Posted on 05/28/2009 10:15:42 AM PDT by Jersey Republican Biker Chick
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP)—Dale Earnhardt Jr. will have a new crew chief starting with this weekend’s race at Dover because of a slump that has dragged deep into the season.
Tony Eury Jr. was removed as crew chief of Earnhardt’s No. 88 team Thursday. The two are cousins and have worked together during Earnhardt’s entire career.
(Excerpt) Read more at sports.yahoo.com ...
Ping the NASCAR list please.
Something needed to happen with that team. He killed my fantasy league last week - I haven’t decided whether to fire him for this week or not....
We are getting closer to the day that people realize Junior is not the driver everyone hopes he would be.
One win since joining Hendrick.....that win was only because Junior was leading when the race was called for rain.
I like Dale Jr as a person. He is gracious, funny and a decent man. However, I feel he does not have the talent.
Wow indeed! I just said this weekend to hubby that maybe Jr. needs a new crew chief. I hope this move is a good one for him.
I guess Jr will have to get used to cussing out someone other than his cousin.
After watching Jr. working just to keep that car on the track at LMS it's clear to me that he is a talented driver. That car was almost undriveable.
How many times has he been running well, come in for a pit stop where they made a change or two and then he's running backwards? Usually it's every race. Unless Jr. is giving them bad info about the car, it's not his fault.
The team has problems. Jr. has made a few pit road mistakes this season, but the 88 team needs Hendrick coming in and making some changes, starting with Eury Jr. There's no way Jr. would fire his cousin, but it needed to be done.
From Hendrick Motorsports Website:
Hendrick Motorsports today named Lance McGrew as interim crew chief of the #88 Sprint Cup Series team of driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. beginning with the June 7 event at Pocono Raceway. Team manager Brian Whitesell will lead the team this weekend at Dover
“Our performance hasn’t been where it should be,” said Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports. “It’s impossible to pin that on any one factor, but a change is the right decision at this point. We have a plan in place, and we’re going to move forward with it.” Whitesell and Rex Stump, Hendrick Motorsports’ lead chassis engineer, have been assigned to support McGrew on a full-time basis. Whitesell, who won two of seven races as Jeff Gordon’s interim crew chief in 1999, will join McGrew and team engineer Tom Stewart on the #88 pit box to assist with race strategy.
“We’re going to put our full resources toward improving the situation and winning races,” Hendrick said. “It’s going to be a collective effort that includes all of our drivers, all of our crew chiefs and all of our engineers. Everyone in our company will be involved on some level.” Tony Eury Jr. will move from the crew chief position into a key role with Hendrick Motorsports’ research and development group. Eury posted one victory, one pole position, 19 top-10 finishes and 11 top-fives in 48 races with the #88 team.
“I have mixed feelings, and that’s just natural,” Eury said. “But I enjoy working at Hendrick Motorsports, and this is where I want to be. I’ll do whatever I can to help all of our teams and try to be a part of another championship. I think a new challenge will be good.”
McGrew, 41, earned the 2003 Nationwide Series championship with driver Brian Vickers. He won the October 2006 Sprint Cup race with Vickers at Talladega, and most recently led Cup rookie #25-Brad Keselowski to a seventh-place finish May 9 at Darlington. As a crew chief, McGrew has posted victories in all three of NASCAR’s major touring series: Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck. He has won races with drivers Vickers, Jeff Gordon, Ricky Hendrick, Kyle Busch, Mark Martin and most recently Tony Stewart Feb. 14 at Daytona Beach.
18 cup wins and several top 10 points finishes - but he doesn’t have the talent?
By that kind of reasoning we should only have about 15 cars each race because the rest are simply not up to par.
about freakin’ time ...
I believe he has the talent, his cars have sucked a la Eury, Jr....
Look, if you are a Junior fan, good for you.
Last time it was inferior cars at DEI that could not keep up with the investment made by Hendrick.
Now it is his crew chief.
Unfortunately, he is running out of excuses.
Hope this works out well for all concerned.
You might just be correct on all counts.
However Jr's father's untimely death, considering just how close they were, took an awful toll.
I loved the old man. He was many negative things to many people but to us he was an American's American. A John Wayne in an American stock car.
His death kicked us in the chest so hard it felt like catching one from a Missouri mule, still hurts.
Was so totally heartbreaking for us I dread to even imagine what it was like for the young man. Especially after his stepmother Theresa brought in an imbecile to run DEI, leaving a direct descendant heir apparent hung out to dry.
Jr will sort it out, when he does lookout.
Assuming Chevrolet isn't forced to withdraw from racing by ol' zerO & Co, first.
Excuses aside, most of the bottom line is Jr. and I hope the switch to a new crew chief will help him and the rest of the team. He and his dad are the hometown heroes here and I want him to always be a threat on race day. The rest is up to him.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.