Dale Earnhardt Jr. reveals why Kyle Larson wasn't JRM's first choice to replace Connor Zilisch at Texas

Dale Earnhardt Jr. recently revealed how JR Motorsports finalized Kyle Larson as Connor Zilisch's replacement for Texas. The JR Motorsports rookie suffered a back injury following Talladega, because of which he was ruled out for the Texas Xfinity race.

In his place, JRM announced that 2021 Cup champion Kyle Larson would be running behind the wheel of their #88 Chevy. But even though Larson was a pretty good candidate to be the substitute for Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s team considering his impressive resume and the ties between HMS and JRM, the #5 driver wasn't their first choice.

Speaking on the Dale Jr. Download, JRM's co-owner revealed that when he received the call about Connor Zilisch's back injury, he thought of Larson. This was because the Hendrick driver had shown interest in running an Xfinity race with JRM. However, Junior was told by his team that because of their obligations to Trackhouse Racing, it would have to be Ross Chastain to fill in for Zilisch.

"We have this relationship with Trackhouse, Chastain, SVG, Connor Zilisch, all of that is a is a Trackhouse partnership. The partner sponsors and all that stuff. A lot involved matches up. Well, Chastain can't do it because he would then exceed his limit of races that you can because he has more races coming up. He's already got five on the books. So, back to Larson we go. And of course Larson was like, 'Yep, I'm in.' He'll do it. He'll do anything. He'll race. He'll race anything.' He's like, 'Race more? You got it,'" Dale Earnhardt Jr. described. [15:00]

In the end, Kyle Larson ended up becoming the perfect substitute for Zilisch as he won the Xfinity race at Texas.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Connor Zilisch's potential return from the back injury after missing Texas

During his podcast, Dale Earnhardt Jr. commented on the sensitive injury of Connor Zilisch because of which he was forced to sit out Texas. Earnhardt said they hope to get Zilisch back for Charlotte spring race which is scheduled for May 24.

He touched on how fans would be curious about Zilisch's quick recovery from a back injury despite being out at Texas. Junior said that is his reaction to it but knowing what he knows about the injury, Zilisch 'absolutely needed' to sit out from the race.

"He has a long career in front of him. This is not that significant in the grand scheme of things. Absolutely need to take time to allow this to heal. When the doctors feel like he's ready, he'll be ready. They're saying it could be Charlotte," Dale Earnhardt Jr. remarked. [13:30]

Adding to that, TJ Majors said that NASCAR also works with teams and drivers with waivers when it comes to back injuries. The spotter pointed that one should simply not mess with a back injury.