Congratulations Pouring In For Dale Earnhardt Jr. After Weekend Race
Congratulations Pouring In For Dale Earnhardt Jr. After Weekend Race originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is already retired from full-time competition, but the two-time Daytona 500 winner can still find himself in the headlines from time to time.
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On Saturday, the 50-year-old Earnhardt captivated racing fans with his success as a first-time crew chief for JR Motorsports rookie driver Connor Zilisch in the NASCAR Xfinity Series' Explore the Pocono Mountains 250 event at Pocono Raceway.
Earnhardt is known more these days as the owner of JR Motorsports, but he had to put on the headset and help Zilisch have a solid day at Pocono after regular crew chief Mardy Lindley was handed a one-race suspension because of a lug nut penalty during a previous race at the Tennessee Lottery 250 race at Nashville Superspeedway on May 31, where JR Motosports had a 1-2 finish.
NASCAR Cup Series team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr during practice for the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Justin Allgaier won the race while Zilisch finished second. However, it was later discovered that Zilisch's No. 88 Chevrolette had two unsecured lug nuts, resulting in a suspension for Lindley and a $10,000 fine for the team.
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Earnhardt seemingly loved every bit of his experience filling in for Lindley.
'Hats off to everybody on this team,' Earnhardt said after the race (h/t Holly Cain of NASCAR.com). 'It's been amazing all weekend long. Great race car driver. Connor Zilisch is going to be a big deal in this sport for a long time. A lot of fun for me today.'
Earnhardt also got a great shoutout from NASCAR on social media, which garnered plenty of heartfelt messages from fans.
"Dale Jr. win rate as crew chief: 💯," said a fan on Instagram.
Another one said: "That's a walk of a happy happy guy with his daughters…congrats Dale Jr🏁'
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From a commenter: "What a debut! 👏'
'Time to drink some Bud!!! 🍻,' a social media user posted.
Via a different commenter: 'Making it look easy in his debut.'
Said another: 'Congratulations JRM 🏁🏁🏁'
With Zilisch's victory under his watch, Earnhardt became the fifth crew chief in the 2025 Xfinity Series to secure his first win in NASCAR's second-tier circuit.
Related: Kyle Busch Clears the Air After Dale Jr. 'Shade' Sparks Fan Backlash
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 23, 2025, where it first appeared.
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