When Dale Earnhardt Jr. hung up his helmet and retired from full-time Cup Series racing at the end of the 2017 season, he transitioned to dedicated team owner, heading Xfinity Series team JR Motorsports. Now, though, Dale Jr. is trading his business suit for a headset, making his debut as crew chief for his own NASCAR Chevy team and its young driver.
Dale Jr. announced that he will serve atop the box for Connor Zilisch and the No. 88 NASCAR Chevy team for the forthcoming Xfinity Series race at Pocono Raceway. He’s taking the place of regular crew chief Mardy Lindley, who was suspended after Zilisch’s race car was found to have two loose lug nuts after finishing second at Nashville Superspeedway on May 31st, 2025. Lindley was fined $10,000 and issued a one-race suspension – although NASCAR officials allowed Lindley to defer his suspension as the Xfinity Series tackled Autódromo Hermanos RodrÃguez in Mexico City on June 14th.
That left Zilisch without a crew chief for the June 21st race at Pocono. Dale Jr. himself is a two-time Xfinity Series (then Busch Series) champion with 24 division wins under his belt. While he’s never been a crew chief, he knows his way around the uniquely shaped Pocono Raceway – he won both times the Cup Series visited the “Tricky Triangle” in 2014.
Dale Jr. won’t be alone on that NASCAR Chevy pit box, though. As he explained on his podcast, Bless Your Hardt, his longtime Cup Series crew chief and good friend, Steve Letarte, will be right there in case he needs some pointers.
Currently, Zilisch’s No. 88 NASCAR Chevy sits fifth in overall Xfinity Series points. He has one win thus far this season, along with four top-fives and six top-10s across 14 starts to date. The June 21st race at Pocono will be the rookie’s first time at the challenging racetrack.
Comments
Jr. was a good technician and service advisor in his day.
The best of luck to Dake Jr.