March 24th, 2009 
Journo So I know I am probably a day late and dollar short on this one, but I figured I would throw my two cents into the Dale Earnhardt Jr./Tony Eury Jr. discussion.
We are often asked about our thoughts on this driver crew chief pairing. Does it work? Why do they have so much trouble? I can’t tell you for sure what their problems are (who can?), but it is obvious they are not clicking like they should.
Much of the discussion over the weekend centered around their personal relationship and how that affects their on track performance. And why not? They bicker over the radio and often to appear to be in an epic power struggle. While I can’t say I don’t think their relationship isn’t borderline toxic, I don’t necessarily think this is their main problem.
Tony Jr. took over as Dale Jr.’s crew chief in 2005 after a short lived stint with Michael Waltrip (and years working his way up at DEI). In the prior five full Cup Seasons and two full Nationwide (Busch) seasons Tony’s father, Tony Eury Sr. served as Jr.’s crew chief. During that time they picked up two Nationwide Series championships and 28 wins across the two series. They looked like an unstoppable duo, capable of winning championships.
Since Tony Eury Jr. took over, the two have won just two races (he didn’t take over until September 2005). Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t think Tony Jr. is a bad crew chief. He has the wins and experience under his belt. But he is just not Chad Knaus, Greg Zipadelli, or Steve Addington.
If I’m Rick Hendrick, or Ken Howes I have seriously got to be wondering what I have to do to make this team work and whether or not they currently have what it takes to be successful. I think the obvious answer to that right now is that they don’t.
Top-35 Update
Last Thursday I talked about the other race this weekend, that is the race into the top-35. I figured I would give an update on who is in and who is out.
30) -1 #7 Robby Gordon 442
31) +4 #5 Martin/Hendrick 441
32) -1 #77 Hornish/Penske Racing 398
33) -3 #34 Andretti/Earnhardt Ganassi 397
34) -1 #20 Logano/Gibbs 370
35) -1 #71 Gilliland/TRG 356
36) +1 #82 Speed/Red Bull Racing 335
37) -1 #8 Almirola/Earnhardt Ganassi 335
38) — #98 Menard/Yates 326
39) — #28 Kvapil/Yates 323
40) +1 #66 Blaney/Prism 230
The biggest winners of the weekend were Mark Martin and Ryan Newman who started the race 1-2. They were able to pull themselves a little farther away from 35th. This weekend I think gave us a glimpse of a turn around for these two teams.
The biggest loser was John Andretti, who had trouble at Bristol and ultimately lost three spots. He is still in the top-35 though.
Something interesting to note is that no one from last week was able to crack into the top-35. Given strong runs Scott Speed and Aric Almirola shouldn’t have much trouble, remember though they now have to earn a spot in the field.
Finally, yet again this week Tommy Baldwin Racing and Jeremy Mayfield Motorsports failed to make the show. What this means for the weeks to come is hard to say, but these guys certainly have a big hole to crawl out of.
Now it’s your turn. Feel free to sound off on Dale Jr., the top-35, or anything else (NASCAR related) you’ve got on your mind.
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First, your not late to the party, I haven’t even writen on the topic, so that makes me a little later and I’m a huge Dale Jr. fan.
Anyway, second, I know Dale Jr. can drive, he’s good behind the wheel and I believe in Tony Jr., however in this case, since Dale Jr. employs Tony Sr. anyway, I think Dale Jr. needs Tony Eury Sr. and Jr. on top of the pit box everyweek for right now and more so, use the team setups from the #48, #24 and #5, plus I think he even has access to Tony Stewart’s and Ryan Newman’s setups as well, there’s a resource there, use it fully.
From what I’ve heard, Rick Hendrick is already working with the #88 team, there is a new engineer on the team now and that will not be the only shack up this year neither.
By the way, great to see Mark Martin and Ryan Newman get good runs at Bristol, they both should win this year.
I agree that Tony Sr should come over to oversee the 88 team and Tony Jr, hopefully he could get the team back on track.
I am also wondering if the comments made by Kyle Busch toward JR will make something happen sooner than later.
Two words for Jr……”Comfort Zone”. Time to step out of it! Rick better find a combo that extends beyond an engineering change.
I’m going to agree with that comfort zone comment Neon. Jr.’s got so much pressure on him to perform especially now that he’s at HMS & Tony Jr.’ s been his only constant. Jr. brought him with him to HMS for a reason. Maybe Tony Jr. is his release valve & helps keep Jr. sane. He knows Jr. & how to deal with him.
The points are still tight 14th through 25th with Jr. right in the middle. He could swing big in the points standings either way at M-ville. If there’s a swing in the wrong direction, it will be interesting to see how long it takes Mr. Hendrick to step in & say that’s enough. We tried it your Jr. now we’ll try it my way.
I think Rick Hendrick needs to sit Jr down and advise him like he did with CHad & Jimmie. The man signs the paychecks afterall. Jr may only want Jr as his crewchief, but maybe he needs to step back and be the driver and be open to change and to suggestions. Personally I don’t think it’s a driver/crew chief issue. I think Jr has lost his passion to will to win. Maybe that is just what he is conveying on the outside because he is upset about his winless streak. You don’t see the fire in his eyes anymore. Time to have a heart to heart with himself and his boss.
Steve C….I missed it, what did Kyle say about Jr?
I wonder if Earnhardt tries to tell Eury how to fix the car a little too much. Eury Jr. seems to be calm, cool and collected when the need arises for him to direct pit road repairs to a damaged car. He seems to be a very capable crew chief. I think there needs to be someone on the box that pretty much tells the driver to provide car handling feedback and don’t worry about the changes. Just drive the car. I’ve seen Earnhardt Jr do some incredible things in a car, so it’s not like he can’t drive. Maybe the difference was that Eury Sr. told him how it was going to be and he didn’t put up with little E’s lip.
Steve C, What were shrubs comments?
David Poole wrote a blog about Kyle Busch’s comments about Dale Jr. See it here (includes quotes). I personally think its a writer trying to create a story…
From the articles about the press conference, it certainly sounds like Dale Jr will stick by his cousin. At some point, you have to step back and evaluate the situation from a business perspective, and I think that will happen very soon with Mr. Hendrick. I don’t see Mr. Hendrick allowing the 88 team to flounder for another season. Can an engineer make the decisions about what type of changes that need to be made during the course of the race? If so, maybe they could leave TOny Jr as the crew chief, but have the engineer make all of the decisions about the adjustments.
Thanks T.C. I agree. Doesn’t seem like there is a whole lot there.
What’s your opinion of my other comment?
Wonder how TBR and Mayfield felt when the 66 parked it. Ouch.
On another note, we attended Bristol for the first time and won’t bother to go again. Martinsville and Richmond (at a much cheaper cost per ticket)provide better racing. I actually fell asleep in my seat, I’m afraid to admit. Except for Kyle shaking Jr’s tree (and he was dead on with his comments, and I’m not even a Kyle fan), there wasn’t much for a fan to get excited about.
It’s clear either Tony Jr. or Dale Jr. needs to move on. The team is not working and has become a joke. We know Dale Jr. was at one time capable of driving a race car. What happened?
The man is in the toughest position in racing, there is no doubt about that. He has legions of fans that expected him to pick up where his dad left off. That kind of pressure will tear a person apart. Now being at Hendrick Motorsports adds more pressure to win and having every second of his life under constant scrutiny by everyone, I feel sorry for Dale Jr.
Rick: crew chiefs serve two different functions. First, they are in charge of making decisions for setting up the race car. Second they are responsible for making calls during the race. If Dale Jr. is making specific calls for setup changes, then that is on him. And the problem that seems to exist between these two is the setup of the car. They aren’t able to keep the car good throughout a race. So is Dale Jr. making the wrong calls, or is Eury Jr. making the wrong calls? Either way, I think a change may be warranted.
Looks like just another media guy trying to stir the pot with Kyle’s comments. I wonder when some idiot will try & stir up Stewart’s team. Would’nt wanna be that guy. Jr. only seems to win if his car is perfect, which boils down to luck if they are close when unloading. But worse, they don’t seem to be able to keep up with a changing race track. Alot of other drivers are in that same boat, while Kyle is a pretty special driver. Nothing to be ashamed of tho. I do think that Jr. and Eury have run their course. Ask Jack Roush. He’s not afraid to make changes.
Now that the COT is here to stay and those lessons learned on the old cars are either irrelevant or figured out by everyone else, JR will continued to struggle by the very nature of his climb thru the lower ranks. While we all can agree that JR is an upstanding guy and has been accelerated into the spotlight (not unlike many of the today’s teeners), JR suffers from a situation that at first appears to be enviable one. From late model to Bush (sorry NW) to the pre-COT car, JR has had the luxury of great equipment. And boy were those DEI pre-COT Cup cars unbeatable on restrictor plate tracks! But therein lays the problem. It’s a bit of a mask, or side step from learning how to manage and fix an ill machine. TNI’s article from yesterday referencing the chronicles of Corrie Stott Racings driver Andy Ponstein or Marc Davis makes one realize that in order to go fast consistently, one must go fast with less just to survive. It’s a stage that is all too often over looked or shuffled aside for instant gratification. Maybe not such the enviable position after all!
It’s my opinion that both Dale Jr. and Tony Jr. are nice guys who happened to be in the right place at the right time, both possessing minimal to, at best, AVERAGE talent. I believe neither will ever excel in Nascar. Furthermore, I believe both have already passed the high points of their careers. Paired with a really talented partner, either WOULD look somewhat better, but never great.
Maybe he should blame his dad’s widow for this also. She gets the blame for everything else that wrong in his life why not this too. (easy on the caps Sam – T.C.)
T.C. I agree that its just a writer trying to get something written. It’s really something that every driver does.
Anyway, I agree with your post. Last year, I thought it was just a slump deal or whatever.
But, if you look at his stats, its obvious that something needs to change, because JR has the potentional to be good, and so does Eury Jr. They just can’t do it together:
In 1999, he started only 5 times, still had a top-ten.
2000: 2 wins, 5-t10s.
2001: 3 Wins, 15-t10s.
2002: 2 W, 16-t10s.
2003: 2W, 21-t10s.
2004: 6W, 21-t10s.
2005: 1W, 13-t10s.
2006: 1W, 17-t10s.
2007: 0W, 12-t10s.
2008: 1W, 16-t10s.
Truth is, they hit a brick wall when Eury Jr. took over. It’s just one of those deals where they are both good, just not together.
Like Pizaa and Mayo. They are good seperate, but not together…
its like jeff gordon said, if we had known that kyle busch was gonna come alive and dominate at all race series, (trucks) nationwide) (sprint), we would have never have hired jr and we would have worked with kyle b more. jeff said that him and rick h were really thiniking about things differently now.
some friends of mine back at hendrick motorsports said that at the end of next yr, jr and eury jr will probably be let out of their contracts early . rich hendrick is looking at a up an coming busch driver for the 88 car.
to tell you the truth Jr. is a good driver but he kneeds some one else, look at Martin you can tell someone needs help not Jr you all know he is a No. 1 driver , and the fans love him and he could be good for racing again like his dad, makes me think about things about him needing a new crew chief at least for 1 time. Thank you