Dale Earnhardt Jr. expresses concern as he breaks silence on star NASCAR driver missing Texas showdown

JR Motorsports boss and Dale Earnhardt Jr. finally issued a response after his team announced Connor Zilisch was out of the Texas race. The 18-year-old was involved in a scary wreck last week at Talladega. Another former prodigy and NASCAR Cup Series champion, Kyle Larson, will replace JRM and Dale Jr.’s prodigal driver.

Zilisch was fighting for his first win at Talladega before a contact by Jesse Love sent him spiralling into the barriers. Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s team also released a statement online to notify about Zilisch’s precaution and Kyle Larson running Xfinity again. The team said: (Via X)

“Kyle Larson will sub for Connor Zilisch behind the wheel of the No. 88 Chevrolet this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway as Zilisch continues to recover from a lower back injury sustained last weekend at Talladega.”

Moreover, Dale Jr. dropped some words of encouragement for the 18-year-old in response to his team’s statement. He tweeted,

“It sucks to see Connor have to sit out but I’m thankful he is being smart and patient with this injury. He’ll be back in the seat and back at the front of the field soon enough.”

Zilisch would be gutted to miss out on a race during the season. In 12 races in the Xfinity Series this year, he has won once and amassed 4 top-10 finishes so far. He also has one of the best average starts in the series of 6.64.

Connor Zilisch thanks Kyle Larson for replacing him at Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s JRM for the Texas Xfinity race

After being involved in a scary crash at Talladega, JRM announced that Connor Zilisch was not going to race at Texas. The 18-year-old has thanked NASCAR champion Kyle Larson for covering for him as he recovers from the consequences of Talladega’s troublesome incident.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s driver tweeted on his social account:

“Thank you to Kyle Larson for stepping up for me this weekend and everyone who has helped me through this process. Doing everything I can to be back as soon as possible.”

Kyle Larson has already run twice in the Xfinity Series this season. The Hendrick Motorsports ace won the race at Bristol just a few weeks ago. Dale Earnhardt Jr. could not have found a better replacement for his JRM prodigy.

Zilisch burst onto the scene as a 17-year-old, winning his first Xfinity race at Watkins Glen in his very first start. He followed his win with a second one this season when he won at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA).

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A Motorsports fanatic, Tanmay Khanna is the Motorsports Manager and Golf ACM at Sportskeeda. Tanmay has always been an avid sports fan possessing deep knowledge of 15+ sports while having played 5+ sports professionally on different levels. He was the captain of the U-18 team in the U-18 I League whilst also playing on a national level at the same ground as Gautam Gambhir and Virendra Sehwag. His technical knowledge of the sport, strong linguistic skills, and previous experience has helped him excel in this field. The Manchester United fan has Exclusive interviews with Golf superstars Paige Spiranac, Joel Dahmen, upcoming Indian F2 star driver Kush Maini among others. Tanmay has also covered LIV Golf’s Rocester event, meeting some of the biggest names in Golf including Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, etc.

Wayne Rooney, Lewis Hamilton, and Rafael Nadal are some of Tanmay’s biggest role models and he fulfilled one of his bucket list experiences by watching Manchester United live at Old Trafford.

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Edited by Tanmay Khanna