Dale Earnhardt Jr. explains why he agreed to crew chief for Connor Zilisch over ‘more qualified’ JRM staff

Dale Earnhardt Jr. revealed why he took up the role of being the crew chief of Connor Zilisch despite having 'more qualified' people at JR Motorsports. Speaking about this, the JR Motorsports co-owner stated that it was Mardy Lindley, the original crew chief of the #88 car, who asked him to do it.

Earnhardt Jr., a former NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series driver, is all set to crew chief Connor Zilisch at the upcoming Xfinity Series race at Pocono Raceway. This came after Lindley, Zilisch's regular crew chief, is serving a one-race suspension after NASCAR found a discrepancy with Zilisch's car at Nashville.

The sanctioning body, after inspecting Zilisch's car following the Nashville Xfinity Series, found two unsecured lug nuts, resulting in the suspension. As Earnhardt Jr. is gearing up to fit into his new role, here's what he said on this,

“There’s probably over 100 people at JR Motorsports that would have been more qualified, but Mardy asked me to do it,” Earnhardt said. “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.” (via The Athletic)

“It’s way more fun than being the owner. When you’re the owner, you don’t do anything, and there’s nothing you provide of assistance during the race weekend. There’s nothing that you do that makes or breaks a weekend or lifts a team’s performance. And it sucks. When you’re the owner, you’re just kind of standing there going, ‘Good job, everybody.’ But this is way more fun," Dale Earnhardt Jr. further added.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the co-owner of JR Motorsports, an Xfinity Series team, along with his sister, Kelley Earnhardt Miller, her husband, LW Miller, and Hendrick Motorsports' Rick Hendrick. The team fields a Cup Series entry under part-time obligation, four Xfinity Series entries under part-time, and one under full-time obligation.

Carson Kvapil drives the #1 Chevrolet Camaro entry, Justin Allgaier drives the #7, Sammy Smith is in charge of the #8, and Connor Zilisch drives the renowned #88 entry, the car Earnhardt Jr. is going to act as crew chief for this weekend.

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Connor Zilisch shared his reaction to Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s new role

Connor Zilisch shared his thoughts on Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s new role as the crew chief. The #88 driver quote-tweeted JR Motorsports' announcement post on his X account, saying:

"Pressure is on. New face on the pit box this weekend."

Here's the post by Zilisch on X,

Connor Zilisch is in fifth place in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Drivers' Championship with 430 points after 14 races. Zilisch claimed a victory (at the Circuit of The Americas), took four Top 5s, six Top 10s, and four pole positions.

The #88 driver led 206 laps but faced three DNFs. His average start position has been 6.143, and his average finish position has been 13.857. Zilisch's teammate, Justin Allgaier, who is also the defending champion, is leading the championship with 587 points.