Remember when Doc Hudson came out of retirement to be Lightning McQueen’s crew chief for one race? 

It seemed eerily similar seeing Dale Earnhardt Jr. on top of the box for Connor Zilisch’s race in Pocono. 

After Zilisch’s usual CC Mardy Lindley was announced to serve a one race suspension following loose lugnuts on the 88’s car at Nashville, Dale Jr. inexplicably stepped up to take his role for one race only. 

As Zilisch wheeled his Chevrolet across the start/finish line to capture the checkered flag, you could see the jubilation on Juniors face. 

How could he not be happy? The NASCAR icon now has one of the best ESPN stats of all time; The only Daytona 500 winner to have both won an Xfinity championship as a driver, owner while also winning an Xfinity race as a Crew Chief.

But amongst the ESPN stat is a very big stat, that being Zilisch’s first win on a NASCAR oval. The 18-year-old has already proven his excellence on the road courses, but breaking through on the ovals poses a massive threat to the competition and adds a fiery level of confidence to the young star. Adding that it’s a win at a track called ‘The Tricky Triangle,’ there’s no telling what’s next for him. 

“I’ve been dying for this one for a while now, I’ve been so close on the ovals lately. Dale Jr, not too bad on the box. Pretty cool to have him up there,” said Zilisch. 

Getting there was a fight for the bossman and his wheelman starting in 9th, with Chase Elliott and the #17 car of Hendrick Motorsports starting the weekend off with the pole and a fast car to begin stage one. 

Daniel Dye began to lose control on lap three, bringing out the first of what would be a bevy of cautions throughout the day. Before the restart could hardly ensue, Justin Bonsignore blew his engine and forced the field to rerack. 

Things stayed calm for the rest of the stage, as Brandon Jones capitalized off of Elliott’s field flipping strategy to win stage one. 

The highs and lows of Pocono would be felt by Jones immediately, as he began to lose his car one lap after the restart battling three wide on lap 33. 

Despite the constant battle against the yellow flag, Elliott and the #7 of Justin Allgaier continued to battle one another for the race win, pitting with one another to try and flip stages and abandon the points race for stage wins. 

The battle would heat up in the back of the field through the rest of stage two, as the two veteran drivers would thrust up to the top 10 before the end. 

Meanwhile, Zilisch began to utilize the clean air for the first time all day and peel off to take stage two. He would restart the final stage with older tires along with fellow Chevy teammate Jesse Love behind him. 

Cool and collected, the #88 started to find his groove and watched as Love began to defend against the fresher and faster cars of Elliott and Allgaier. 

Elliott finally found a chance to pass Love and begin his chase of Zilisch, who was informed by his boss that he’d be pitting for tires and fuel anyway. With that ensuing, Elliott captured the lead once again and looked to take it home with 32 laps to go. 

Lady luck would be on the #88 team’s side, as immediately after they pitted, a Garrett Smithley caused caution allowed Zilisch to stay out and restart in first while Elliott and co. went down pit road.  

The restart saw Zilisch, who was in elementary school when Elliott won his first Xfinity series race, battle the vet and Love for position. The battles wouldn’t last long, as another caution from Dean Thompson forced another restart on lap 79. 

Elliott began to finally rip the lead away from the #88 but another caution, this time by Nick Sanchez, would make the driver of the 17 earn it one more time. 

Despite a hard effort, a moment by Allgaier

shoved both drivers up the track on the restart, dropping them to 13th and 6th respectively. Changing the chemistry of the race entirely with 12 laps left, but it wouldn’t be an Xfinity series race without one final caution. The 10th yellow, brought out by Kyle Sieg, marked a record for the Xfinity series at Pocono. Never a good stat. 

Love and the #16 of Christian Eckes, hunting for his first series win in his rookie year, started one-two with five laps to go. Behind the two was the determined hot rod of Zilisch. 

Using lessons learned from his boss, Zilisch passed Eckes cleanly and hunted down Love as the cars began to approach three laps to go. Clearing the two for the lead, the #88 team coasted home to capture their first victory on an oval, marking a monumental moment for the young driver. 

There’s no doubt usual CC Lindley was able to chime in with Junior and help out his first run as a CC, but the win adds yet another piece of NASCAR history to an already decorated name. 

“I miss the thrill of competition. I love broadcasting, don’t get me wrong but nothing compares to driving or just being a part of the team, being an owner doesn’t really deliver like this,” said Earnhardt Jr. 

The win puts Zilisch firmly in 3rd in the playoffs standings, with 13 playoff points to his name. Allgaier and Austin Hill remain tied for first with 21 playoff points and three wins. 

The sky is the limit for the 18-year-old in his first ever full time series in Xfinity. Often bad luck or his own mistakes haunting him, Zilisch is rarely far away from winning every single week. All that needs to be said was said by his boss and crew chief.

“What a great racecar driver Connor Zilisch, he’s gonna be a big deal in this sport for a long time.” 

The Xfinity series resumes competition next week at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta). The green flag waves at 4:30 PM PST.