Skip to main content
Join Now
NASCAR Logo

Dale Earnhardt Jr. trolls Hendrick Motorsports after NASCAR levied suspension

JHby: Jonathan Howard06/26/25Jondean25

Feeling fresh off his first win as a crew chief in his first race on the box, Dale Earnhardt Jr. trolled his Hendrick Motorsports friends. Dale Jr. helped lead Connor Zilisch to the win at Pocono. It was the young NASCAR driver’s first win at an “oval” track.

There was a bit of criticism, or more dismissal, over Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his first race as a crew chief. A few people were talking about “war rooms” and how connected the crew chiefs are to the tracks, even when they are suspended.

No matter the outside noise, Dale Jr. appears to want to do it again. Chase Elliott’s No. 17 car was taken back to the Research and Development Center for a teardown. Well, the Hendrick Xfinity Series team got caught with a “main frame rail conical receiver violation.”

Adam Wall was the crew chief, and he’s suspended for three races. So, Dale Earnhardt Jr. says he’s going to hit up Greg Ives and see if he can fill in for the 17 team.

Ives has been at Hendrick Motorsports for years, from mechanic to crew chief. In the Cup Series, he’s worked with Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Alex Bowman. He recently worked as the crew chief for JR Motorsports and Justin Allgaier in the Daytona 500.

Could Dale Jr. convince his former crew chief to let him work on the 17 car? I’m not so sure. Ives is helping develop Corey Day in the Xfinity Series in that car. Maybe they need a guy to catch tires on pit stops. Earnhardt proved he can do both at Pocono.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was thrilled to win as crew chief

With Mardy Lindley watching at home and helping as much as he could, Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a great debut as crew chief. He also had his buddy Steve Letarte up there with him. So, Connor Zilisch was in good hands.

I mean, there were many chances that Earnhardt could have ruined things. He was on the pit box; he ultimately had the final say on things. If he made one decision for whatever reason against Lindley or Letarte’s advice, it could have cost them the race. Heck, he was grabbing tires! So, he could have easily caused a pit road penalty.

Besides, it was great to see him after the race. That win meant a lot to Dale Jr. However it got done, it got done.

“Yeah, it sure was [fun],” Earnhardt said on The CW broadcast after the win. “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!”