Earnhardt Jr. To Serve As Zilisch’s Crew Chief At Pocono

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Dale Earnhardt Jr. is becoming a jack of all trades when it comes to motorsports.
The driver, team, owner, promoter and announcer will try on a crew chief’s headset this weekend at Pocono Raceway.
JR Motorsports officials confirmed on social media that the team co-owner will serve as crew chief for Connor Zilisch in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the 2.5-mile triangular race track.
Earnhardt will replace regular crew chief Mardy Lindley, who sitting out the race because of a one-race lug-nut suspension the result of a penalty following the event at Nashville Superspeedway.
“This weekend, @DaleJr will be filling in for Mardy Lindley as crew chief of the No. 88 as Lindley serves his one race suspension for loose lugnuts following the NXS race in Nashville two weeks ago,” read the JR Motorsports post on X.
Earnhardt will balance the crew chief job with his duties analyzing the NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono on Prime Video.
It will be the 18-year-old Zilisch’s first race at Pocono Raceway.
“Pocono is another track I haven’t had the opportunity to race at yet, so I am really looking forward to getting out there this weekend,” Zilisch said in a team press release. “JRM is known for bringing strong cars so I am sure my No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Clarience Technologies team will unload a fast piece on Saturday. Hopefully we can qualify well and put ourselves in position to contend for the win at the end.”