Cup Series legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. made a brilliant winning debut in a new NASCAR role this weekend.

The 50-year-old won 26 races in his Cup Series career, but it was the Xfinity Series – which he won twice in 1998 and 1999 – where he made his crew chief debut at NASCAR level this weekend.

Earnhardt Jr. is the owner of JR Motorsports, team that runs four full-time entries in the series, including Connor Zilisch in the No. 88.

No. 88 crew chief Mardy Lindley was suspended this weekend for a loose lug-nut penalty at Nashville, which was deferred to this weekend’s race at Pocono. That left the team needing to fill that spot and Earnhardt Jr., who was already scheduled to be at the race for the Amazon Prime broadcast, stepped up.

NASCAR HEADLINES: Cup Series star eliminated despite win as team drop controversial crew member

Earnhardt Jr.: Zilisch is going to be a big deal

Zilisch won in a chaotic race which saw more cautions thrown than any other Xfinity Series race at Pocono, with Earnhardt Jr. saying after the chequered flag: “Yeah, it sure was [fun]. When we have an issue like this with somebody being suspended, and uh, Mardy and everybody, they know what to do. Just a great job, putting us in a position to succeed. And we had a lot of things go our way.

“A lot of good luck. Great strategy. Had a little help from Letarte up here. I wasn’t not gonna have Steve Letarte not get on this pit box after the races we won together in 2014. So, he was a big help. But Pat, everybody on this team, just amazing all weekend long. And what a great race car driver. Connor Zilisch is going to be a big deal in this sport for a long time. So, a lot of fun for me today!”

He added: “I missed the thrill of competition, you know. I love broadcasting, don’t get me wrong, but nothing compares to driving or just being kind of part of the team, and being an owner doesn’t really deliver like this. This is a lot of fun, thank you.”

NASCAR Xfinity Series: Pocono Results Today

NASCAR Xfinity Series: Pocono Stage 2 results

NASCAR Xfinity Series: Pocono Stage 1 results

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An eventful first half of the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen run under a variety of weather conditions saw the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 driven by Matt Campbell at the head of the field at the halfway point. Streaming race coverage continues in the U.S. on Peacock and internationally via the IMSA YouTube channel through the checkered flag just past 6pm ET.

The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship commenced the third round of the 2025 IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup season and the sixth race weekend of the full season at Watkins Glen International first under cloudy skies, before a deluge of rain a half hour into the race upended the proceedings and six full-course cautions disrupted the flow.

From GTP and overall pole, Renger van der Zande led the 55-car field to green in the No. 93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian Acura ARX-06 but he wasn’t up front for long. From 10th on the grid, Felipe Nasr delivered a remarkable start to the lead by lap 4 in the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963, completing the lead with a two-in-one on the outside of Turn 9 past Jack Aitken in the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R and van der Zande, who’d fallen to second.

Nasr wasn’t the only big mover. From last on the 20-car GTD grid, Alessandro Pier Guidi leapt to fourth in the same timeframe in the No. 21 Af Corse Ferrari 296 GT3.

When the skies opened a half hour into the race, several incidents followed, including a significant collision between the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports and No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA LMP2 07 cars in LMP2 exiting Turn 9. As a GT car tipped the No. 52 car into a spin, the No. 11 car had nowhere to go and hit the No. 52 car square on. The incident popped the No. 11 car’s windshield out of the car. Both drivers, Rodrigo Sales and Steven Thomas, were evaluated and released from the infield care center.

The rain’s effect on the race necessitated most of the field switching from Michelin’s slick tires to wet-weather tires during the deluge, and back to slicks again as the humid conditions helped the track dry quite quickly.

In the third hour, most teams had completed their first driver change of the race – this race allows for teams to run either two or three drivers, depending on class – and shuffled the leaders.

By pitting in advance of a yellow flag for the GTD PRO Motul Pole Award-winning No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 stopped on course, Lamborghini’s GTP entry moved to the front of the field.

Romain Grosjean moved clear to the lead in the No. 63 Automobili Lamborghini Squadra Corse Lamborghini SC63 and led away from Kaku Ohta who’d taken over the No. 93 Acura from van der Zande. Daniil Kvyat (No. 63 Lamborghini) and Nick Yelloly (No. 93 Acura) just took over right at the three-hour marks under the sixth and most recent full-course caution.

With the caution, the orders changed and the unofficial leaders listed at the three-hour mark included:

• GTP: No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963
• LMP2: No. 43 Inter Europol Competition ORECA LMP2 07
• GTD PRO: No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO
• GTD: No. 21 Af Corse Ferrari 296 GT3

The top three scorers at the three-hour mark receive five, four and three points, respectively, per class for the Michelin Endurance Cup with all others receiving two.

The No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 shared by Felipe Nasr and Nick Tandy continues to lead the Michelin Endurance Cup standings in the GTP class, with the No. 43 Inter Europol entry atop LMP2, the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW leads GTD PRO points, and the No. 21 Af Corse Ferrari moved into the GTD Michelin Endurance Cup lead.

Bruno Ribeiro put on a dominating performance to claim the victory in Formula Regional Americas Championship’s (FR Americas) opening race of the Mid-Ohio SpeedTour weekend. Taking on the challenging Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Ribeiro (No. 01 Alfa Cem / Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) set the pace from lights to checkered in an all-green race.

Leading the field down the starting grid after securing his first-career pole in yesterday’s qualifying session, Ribeiro successfully held off his Kiwi Motorsport teammate Nicolas Ambiado (No. 55 Velox USA / Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3), as well as third-place starter—and finisher—Titus Sherlock (No. 31 Rayne Nutrition / Ronald McDonald House Charities / Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F3). Unchallenged in his fight to the finish, Ribeiro easily claimed his first victory of the 2025 season, becoming the fifth driver to win this season in FR Americas.

Notes of Interest:

Bruno Ribeiro claimed his first win of the 2025 season, and second of his career, at Mid-Ohio on Saturday morning.

Ribeiro joined Sherlock (four wins), Ambiado (two wins), Golan (one win), and Bowling (one win) as 2025 race winners.

In nine races this season, Ribeiro has finished on the podium seven times, with today being his first win of the year. The victory allowed him to match Nicolas Ambiado in the point standings, with the two teammates now tied for the championship lead.

Ambiado earned his sixth podium of the 2025 season, while Titus Sherlock recorded his fifth podium of 2025.

Three nations were represented on today’s podium, with Brazilian Ribeiro winning the event, Ambiado hailing from Chile, and Sherlock, an American.

“I’m just super thankful I managed to get P1,” said Ribeiro. “On the last few laps, we were battling an issue with the tire. I don’t know what happened exactly, but I thought that maybe I wasn’t going to make it to the finish. It’s a pretty hot day today. I’m just super happy to give the guys the result they deserve today; I have no words.”

Nicolas Ambiado retakes points lead with win in Race 2 at Mid-Ohio

Nicolas Ambiado earned his third Formula Regional Americas Championship (FR Americas) win of the 2025 season in Race 2 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The victory gave him an edge in the battle for the title, allowing him to recapture the championship lead with a seven-point margin.

Starting the race from the second position, Ambiado took the lead from polesitter Bruno Ribeiro (No. 01 Alfa Cem / Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) racing into Turn 1 on the first lap and never looked back. After a car stalled on the starting grid to bring out the safety car, Ambiado overcame the challenge of an early restart to maintain the lead and race toward the checkered flag. The Chilean’s biggest challenge came with just over five minutes left on the clock when Ribeiro pulled wheel to wheel with Ambiado to challenge for the lead. With slight contact made between the two, Ambiado went from just a 0.352 lead to pulling away from the field.

Ambiado crossed the line first, with Ribeiro in second, while Jett Bowling (No. 22 Bullhorn / Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) completed the pass on Titus Sherlock (No. 31 Rayne Nutrition / Ronald McDonald House Charities / Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F3) during the closing laps to snag the third and final podium position.

Notes of Interest:

Nicolas Ambiado scored his third win of the 2025 season. With seven podiums in 10 rounds, the Chilean leads the points championship with a seven-point advantage.

Bruno Ribeiro earned his eighth podium of 2025. Earlier in the day, he scored his first-career race win, following it up with a second-place result in Race 2.

For the fifth time this season, Jett Bowling finished on the podium, taking home third place in Race 2.

Kiwi Motorsport swept the podium in Race 2. With four of the top-five finishers competing for the team, this was the fourth time this season Kiwi Motorsport has swept a race podium.

“That was a really hard race,” said Ambiado. “I had pressure from Bruno but I had a great start and then a good restart after the safety car. Physically, it was very hard. The sun was hot, but if you’re a driver, you need to be physically and mentally strong. That’s all in the training. I have to thank my team, Kiwi Motorsport, as well as my family and all my friends.”

LONG POND, Pa. — Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the role seriously. He attended meetings. He took notes. He was at a pit practice.

When the Xfinity Series garage opened Friday afternoon at at Pocono Raceway, he was there.

This was not a publicity stunt or a chance to add another line to his Hall of Fame resume. Earnhardt was committed to filling the role vacated by Mardy Lindley, who was serving a one-race suspension after Connor Zilisch’s car had multiple lug nuts not secure earlier this month at Nashville.

It was Lindley who suggested that Earnhardt, co-owner of the JR Motorsports car, take the role of crew chief for Saturday’s race. Earnhardt accepted, having never served in that role in a NASCAR national series race.

Zilisch took the lead with five laps to go to score his third career Xfinity win (first on an oval) and give Earnhardt the win as crew chief.

“Certainly more of an adrenaline rush than being an owner,” Earnhardt said after becoming one of the few in NASCAR to have a win as a driver, owner and crew chief. “I love owning race cars, and I love racking up statistics and championships, but it does not have the competitive sort of skin in the game, if you will, this specific day does.

“When you’re the crew chief, you’re under a ton of pressure. I understand that I did not come in here and handle all of the layers that Mardy usually handles or any given crew chief manages, They were certainly putting me in a position to do some light lifting. As the race went on, we got more comfortable and more aggressive and it was fun.

“Felt like I really had some involvement and input in the energy that the crew had … keeping them pumped up and keeping everybody executing, keeping Connor aware of what our goals were, what our expectations were on these restarts. He wanted to deliver on all those expectations. I felt like in that aspect it was a good day.”

The hardest part of the day for Earnhardt?

Climbing down the pit box to stand behind the pit wall and roll a tire to the carrier during a pit stop.

“I think the one thing I was most nervous about was actually setting that left front tire. … There’s a tenth (of a second) or two or even half a second between how far you can get it out there to (the tire carrier). You need that stripe up so he knows where the lugs are and to place the tire quickly. All these things are very minute, but they’re important that he grabs the tire from you in a certain way, and I didn’t want to mess that up.”

Jesse Love finished second and was followed by Christian Eckes, Chase Elliott and Ryan Sieg.

Stage 1 winner: Brandon Jones

Stage 2 winner: Connor Zilisch

Next: The series races at 7:30 p.m. ET Friday, June 27 at Atlanta.

LONG POND, Pa. (June 21, 2025) – JR Motorsports driver Connor Zilisch may be a teenage rookie in the Xfinity Series, but it is always comforting to have a NASCAR Hall of Famer in your ear.

The rising 18-year-old star, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. serving as his interim crew chief, earned the first oval victory of his career in Saturday’s Explore the Pocono Mountains 250 at Pocono Raceway.

Zilisch overtook Jesse Love of Richard Childress Racing for the lead on Lap 96 of 100 en route to the victory by .437 of a second for his second win on the season. His first career NXS victory came at the Circuit of The Americas permanent road course in early March. Click HERE for the full results.

“Pretty cool to have him (Earnhardt Jr.) up there,” said Zilisch, who drives the No. 88 Registix Chevrolet. “It’s pretty funny, he was giving me a kick in the ass on some of the restarts. Advice from him was advice well-taken. It was cool to have him and to get him a one-for-one win as a crew chief is pretty awesome.

“I have been dying for this one for a while. This one’s pretty special. I’ve been so close on the ovals lately. I finished second in Charlotte, second at Nashville.”

An ecstatic Earnhardt Jr. not only was celebrating the win as a team owner, but also for securing his first as a crew chief. He was filling in for Zilisch’s regular crew chief Mardy Lindley, who was absent due to a one-race suspension for a lug nut penalty.

“I understand that I did not come in here and handle all of the layers Mardy usually handles,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “They put me in a position to do some light lifting. As the race went on, we got more comfortable and aggressive. It was fun. I felt like I had some involvement and some input with the energy. I have a ton of respect and admiration for all the crew chiefs and all the stress they put up with. I really have a new appreciation and level of respect and understanding of all the decisions they have to make.

“I didn’t walk in and say ‘Hey, can I do this?’ Mardy texted me and said, ‘Do you want to do this? I think you could.’”

It was a day of varying strategies and several pivotal restarts as a result of 10 cautions for 41 laps in the 100-lap race. The first key restart came with 13 laps remaining with race leader and 2020 Cup Series champion Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports lining up next to defending Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier of JR Motorsports. On the restart, the two were side by side with Allgaier getting loose and both forced to fall back in the field and out of contention for the win. Elliott, who led a race-high 38 laps, would rally to finish fourth while Allgaier settled for 10th.

Meanwhile, Love, with Christian Eckes of Kaulig Racing and Zilisch in tow, darted underneath Elliott and Allgaier and into the lead. The 10th and final caution soon came out on Lap 91 for a spin by Kyle Sieg in Turn 2 to set the stage for a duel between best friends, Love and Zilisch.

Love, the 2024 Xfinity Series Rookie of the Year, took the initial lead on the restart before a side-by-side battle ensued and Zilisch was able to clear him and officially claim the lead on Lap 96. He led the final five laps and 34 overall to secure the win. Eckes, who considers Pocono Raceway his hometown track having grown up in Middletown, N.Y., took third for a season-best finish.

The weekend culminates with the sold-out Great American Getaway 400 presented by VISITPA.COM NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday beginning at 2 p.m. ET.

NASCAR Cup Series star Ryan Blaney has been dealt a demotion blow at Pocono after Team Penske made changes to his No. 12 Ford.

Blaney is the defending Cup Series race winner at Pocono Raceway having beaten Denny Hamlin to the victory at the tricky triangle last year, but now faces a massive uphill task to repeat his success this time around.

READ MORE: NASCAR Race Today: Pocono start times, schedule and how to watch live on TV

During the rain delay for today’s race, Blaney confirmed that he will be sent to the rear of the field for the start of the Great American Getaway 400, with Team Penske having to replace his starter engine following qualifying on Saturday.

Blaney had qualified 20th during Saturday’s session, but he will now be one of six drivers sent to the rear ahead of the green flag when the action eventually gets underway this evening.

READ MORE: NASCAR Cup Series winner eliminated despite historic win

Six drivers sent to the rear at Pocono

The changes made to Blaney’s No. 12 come under ‘unapproved adjustments’, as per Dustin Albino, and the standard penalty for this is being sent to the rear of the field.

Ahead of this month’s Cup Series race at Michigan, for example, 23XI’s Tyler Reddick suffered the same fate.

Joining Blaney at the rear of the field for such an infraction will be Josh Berry, Bubba Wallace, William Byron and Cody Ware, some of whom did not set qualifying times due to their issues.

At the very back of the field will be Brennan Poole in the No. 44 after his NY Racing team failed pre-race inspection multiple times this weekend, hit with a quadruple penalty as a result.

After a delayed start time, NASCAR plans to kick off the race at Pocono at 4:30 pm ET.

READ MORE: NASCAR announce quadruple Cup Series penalty at Pocono

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