Justin Allgaier under pressure to get Dale Jr. car into Daytona 500

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Dale Earnhardt Jr. stood at the JR Motorsports hauler shortly after 6 a.m. to watch his crew unload the first NASCAR Cup Series car in the team's history.

He watched and tried to soak in the moment — a historic moment at Daytona International Speedway — as the long-time championship Xfinity Series team has ventured into Cup for at least one weekend.

Earnhardt, a two-time Daytona 500 winner, joked with the crew members and beamed with pride.

"It’s awesome," Earnhardt said on the FOX practice telecast. "It’s been a dream of mine to be in the Cup garage as an owner, so it’s pretty special to have that opportunity, especially at the biggest race of the year."

Now it’s time to get nervous.

Justin Allgaier posted the third-fastest speed in single-car qualifying, one spot short of locking himself into the field. Most likely, he needs to finish as the top open car in his qualifying race Thursday night. He will battle Martin Truex Jr., Helio Castroneves, Chandler Smith and JJ Yeley for that spot. 

Allgaier could fall back on his qualifying speed to get in if Truex or Jimmie Johnson are the top-finishing open driver in their duels, and with both of them already locked into the field, they probably won’t put themselves in dicey positions to earn that spot.

"I have seen a lot of social media that I'm pretty confident that I need not to show my face ever again if we don't make the field," Allgaier said. "I will do my best job that I possibly can."

Allgaier is no stranger to pressure. He won the Xfinity Series title last year after staging a comeback from a lap down in the championship race at Phoenix.

"We don’t do anything easy around here, I guess, at JR Motorsports," Allgaier said. "I hate it for the guys and