Driver. Hall of Famer. Team Owner. Now there’s another role that Dale Earnhardt Jr. can soon add to his resume: that of crew chief.
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Earnhardt will serve as crew chief for the No. 88 Chevrolet to be driven by Connor Zilisch in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at Pocono Raceway. With Trackhouse Racing’s Mardy Lindley, Zilisch’s regular crew chief, being forced to sit out Saturday’s race due to a one-race suspension, he reached out to Earnhardt — they’ve been friends since childhood — and asked Junior to fill in.
Earnhardt initially thought Lindley was kidding, but when Junior found himself at pit stop practice on Thursday, there was no kidding. It was serious business.
“He was just like, ‘Hey, you ought to do it,’” Earnhardt said of Lindley’s invitation on Thursday’s Bless your ‘Hardt podcast with his wife Amy.
“And they have it all sorted out, it’s all pretty straightforward on what needs to happen and we have a really good group of guys that are underneath Mardy that know exactly what needs to go on during the race. So it’s not like I’m really going to be steering the ship, but somebody needs to be there.”
Earnhardt will even be put to work on the actual pit crew, having to roll the left front tire from behind the pit road wall to the tire changer.
“Not that I won’t screw it up, but I’m feeling more confident now,” Earnhardt quipped after Thursday’s practice session. “(Steve) Letarte said he’d come hang out. So if I pass out from anxiety, Letarte can just take over. But it should be an incredible adrenaline rush of excitement just to be kind of part of the team.”
As for calling race strategy, let’s just say Earnhardt will be a crew chief in name only. Most of Lindley’s regular race day duties will be shared by other members of the crew, picking up the slack.
“All these different perspectives give you appreciation for the sport in different ways,” Earnhardt said. “Seeing it from a crew chief’s perspective is something that is terribly intimidating.”
It’s a one-off appearance for Earnhardt — well, at least for now. If he really likes it, who knows what the future might hold.
