Connor Zilisch thought Dale Earnhardt Jr. coming on as Pocono crew chief was a joke

Dale Earnhardt Jr. filled in as Connor Zilisch’s crew chief last weekend at Pocono Raceway, as his usual crew chief Marty Lindley served a one-race suspension. The young JR Motorsports wheelman didn’t believe it was happening at first.

Zilisch joined this week’s episode of the Dale Jr. Download, where he explained that he thought the rumor of Earnhardt Jr. being his crew chief for the week was a joke. When it turned out to be true, he was elated, but the 18-year-old knew the pressure was going to be turned up to an eleven.

“At first I thought it was a joke,” Zilisch stated, regarding his reaction to finding out Earnhardt Jr. was going to be atop his pit box. “Mardy texted me two weeks ago, ‘I think we’re going to have Dale crew chief it,’ so I texted Dale and said, ‘So you’re crew chiefing this thing at Pocono?’ I don’t think he knew for sure at the time either. He was like, ‘We’ll see, maybe.’ I felt good about it. … There was definitely some extra (pressure). I can’t let him come out here, crew chief one time and we go run fifteenth. That would be embarrassing.

“So, definitely there was some added pressure, but I just wanted to enjoy it. It was just such a cool experience, and such a cool weekend. I hate Mardy wasn’t there to sit in Victory Lane with us, and have fun with us, but at the same time it was cool to be able to miss a key part of your team and still go to Victory Lane. I was shocked at first when Mardy told me. I didn’t believe it. It took about a week, and then I get a text on Monday, ‘I’ll be at your meeting on Wednesday, the pre-race meeting,’ and I was like, ‘Man, he’s taking it seriously,’ and then I got to the pre-race meeting and Mardy told me that you were going to pit practice. I was like, ‘Wow, that’s good. I respect the dedication.’

“If you’re going to do it, you don’t just want to show up on Saturday and sit on the pit box and have someone tell you what to do in your ear. I’m glad you embraced the role and did it the right way. I think it definitely played a part in us having a successful day, having you understand the goals, the strategy and being able to manage the race from your end a little more seriously. I definitely think you had more say than you expected to.”

All in all, Connor Zilisch came through for Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Dale Earnhardt Jr. came through for Connor Zilisch. The result was one of the more memorable wins in recent Xfinity Series memory, as fans wonder if the two-time Daytona 500 winner might have a future in crew chiefing.