Heat on Dale Earnhardt Jr
No More Excuses
The heat was just turned up a few degrees on Dale Earnhardt Jr today.
Tony Eury Jr has been replaced as Dale Earnhardt Jr’s crew chief.
That leaves no more excuses for poor performance. Dale Earnhardt Jr has just been handed all the resources Hendrick Motorsports has to offer. There will be no one left to blame if the 88 car does not see improvements on the race track.
A Trio of Crew Chiefs
It sounds like Rick Hendrick has hired a committee of crew chiefs to run the No. 88.
Hendrick Motorsports announced that Lance McGrew would become Interim Crew Chief for the No.88 car starting with the June 7 Pocono race.
Brian Whitesell will fill in as crew chief for one race this weekend at Dover.
The plan is for Whitesell and Rex Stump – two of the best engineers in all on NASCAR – to provide support to new crew chief Lance McGrew to get the No. 88 car back on track.
Brian Whitesell was Ray Evernham’s right-hand man when the No. 24 team of Jeff Gordon was winning all those races and championships.
Rex Stump is the man behind the famous T-Rex car that Jeff Gordon won the All Star race with in 1997. That car was banned by NASCAR – not because it was illegal, but because it was so advanced. NASCAR had no rules against the car, but they had never seen anything like it, and told the No. 24 team not to bring the car back.
Stump is the lead chassis engineer at Hendrick Motorsports.
Eury’s Cars Removed From Hauler
Tony Eury Jr had Dale Jr’s Dover cars loaded on the hauler and ready to go before he got the news from Rick Hendrick that he was out as Junior’s crew chief.
McGrew, Whitesell and Stump didn’t waste any time making changes. They unloaded Junior’s cars, removed Eury’s setup, and tuned the chassis similar to what the other 3 Hendrick cars have.
After Dale Jr’s 40th place finish at Lowe’s Motor Speedway this week something was bound to happen.
Hendrick Not Happy
“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.”
McGrew has won championships before. He was crew chief for Brian Vickers when the two won the 2003 NASCAR Nationwide Series championship.
He has won as recently as February at Daytona when he was crew chief for Tony Stewart in the Nationwide race.
McGrew Lacks Experience
But McGrew has little experience with today’s Sprint Cup cars.
But you have to admit that Rick Hendrick has a pretty good track record when it comes to picking crew chiefs. He hired Ray Evernham and Chad Knaus. The two of them have 6 championships.
Tony Eury Jr will move to a position in the Hendrick research and development shop. “I have mixed feelings,” Eury said. “I’ll do whatever I can to help all of our teams. I think a new challenge will be good.”
I’m not so sure that a crew chief that has just been bumped up from the Nationwide Series is the answer – but I guess we’ll find out shortly. Maybe that’s why his title carries the word “interim.”
If this deal is going to work it will require co-operation n from all parties involved – including Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Junior needs to precisely describe how the car is performing, and then let the crew chief fix the car. No more crew-chiefing from the driver’s seat.
We’ll see if this is the right move. Do you think Rick Hendrick has made the right call?
Dale Jr Crew Chief Change
Rick Hendrick may be close to a change on Dale Jr’s pit box
After Dale Earnhardt Jr’s 40th place finish in the Coca Cola 600 you can’t blame Rick Hendrick for considering a change in crew chiefs for the 88 car.
NASCAR.com has reported the change could come as early as this week at Dover.
Rick Hendrick would neither confirm nor deny that a change was coming – and that usually means a change is coming.
Dale Jr ran at the back of the field for most of the day and finished the race ahead of just 3 other cars.
Junior wasn’t in a wreck – and nothing broke on the car. He simply had a car that would not handle.
I don’t believe Rick Hendrick will stand for this much longer. Neither will Dale Earnhardt Jr. Neither will National Guard or Amp.
Something is going to change – and it will likely be sooner rather than later.
You Decide: Should Tony Eury Jr. Stay or Go?
Would You Fire Tony Eury Jr.?
Everyone’s talking about it.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is talking about it.
Rick Hendrick is talking about it.
Tony Eury Jr. is talking about it.
Race fans everywhere are talking about it.
Should Tony Eury Jr. be fired as Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s crew chief?
Team owner Rick Hendrick made it clear this week that Tony Eury Jr. has the full faith and confidence of Hendrick Motorsports.
Rick Hendrick says:
“What I want to say is that I am 100% behind this group. I have no intentions of making any changes,” said Rick Hendrick.
“I’m very happy with the relationship with Dale and Tony.”
In fact, Mr. Hendrick seemed to lay more blame at the feet of Dale Earnhardt Jr. than Tony Eury Jr.
“Dale has step up to the plate,” Hendrick said. “Tony is willing to do whatever he needs to do. We can get it fixed.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has both defended Tony Jr. and said he would like to have his original crew chief back at the same time.
Junior says:
“There are days where I wish Tony Sr. was still around, said Dale Earnhardt Jr. about the crew chief who took him to 2 Busch series Championships and most of his Cup victories. Â ”But when they moved Tony Jr. in to the crew chief role it was what was supposed to happen with him.”
“Everybody knows how smart a guy he is. He is a good mechanic and a solid crew chief. I’ll take the fall. I would rather be crucified than him.”
“I feel like I am sending my brother to jail for a crime I committed, you know what I mean?”
So who would you fire? Would you even fire anybody? If Tony Jr. is out as Dale Jr.’s crew chief – then who is in?
Remember, Tony Eury Sr. has zero experience with the current race car.
Some people have suggested a crew chief like Ray Evernham, who is available. But, Evernham still has zero experience with this car.
Eury and Earnhardt made the Chase last year, and finished 12th in the Championship points. They won a race. They had 10 top fives, and 16 top tens. They only had 2 DNFs. What crew chief is available who has done a better job than Tony Eury Jr.?
Would you fire Eury?
So – would you fire Tony Eury Jr.?
If so, who would you hire in his place?
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Don’t Fire Tony Eury Jr Yet
A Pair of Juniors Can Beat the Full House
Photo courtesy Hendrick Motorsports
Some Dale Earnhardt Jr fans seem to feel that nothing short of Tony Eury Jr’s head on a stick will solve the No.88 team’s problems.
I don’t agree with that – not one bit.
With Eury’s help Dale Jr is running 4th in the points. If Eury is doing such a shabby job, then there are 39 other crew chiefs that are doing a worse job.
I am not saying that the No. 88 team is where it needs to be right now, but it’s not far off.
Rick Hendrick did not get to be where he is today by hiring people who couldn’t get the job done. Apparently Hendrick saw qualities he liked in Eury.
In fact, when Eury first came to Hendrick Motorsports the other crew chiefs were eager to debrief him and learn what he brought from DEI – which was quite a lot.
The only thing Eury needs to work on is the same thing Dale Earnhardt Jr needs to work on – communication.
The two need to learn how to better communicate with each other as the race wears on; they need to develop a plan to make the car faster with the right adjustments – not just throw barbs at each other when things don’t go well.
Once they do that sit back and hold on tight. The 88 car will be nearly unbeatable. How do you like that?
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