Dale Earnhardt Jr. wants another shot as NASCAR crew chief after win
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has jokingly volunteered to be crew chief again at another team after winning with Connor Zilisch at Pocono.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has jokingly suggested that he wants another shot at being a NASCAR crew chief after guiding Connor Zilisch to victory last weekend for JR Motorsports.
In the same race Zilisch won, Chase Elliott finished fourth at Pocono Raceway due to a main frame rail conical receiver violation, with the Cup driver racing in the No. 17 car for the second time this season. He claimed the pole at Pocono as he earned $2,000 but wasn't able to take the victory. The 29-year-old is one of four Cup Series drivers to have occupied a seat in the No. 17 Chevrolet, with Kyle Larson, William Byron, and Alex Bowman also driving it.
It was the second time Elliott had worked with crew chief Adam Wall, but NASCAR has since penalized the team severely. Wall is suspended for three races, and the Xfinity team has lost 40 owner points and 10 playoff points and been fined $40,000.
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Earnhardt Jr., who helped guide his JR Motorsports to victory in the Xfinity Series last weekend as stand-in crew chief for Connor Zilisch, has jokingly suggested he is throwing his name in the running following Wall's suspension. "Texting Ives now...." Dale Jr. said, accompanied by a viral meme of a man in a yellow suit jacket rubbing his hands together.
Earnhardt Jr. enjoyed his time as crew chief, albeit a short-lived gig. "It was a lot of fun," Earnhardt, who recently revealed NASCAR hopes for his daughters, said after the race. "I love owning race cars and racking up stats and championships, but it doesn't have the same competitive skin in the game… When you're the crew chief, you're under a ton of pressure."
"I felt like I really did have a role today that was probably even more than I anticipated," Earnhardt added. "But I did get a big assist from out of the gate. Mardy, Pat and all the guys on this team, we all sat down at meetings early in the week, understood what we needed to accomplish, had an idea in a game plan, right? We'd come off the trailer fast, car's comfortable. That was helpful. So we were ready for the race."
His wife Amy and their two girls, Isla and Nicole, were present for the moment. "I don't think I'll ever get to take them to Victory Lane as a driver, so I love that they get to experience just things about NASCAR," continued Earnhardt.
"I had such a great time growing up as a kid in this sport just running around here and I want them to have that opportunity and understand that this is a place where they could create opportunities for themselves down the road.
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"I'll let them do what they want to do with their lives, and steer themselves where they want to go and support everything they want to do. But I certainly want them to want them to know that NASCAR is an option and exists and there's so many possibilities.
"And if they're enjoying being around it, they can find ways to make a living at it. So we'll see. These are core memories, that they make, I believe, walking down pit road and going to Victory Lane."
