Dale Earnhardt Jr. called into action as Connor Zilisch crew chief at Pocono due to suspension

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is about to get back involved with NASCAR in a new and exciting way. He will serve as a crew chief, at least temporarily.

JR Motorsports announced Wednesday that Earnhardt will serve as the crew chief for the No. 88 car of Connor Zilisch this weekend at Pocono. Zilisch’s normal crew chief, Mardy Lindley, was suspended for a race for a violation at Nashville a couple weeks back.

Then, NASCAR announced that the No. 88 team had been penalized for an unsecured lug nut. The crew decided to defer the suspension to Pocono rather than serve it at Mexico City.

Zilisch is having a strong season, having already locked himself into the playoffs with a win at COTA. He currently sits at No. 5 in the points standings, boasting four top-5 finishes and six top-10 results.

He has finished in the top five in each of his last three races. Zilisch ended in second at Charlotte and Nashville, then finished fifth this week at Mexico City.

Needless to say, having a quality crew chief will be important. So it’s certainly eyebrow-raising to see Earnhardt taking the position for a key race at Pocono.

Connor Zilisch gets into it with Ty Gibbs

Connor Zilisch and Ty Gibbs are two of the brightest young wheelmen in all of NASCAR. However, they got tangled in each other’s web a couple of times during this past weekend’s Xfinity Series race in Mexico City.

From the first lap to the third stage, Zilisch and Gibbs found themselves near one another. Gibbs didn’t give Zilisch any grace, racing him as aggressive as possible throughout the first lap, while the JR Motorsports wheelman returned the favor closer to the finish, causing an accident in the third stage that ruined both of their chances to win.

As the dust settled on Daniel Suarez’s win in Mexico City, Zilisch took a bit of a shot at Gibbs. He claimed he was being intentionally over-aggressive with him throughout the afternoon, and it all started on Lap 1.

“It was just Ty. He was racing me really hard the whole time,” Zilisch stated, via Frontstretch. “I was easy on him the first lap, let him have it in the first few corners, and took the lead. Then I was a little faster than him. So, when I cleared him down into one, I went in a little deep and washed out. I don’t think he liked how I did that.

“He got mad at me and shipped me. So no, I don’t think it was just the nature of the corners, I think that was pretty intentional.”

On3’s Steve Samra also contributed to this report.