Dale Earnhardt Jr. reflects on ‘fun’ experience as a race-winning crew chief

When regular crew chief Mardy Lindley was suspended one week for the (rather common) issue of loose lug nuts, JR Motorsports team co-owner and NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. stepped up to the plate to lead the No. 88 team this weekend. Well, with Dale Jr. calling the shots and rising star Connor Zilisch behind the wheel, they captured the checkered flag at Pocono Raceway.

It was actually Lindley’s idea, texting Dale Jr. to ask if he was up for the challenge. The Lindleys and Earnhardts have quite the history as well. Dale Sr. and Butch Lindley (Mardy’s father) raced against each other back in the 1970s and sadly, both Mardy and Dale Jr. lost their fathers to the sport of auto racing. Earnhardt said on Saturday that the shared tragedy of losing their fathers connected them.

Getting back into the competitive spirit

And at Pocono, it was big shoes to fill for Earnhardt, as Lindley had won nine Xfinity races since 2023 with three different JRM drivers. As for Dale, it was great for him to get back into such a high-pressure environment after spending most of his time watching from afar as a owner/broadcaster. 

“I love owning race cars, and I love racking up statistics and championships, but it does not have the competitive sort of skin in the game, if you will, that (today) does,” said Earnhardt in the winner’s press conference.

“If you’re in the car, it’s on you to make sure you’re doing everything right. And when you’re the crew chief, you’re under a ton of pressure. I understand that I did not come in here and handle all of the layers that Mardy usually handles or any given crew chief manages. They certainly were putting me in a position to do some light lifting, but as the race went on, we got more comfortable and more aggressive.

“It was fun. I felt like I really had some involvement, some input in the energy that the crew and team had. Keeping them pumped up, everybody executing, and keeping Connor aware of what are goals were and what our expectations were on the restarts. He wanted to deliver.”

How much of a crew chief was he…really?

Connor Zilisch, JR Motorsports Chevrolet

Photo by: Meg Oliphant / Getty Images

As for how much say Earnhardt actually had, he admits that anything significant involving the set-up and adjustments was already being handled by the engineering team. Dale Jr.’s influence was more with in-race strategy and advising Zilisch as a driver coach. 

“I’m not a fool to think — I didn’t have control of all the buttons and levers and stuff,” said Earnhardt. “But mid-way through the race, I was feeling it. Me and the engineers on the box we’re in a great conversations around what we should do, how far we could make it, whether we were going to have enough for the green-white-checkered…all those things.”

After his experience, would he be up to do it all again? “I would not ever walk in the shop and say I’d be up for doing but if we find ourselves unfortunately where somebody gets suspended, if they want me to do it, I would happily do it,” added Earnhardt.

Earnhardt added that the thing he was most nervous about wasn’t actually being the crew chief, but when he came off the box to prepare and set the right-front tire on the wall before handing it off to the pit crew during the stop. He was worried about messing up the flow of things or slowing down the stop unnecessarily, even visiting with the Trackhouse earlier in the week to practice.

He also praised Zilisch as a “young man going on 35,” but he was happy to advise the 18-year-old and keep him focused on the task at hand as he went on to earn his first oval win. “It was fun to help him understand what I thought would be the best scenario on some of those restarts.”