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 10^th.

Meanwhile, Love, with Christian Eckes of Kaulig Racing and Zilisch in tow, darted underneath Elliott and Allgaier and into the lead. The 10^th 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.

For ticket information and news on the NASCAR race weekend, please visit www.poconoraceway.com.

Pocono Raceway PR

Today’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway was delayed about two hours due to rain. So, there is a possibility that the sun ends this race. NASCAR has set the time that the race will end tonight, if we haven’t run all of the laps by sunset.

NASCAR has started to make these decisions more public. It felt like this was an emphasis starting last year. Tonight, the time that NASCAR has listed for Pocono is 8:25 PM ET.

Dustin Long of NBC Sports shared the decision from NASCAR on X/Twitter. If the race hasn’t concluded by the listed time, the leader will cross the line, and from there, it will be a two-lap race to the finish.

Now, before you get too upset, this race has time to finish all 400 miles. Starting at 4:30 PM ET, the race is expected to take just over three hours. So, we’re looking at around 8:00 PM ET or sooner for the conclusion of this race? That’s barring any weather or extensive caution-related delays.

Pocono has had its fair share of rain in the past for both NASCAR and IndyCar races. It is known for being foggy at times, and today’s delay was nothing new. Good news, blue skies, and warm temperatures right now as the race is underway.

Denny Hamlin searching for eighth NASCAR win at Pocono

This weekend has been the Denny Hamlin show early. He comes back after taking last weekend off following the birth of his son, Jameson. While he probably got less sleep than the drivers who went to Mexico City, Hamlin seems refreshed.

For the fifth time in his career, Hamlin won the pole at Pocono. He is now tied for most poles in Cup Series history at Pocono. Of course, he has seven wins, the most all-time in Cup history. Hamlin wants to add another NASCAR win at Pocono, especially coming off his win at Michigan two weeks ago.

There has been a lot of talk about Denny Hamlin and entering the twilight years of his career. But lately, Hamlin has seemed to be at the top of his game. At this rate, how many more years does he have left? It feels like more than one or two, that’s for sure.

Pocono is where he is at his best. So, someone else is going to have to beat Hamlin today if they want to win this race.

Daniel Wilkerson and the SCAG Power Equipment Ford Mustang team picked up their first Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge victory of the season Saturday while qualifying for the American Rebel Light Beer Virginia NHRA Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park just outside of Richmond.

Racing three-time world champion Ron Capps in the finals, Wilkerson handled the SCAG Mustang to the quickest pass of the third qualifying session with a 4.038-second pass at 320.74 mph. Capps came up short with a clean pass at 4.063 and 315.12.

“I’m just so proud of this whole SCAG Ford team,” said Wilkerson who earns three bonus championship points as well as a cash prize. “I feel like I’ve hosed this a couple times, and my team has been working through it so well. I’m so blessed, I’m so lucky to get to work with SCAG Power Equipment, Summit, Ford. My family isn’t here; they were there in Bristol. I put them through a lot of crap doing this and I’m sad they aren’t here, but I guess it just means we have to win the thing again next week in Norwalk, Ohio.”

In the first round, Wilkerson, in a rematch of the semifinal from the Thunder Valley Nationals, took down Paul Lee. Wilkerson made his quickest pass of qualifying, 4.022 at 320.36, to defeat Lee, who had to shut off early, coasting to a 4.521 at 191.43.

Wilkerson is qualified No. 4 for race day and will race against teammate Dave Richards. Richards and the BlueBird Turf / Versatran team are qualified 13th after a 4.267 pass. In Top Fuel, the SCAG Toyota dragster of Justin Ashley is qualified No. 9 and will faceoff with Doug Foley first round.

Eliminations at the American Rebel Light Beer Virginia NHRA Nationals begin Sunday at 11:00 a.m. Fans can catch qualifying action on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) Sunday at 2:00 p.m. ET and eliminations coverage on FOX Broadcasting Network (FOX) Sunday at 4:00 p.m. ET. 

This story was originally published on June 22, 2025.

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

READ MORE: NASCAR Qualifying Results: Cup Series legend shines on return as 23XI suffer disaster

Related

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.”