Crew chief Mardy Lindley will return to the No. 88 Chevrolet for 2026 with another new driver. After leading Connor Zilisch to nine wins and the Championship 4 in 2025, the South Carolina native will mentor young Rajah Caruth in his first attempt at the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series title.
Lindley’s fourth season with JRM—and his 15th overall—will build on solid success with the team, as the 53-year-old has earned 17 NOAPS victories since 2023. Last season, he and Zilisch won nine times on the way to the Championship Race, where he narrowly lost out in the winner-take-all event. NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson drove to victory at Texas in relief of an injured Zilisch in the 12th race of the season. The second-generation crew chief also led JRM driver Sam Mayer to seven wins in 2023-24, on the way to a 2023 Championship 4 appearance and a ninth-place finish in series points in 2024. Mayer posted 19 top-five and 30 top-10 finishes with Lindley at the helm.
In 2024, Lindley engineered three wins, at Texas Motor Speedway, Iowa Speedway and the Charlotte Roval, the latter a must-win triumph to advance to the Round of 8 in the NOAPS Playoffs. In addition, he guided Mayer to eight top-five and 13 top-10 finishes on the way to a ninth-place finish in series points.
In 2023, his first season in the series and with Mayer, the second-generation racer turned crew chief led young Mayer and the No. 1 team to four wins, 13 top-five and 19 top-10 finishes and the Championship 4 berth at Phoenix Raceway.
In that breakout season for Mayer, Lindley guided the No. 1 team on a mid-season surge that put it squarely in the championship hunt as the 2023 season progressed. After a strong second-place finish at Auto Club Speedway in the second race of the season, Mayer began to push the top five more and more as the year went on.
Lindley helped Mayer to his first career NOAPS victory in a wild race at Road America in Mayer’s native Wisconsin, clinching a spot in the playoffs, and followed up with wins at Watkins Glen and the Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The latter win pushed Mayer into the next round, and a victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway gave Lindley and the team a chance at the series championship at Phoenix.
His first season in the NOAPS added to the accomplishments for Lindley’s career, which includes eight seasons in the ARCA Menards and NASCAR K&N Pro Series and three in what is now the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
The Greenville, S.C. native came to JRM from Kyle Busch Motorsports, where he spent the last two seasons as crew chief on the No. 51 truck. In 2022, Lindley’s machines scored three wins, 10 top-five and 15 top-10 finishes throughout the season with drivers Corey Heim, Kyle Busch and 2022 USAC National Midget Series champion Buddy Kofoid. Lindley also helped Heim earn two pole positions. In 2021, Lindley led the No. 51 team to three victories, six top-five and eight top-10 efforts.
Lindley’s passion for motorsports began at a young age as he traveled across the country watching his father, Butch Lindley, take racing by the reins. His father was a two-time champion of what is now the NXS in 1977 and 1978, but suffered career-ending injuries in a crash in 1985. After his father’s accident, the younger Lindley continued in motorsports and helped Dale Earnhardt Sr. in 1992 for multiple races.
Lindley was not just a crew chief and mechanic. The second-generation driver had many years of success in the Pro Cup Series as he raced his way to Victory Lane 11 times from 2000 to 2006 and was crowned champion of the series in 2001. In 2008, the South Carolina native landed at Roush Fenway Racing where he helped establish their ARCA team with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. In 2009, he moved up to work with Greg Biffle as a mechanic on the No. 16 in what is now the NASCAR Cup Series for the next three seasons.
Lindley started his crew-chief career in 2012 when he went atop the pit box to call the shots for Bryan Ortiz with REV Racing in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series. The following season, he went on to achieve his first championship as a crew chief with Dylan Kwasniewski in the series. Lindley continued to pile up achievements as the years went on, leading to his teaming with Mayer, the youngest champion in NASCAR history.
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