Jeffrey Earnhardt will be competing against his famous uncle, Dale Earnhardt Jr., in the Sprint Cup Series next season, and it will be for a team owned by Old Orchard Beach native Archie St. Hilaire.
St. Hilaire’s Go FAS Racing team has entered into an agreement with Can-Am, which will see the member of the Quebec-based Bombardier Recreational Products family act as the primary sponsor for 13 Sprint Cup races next season and an associate sponsor for the other 23.
The 26-year-old Jeffrey Earnhardt, the grandson of the late Dale Earnhardt and son of Kerry Earnhardt, will drive for Go FAS Racing and will compete for the Sunoco Rookie of the Year award, which means he will drive at least 17 races. He has to try to qualify for eight of the first 20 events.
This is St. Hilaire’s first season as a full-time Sprint Cup owner after co-owning a team with Frank Stoddard Jr. the previous year.
St. Hilaire’s underfunded team has had nine different drivers through the first 27 events, and he is 41st in owner points. He and Stoddard were 38th in points two years ago.
St. Hilaire said he couldn’t discuss the financial terms, but the deal with Can-Am will ensure he has more resources next season.
“We will be able to upgrade the whole program. We’ll have newer cars, better engines. It will be a whole different game for us. We will be much better,” he said.
St. Hilaire is happy to have Jeffrey Earnhardt on board as his primary driver. Earnhardt ran several races in the Xfinity Series for St. Hilaire three years ago.
“He’s a good kid,” said St. Hilaire. “It’s not easy to carry that name. It’s tough. But he has matured, and he’s ready to go to work. And he is a perfect fit for Can-Am.”
St. Hilaire said Earnhardt is an avid hunter and fishermen and that goes hand-in-hand with the Can-Am deal. Bombardier Recreational Products markets Ski-Doos, Sea-Doos, all-terrain vehicles and other recreational vehicles.
Earnhardt has 66 Xfinity and 10 Camping World Truck Series races under his belt and made his Sprint Cup debut for Go FAS Racing in Richmond earlier this month, finishing 40th.
It has been a struggle for St. Hilaire’s team this season.
The best finishes have been a 24th by Bobby Labonte in the Daytona 500 and a 26th by road course specialist Boris Said in Sonoma, California. All of the other finishes have been 31st or lower, and they have failed to qualify four times.
St. Hilaire said Labonte will run the restrictor plate races against next year —- Talladega and Daytona — and he will probably secure a Canadian specialist for the road courses (Sonoma, Watkins Glen).
“We haven’t done as well as we had hoped,” said St. Hilaire. “I knew it would be tough.”
Having nine different drivers hasn’t helped.
“It takes two days just to put in a new seat,” said St. Hilaire.
Earnhardt, who will drive the No. 32 Ford Fusion, said in a news release he was “really excited” to join Go FAS Racing.
“With Can-Am supporting our team, we’re certain to increase our competitiveness throughout the 2016 season,” he said.