LONG POND, Pennsylvania — Being atop the pit box as a crew chief likely wasn’t on Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s bingo card last month.

But after Mardy Lindley, crew chief for the JR Motorsports No. 88 driven by Connor Zilisch, was suspended for a penalty stemming from Nashville and was forced to miss Saturday’s race at Pocono, team owner Earnhardt Jr. took the opportunity and ran with it at full speed. 

“I didn’t walk in and say, ‘Hey, can I do this?'” Earnhardt Jr. said. “Mardy texted me and said, ‘Hey, would you want to do this? I think you could.’ It was his idea.” 

Like he was when Justin Allgaier drove a JR Motorsports Cup Series entry in the Daytona 500, Earnhardt Jr. was a boots-on-the-ground team member over the weekend at Pocono. The NASCAR Hall of Famer pushed Zilisch’s No. 88 through tech inspection, to the grid and helped catch tires during pit stops. 

“It’s more happenstance than anything,” Earnhardt Jr. said of the opportunity. “I wasn’t ever going to seek out that. It wasn’t something I saw myself doing. I’ll do whatever my team needs me to do.” 

What his team needed him to do on Sunday was guide Zilisch, who was making his first Pocono start, around one of the most intricate tracks on the schedule that also features some of the most complex strategy on the schedule. 

“It felt good to have some input and decision-making power,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “Helping Connor understand what our plan was so he knew what to do – that was one of the things I always struggled with as a driver. When you’re on the racetrack as a driver, sometimes you’re just driving the car and you can’t really do the math. You need the crew chief to say, ‘I need you to lead and keep the lead. I need you to run qualifying laps for the next five or 10 laps.’ That was kind of fun to be in that role and helping Connor understand the goals and objectives and what our plan was.” 

Making the win even more special for Earnhardt Jr. was the fact that his daughters, Isla and Nicole, were present in victory lane to celebrate with Dad – something they haven’t gotten to do with their father as a driver. 

“I don’t think I’ll ever get to take them to victory lane as a driver,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I love that they get to experience things about NASCAR. I had such a great time growing up as a kid in this sport 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.” 

In regard to future opportunities, Earnhardt Jr. said being a crew chief is something he’ll only do again if a similar situation arises. 

“I would not ever walk in the shop and go, ‘Hey, I’d be up for doing it.’ I’m not going to do that. But if we find ourselves unfortunately where Jim (Pohlman) or somebody gets suspended, if they want me to do it, I would happily do it.”

For the moment, at least Earnhardt Jr. can add another impressive accomplishment to the laundry list of accolades that turned him into a Hall of Famer: winning a race as a crew chief, and so far, batting a thousand atop the pit box. 

All quotations obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.