Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s New Role as a NASCAR Crew Chief Explained

Following a storied run as team owner, broadcaster, podcaster, media executive, and CARS Tour co-owner, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is set to add yet another feather to his cap. This weekend at Pocono, he will step atop the pit box as crew chief for rising star Connor Zilisch, filling in for Mardy Lindley, who is serving a deferred one-race suspension due to two loose lug nuts found on the #88 car after Nashville Superspeedway.

When sidelined, Lindley didn’t hesitate to pick his stand-in. He immediately turned to Earnhardt Jr., a trusted name with deep roots in the sport. Both men hail from legendary racing bloodlines, Dale Jr. as the son of the late seven-time Cup champion Dale Earnhardt, and Lindley as the son of Butch Lindley, a revered short-track ace who traded paint with the Intimidator in their heyday.

With 50 wins across the Cup and Xfinity ranks, years behind the mic calling NASCAR’s biggest moments, and two decades co-owning a championship-caliber Xfinity team, there’s little in NASCAR that Dale Jr. hasn’t already tackled. Still, he’s missed having a direct hand in race-day execution since stepping away from full-time competition in 2017, aside from his occasional Xfinity starts through 2024.

Now, as crew chief for the #88 team, Dale Jr. won’t just call the shots, he’ll shape how Zilisch’s Saturday shakes out. While Lindley is expected to stay plugged in remotely, a steady hand on-site was essential. For Lindley, Earnhardt was the natural choice, and after some consideration, Dale Jr. agreed to take the reins.

“There’s probably over 100 people at JR Motorsports that would have been more qualified, but Mardy asked me to do it. So I was like, ‘You must want me to do it.’ … We got a great team and a great organization that can handle these types of challenges. Should be no problem,” Dale Jr. said.

Even Zilisch didn’t see this change coming. “It all came together pretty quickly — and at first, I didn’t even realize it was gonna be real. I just assumed that Cory Shea, the crew chief of the 9 (JRM’s part-time car), was gonna come and do it. But yeah, considering Dale’s already here doing the broadcast, it’ll be something cool for him to check off his bucket list.”

While Dale Jr. takes on a new challenge from the top of the pit box, Zilisch sees this as a rare chance to learn from a Hall of Famer and two-time Xfinity champion. With two Cup wins already under his belt at Pocono, Earnhardt has wasted no time offering pointers, even sharing strategy in their pre-race briefing. “I’ve sat on plenty of pit boxes, but it should be cool to see it from this perspective,” he said.