Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, Justin Marks Buy CARS Tour Late Model Series

• Dale Earnhardt Jr., former Cup Series drivers Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton, along with Trackhouse Racing founder and co-owner Justin Marks have purchased CARS Tour Late Model series.

• The Solid Rock Carriers CARS Tour is a southeast regional asphalt racing series that features Pro Late Models and Late Model stock cars. The series was founded in 2014.

• Earnhardt Jr. and JR Motorsports also announced he will race in the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series playoff opener September 15 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

For a retired racer, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is having a busy week.

On Monday, it was announced that in a joint effort, he and NASCAR Cup Series current and former competitors Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton, as well as the founder and co-owner of Cup Series team Trackhouse Racing, Justin Marks, have purchased the Solid Rock Carriers CARS Tour.

The CARS (Championship Auto Racing Series) Tour, is a professional Late Model and Late Model stock car grassroots series that competes at local short tracks throughout the Southeast United States.

The quartet and their companies will assume ownership of the series to help expand it through brand management, business strategy and partnership acquisition and retention.

“I’m a huge fan of the CARS Tour and local short-track racing," Earnhardt said. "The competition, the tracks, and the drivers are some of the best around. These regional series are vital to the quality of racing you see at the top level.”

Many current Cup Series drivers have race Late Models in the CARS Tour, including Bubba Wallace, William Byron, and Christopher Bell. Cup champions Chase Elliott and defending champion Joey Logano have also started races in the CARS Tour.

Earnhardt, who co-owns Xfinity Series team JR Motorsports, currently fields a full-time entry in the CARS Tour for Carson Kvapil, the son of former Cup Series driver, Travis Kvapil. Carson Kvapil won the series championship in 2022.

Earnhardt made two starts in the Late Model series in 2022, finishing third at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway on August 31 and finishing ninth at Florence (S.C.) Motor Speedway on November 19.

In a separate announcement, Earnhardt, 48, says he plans to drive in the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoff opener on September 15 at Bristol Motor Speedway. He has raced at least one Xfinity Series race every season since his retirement from full-time Cup Series Racing in 2017. He finished fourth at Richmond in 2018, fifth at Darlington in 2019, fifth at Homestead in 2020, 14th at Richmond in 2021, and he was 11th at Martinsville last year.