Would Kyle Larson ever follow Dale Jr.’s crew chief duties? Hendrick Motorsports ace shares his view

Kyle Larson turned down the idea of becoming a crew chief following Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s new role for Connor Zilisch on Saturday. The Hendrick Motorsports ace said he won't take up the role because he doesn't know anything about racecars.

While the statement appears to be an irony, Larson is one of the most versatile drivers in the field. He won races in NASCAR's three national series (Cup, Xfinity, and Truck) and other racing series, such as Kubota High Limit Racing, a sprint car series he co-owns with six-time national sprint car champion Brad Sweet.

In a pre-race interview at Pocono Raceway, Kyle Larson was asked about serving as a shot caller in the future. He thought Dale Jr. leading the #88 JR Motorsports team of Connor Zilisch was cool, but the role wasn't something on his bucket list.

“I have no clue because I would never do it. I don't know anything about racecars. I think it's cool to have that added little thing on his resume. Hopefully, Connor (Zilisch) has a good race... and would be pretty if he could somehow win,” Larson said (via Frontstretch on X). [0:45]

This weekend, Larson enters the Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway in the top two in the points standings. He has amassed three wins, nine top-5s, and 11 top-10s in the first 16 races of the 2025 Cup Series season.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., meanwhile, is a former HMS driver who owns JR Motorsports, a championship-winning Xfinity Series team. He is calling the shots for Zilisch, his rookie driving the #88 Chevrolet Camaro, in Saturday's 100-lapper.

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Former NASCAR champion picks Kyle Larson as favorite to win at Pocono

2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick picked Kyle Larson to win the Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway on Sunday. He believes the Tricky Triangle is a good track for Hendrick Motorsports, given that the team nails the optimal setup for the #5 Chevrolet Camaro.

Explaining his pick for the Pocono Cup race, the driver-turned-broadcaster said (via the Happy Hour podcast):

“I think it's time for the #5 to reset. I'm going to go with Kyle Larson.” [48:54] “I just think that there have been too many weeks of too many things being mediocre and things happening, and all the things that they've had going on, I think it's just, especially if those guys just grid up and qualify well and, you know, get that, get the thing dialed in like it needs to be, but I mean it's a good racetrack for them, so I'm going to go with Larson,” he added.

Unfortunately, Larson had a challenging qualifying session after only managing a 24th-place starting position. Chase Elliott led the HMS camp in 18th, with Alex Bowman and William Byron starting in 25th and 31st, respectively.

The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway is scheduled for June 22 at 2:00 p.m. ET. Amazon Prime will cover the 160-lap race as part of its five-race broadcasting schedule with NASCAR this year.

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Edited by Sumeet Kavthale