Dale Earnhardt Jr. Urges Justin Marks to Scale Trackhouse Down to Two Teams after Connor Zilisch’s Exit

The whole NASCAR community was surprised when it was announced that Connor Zilisch will run down his Trackhouse contract in 2027 and will replace Alex Bowman in the No:48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy in 2028. Justin Marks is now in rebuilding mode after losing his biggest asset in terms of drivers and Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. got a unique advice for him.

On his Dale Jr. Download podcast, Junior asserted that this is the perfect time for Marks to scale down his team to a two-car operation instead of three. While having more teams makes the overall operation much cheaper and the grandfathered teams with four charters are strong, it doesn’t mean everyone should follow them.

Dude, I would say that the perfect scenario is a two-car team. I think if you were, you know, there are four-car teams that are successful. They’re grandfathered in (to the NASCAR charter system, with three being the limit now). But I think if you were cranking up a team from scratch, two cars, two drivers, working together, I mean, as you scale up, everything gets cheaper.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said on his podcast.

Justin Marks and many of the new teams wants to run three teams because the discounts they get with the added car is significant. They are attracted to these terms and most often speed up the expansion process to have some balance on the finance side.

That’s why teams want to run two cars instead of one. You can run the second car for a discount of what it costs to run the first car. And as you add the third, that discount continues… So, it’s expensive as **** to run three cars. But each additional car is less expensive than the first. So that’s kind of how you get roped into doing it.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. added via Dale Jr. Download.

For a Dale Earnhardt Jr. though, instead of three, having two cars is the perfect scenario. It offers them both the financial and performance balance. Scaling down doesn’t mean selling the valuable charter though, considering the monopoly lawsuit caused the price to skyrocket.

But I think the perfect situation is a two-car team. So, if I was Justin, I would absolutely lease (the third charter). I wouldn’t be interested in selling the charter because the value of the charters are continuing to go up.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. asserted.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. argues in favor of Trackhouse Racing scaling down

Later in the same conversation, the two times second division champion made more arguments about scaling down. He asserted that Marks needs to lease out their third charter and focus on their two cars. This will give them more revenue as well as a good asset they could sell it down the road in necessary.

If you can lease it, make a little money over the course of the next handful of years leasing this charter out, do it. And dial it back to two teams… So, you put your partners together, you secure your drivers for a couple more years. You’ve got this sort of path to run a two-car team over the next couple of years… You’re leasing this third charter that is still gaining in value and still an asset to sell down the road.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said.

The comments from the veteran are on point and rational to an extent. It would be wiser for Trackhouse to lease out their third car if they don’t find a solid replacement for Zilisch. Invest more into Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen, results are guaranteed.

Also Read: Rick Hendrick Breaks Silence on Controversy Over HMS Overlooking Corey Day for Connor Zilisch