Austin Dillon believes Jim Pohlman's RCR roots from the early Next Gen days make him the right fit for Kyle Busch's 2026 run

Austin Dillon shared his thoughts about Jim Pohlman's decision to join Richard Childress Racing next year. Speaking about the move, Dillon stated that Pohlman's earlier Next Gen experience will help him to work with Busch in 2026.

JR Motorsports, in a recent statement, revealed that Pohlman, who is the current crew chief of Justin Allgaier, will leave the team next year and join Richard Childress Racing to work with two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch. As a result, he will switch from the Xfinity Series to the Cup Series.

Pohlman, one of the renowned crew chiefs in NASCAR, also has experience working in the Cup Series, for the same team he is returning to. He worked with Richard Childress' team till 2022 before deciding to move to JRM for three years.

His experience at RCR and how he worked with the Next Gen cars will give him an impetus as he is set to work with Busch next season. Speaking about this, here's what Austin Dillon, a driver at RCR, told Bob Pockrass:

"Jim was actually working with us when we, at RCR started helping develop the Next Gen car. So he has a quite a bit of time, I feel like, with the process of the Next Gen car and what it takes. I think it's gonna be key to get him in there fast in the off season, and to get to work on his guys. "Hopefully get a test in, but I think he has history with the Next Gen cars, when he was at RCR, so that's probably important. But I think we have enough structure around him to help get him going, and I think a leader is the best thing you need nowadays," he further added.

Jim Pohlman and Justin Allgaier have been working for three years at JR Motorsports and won last year's Xfinity Series title. Coming into 2025, the pair qualified for the Championship 4 and has a very good chance of retaining the title.

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JRM driver revealed why Jim Pohlman's replacement is yet to be announced

JR Motorsports driver Justin Allgaier revealed that the team is not concerned about finding a replacement for Jim Pohlman now. Speaking about it to the media, here's what the driver said:

Justin Allgaier speaks to crew chief Jim Pohlman (L) and Hall of Famer and JR Motorsports team owner, Dale Earnhardt Jr - Source: Getty

"We wait till Phoenix to start talking about, just because I feel like I always wanted our group to stay in the picture. This obviously (exit of Jim Pohlman) had to be announced because there had been too many people involved, from manufacturer standpoint, to team's standpoint, contracts and all these things, we needed to get these out there."

As Allgaier qualified for the Championship 4, he would want to focus on the final round before thinking about his next crew chief. Moreover, there was no announcement on the new crew chief from the part of JR Motorsports management.

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Edited by Sabyasachi Biswas