Dale Earnhardt Jr. woke up sore after celebrating Connor Zilisch Pocono win: 'Punching the s**t out of each other'

Dale Earnhardt Jr. made sure to celebrate his first win as a crew chief in tremendous fashion. The NASCAR Hall of Famer filled in on top of Connor Zilisch’s pit box at Pocono Raceway this past weekend, and the duo propelled the No. 88 Chevrolet to Victory Lane.

To say the team got after it following the win would be an understatement. On the latest episode of the Dale Jr. Download, Earnhardt Jr. revealed he woke up sore the next day from all the celebrating after Zilisch’s huge victory.

“It still hasn’t really sunk in. … It was so much fun,” Earnhardt Jr. stated. “Sitting on that pit-box. You can’t really see onto pit road because of the monitors, but I could see the water and everything flying up in the air. I know there’s a celebration going on. Amy said that we might’ve all broke each other’s ribs.

“I got up the next day, and I was sore all over. We were punching the shit out of each other, back-slapping. I had two ribs out on my right side the next morning. I woke up sore.”

It certainly was a change of pace for Earnhardt Jr. during the race, but he obviously enjoyed it immensely. The win meant a ton to him and Zilisch, as the duo’s victory was a popular result to fans at the track and watching at home.

“It sure was [fun],” Earnhardt stated after the win, via The CW. “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! … I missed the thrill of competition. 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.”

Alas, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Connor Zilisch deserved to celebrate at Pocono. Here’s to hoping this isn’t the last time we’ve seen the veteran on top of a pit box. Perhaps he has a future with this whole crew chief thing moving forward.