revealed to have violated Sections 12–4.2 (P2 penalty) and 20A–12.8.1B (car exceeded minimum front height) of the NASCAR rulebook. As a result, crew chief Greg Ives was placed on probation until December 31. At the O'Reilly Auto Parts 300, Elliott passed teammate Kevin Harvick for his first Nationwide Series win. Elliott's second win came in the VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway, where he led 52 laps. A late race caution and a slow pit stop would find Elliott restarting in 6th with just 2 laps to go. Elliott managed an outstanding feat of passing the 5 cars in front of him en route to his second win of the season. Elliott would win his third race of the season in the EnjoyIllinois.com 300 at Chicagoland Speedway after holding off Trevor Bayne. Elliott won the 2014 Nationwide Series championship, the first rookie to win a NASCAR national series championship.
  In 2015, Elliott returned to the No. 9 full-time to defend his championship, but only won one race at Richmond and finished 2nd in the final standings. Elliott's 2014 crew chief Greg Ives would move up to Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Cup Series team, replaced by longtime Xfinity crew chief Ernie Cope. The No. 9 team did not race in 2016.
  William Byron (2017)
  On August 18, 2016, William Byron and Hendrick Motorsports announced a multi-year driver development agreement, with Byron running full-time in the Xfinity Series driving the No. 9 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports in 2017. It was the first time since 2014 that the No. 9 was driven by a rookie driver. At the 2017 Ford Eco Boost 300, as William Byron and Elliott Sadler were battling late, Byron took advantage of Sadler's mistake of trying to pass Ryan Preece when he was too far back, slowing Sadler and allowing Byron to pass both drivers. When Sadler tried to follow, he made contact with Preece, sending Preece sideways and Sadler into the wall. After that Byron pulled away and finished 3rd, ultimately winning the championship and Rookie of the Year honors while winning four races at Iowa, Daytona, Indianapolis and Phoenix.
  Tyler Reddick (2018)
  Tyler Reddick was signed to a full-time schedule for the 2018 Xfinity season, replacing William Byron, who was promoted to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. On February 17, 2018, Reddick beat teammate Elliott Sadler in a photo finish to win the season-opening race at Daytona. At a margin of .0004 seconds, it is the closest finish in NASCAR history. At the Ford EcoBoost 300, Reddick took advantage of pitting while leader Cole Custer stayed longer than him and won the race while also winning the championship, joining Chase Elliott and William Byron as the third different driver to win the championship and Rookie of the Year honors in the 9 car.
  Noah Gragson (2019–2020)
  On December 18, 2018, it was announced that the No. 9 car will be driven by Zane Smith for 8 races while other drivers fill out the other 25 races; however, on January 25, 2019, it was announced that Noah Gragson would drive the No. 9 car full-time while Smith will run 8 races in the new No. 8 entry. Gragson would be assigned to the car for another full-time season in 2020.
caption: Byron's No. 9 at Road America in 2017
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 70D", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2017:09:13 16:41:23", "Image Artist": "", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Copyright": "", "Image ExifOffset": "214", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 3, 0, 0]", "Image GPSInfo": "9182", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "9294", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5558", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/160", "EXIF FNumber": "10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Shutter Priority", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2017:08:27 15:58:48", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2017:08:27 15:58:48", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "59/8", "EXIF ApertureValue": "53/8", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "110", "EXIF SubSecTime": "34", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "34", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "34", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4792", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2744", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "9152", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "5472000/899", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "3648000/599", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}