NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. has left the door open to returning to the stock car racing series, but it won't be in the Cup.

In the aftermath of last Sunday's Daytona 500, a podcast clip featuring Earnhardt Jr. went viral, with the former star revealing that his wife Amy had told him that he should run the 2027 edition of The Great American Race.

Naturally, this got fans incredibly excited, and with JR Motorsports - Earnhardt Jr's team - having run the last two Daytona 500s, he wouldn't even have to find a drive.

However, the 51-year-old quickly shut down any talk of a comeback, stating that he had only told the story so fans knew it wasn't his wife behind his retirement.

Now, in another update, Earnhardt Jr. has revealed he is open to racing in the O'Reilly Auto Parts or Truck Series, as well as why he won't be coming back in the Cup.

Earnhardt Jr open to O'Reilly/Truck Series races

Earnhardt Jr retired from Cup Series action in 2017, but has raced eight times in the O'Reilly (then Xfinity) Series since.

The last of these came in 2024 at Bristol, but Earnhardt told The Gluckcast he is open to the idea of returning.

“I am curious and interested in running another Xfinity (O’Reilly Auto Parts) race,” he explained.

"I’m not saying I won’t ever race Xfinity or maybe drive a truck somewhere. I’m not done with that thought or that potential."

Why Earnhardt Jr won't return to Cup Series

On the podcast, Earnhardt Jr. also revealed why he has ruled out a Cup Series return, stating that he admires the elite level those drivers are at and that he isn't 'naive' enough to think he could compete.

“A part of me thinks that anyone, myself included, is absolutely naive to think that you can go to Daytona and compete at the highest level after being out of the car for almost eight or nine years,” he stated.

“I think it’s a disservice to how talented the [Ryan] Blaneys and [Denny] Hamlins are in that realm at the Cup level to think, ‘Yeah, I’m going to go run it’, just like on a whim, show up and do what they do.

“What they do is elite. I admire it. I remember what it was like to do that every single week, and I knew how often you need to do it to be the best.”

Earnhardt Jr. concluded: “I miss it terribly, don’t think that I don’t want to do it, but I don’t know that it really serves me any good, and that’s where it is.”