CONCORD, N.C. -- The much-scrutinized era of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Eury Jr. is over.
Hendrick Motorsports announced on Thursday that NASCAR's most popular driver would have a new crew chief beginning with this weekend's Sprint Cup race at Dover.
Eury Jr., who has been the car chief or crew chief for his cousin for all but part of one season since Earnhardt began the Sprint Cup series in 1999, was fired and will be replaced by Lance McGrew on an interim basis beginning with the June 7 race at Pocono.
To coin a phrase, Eury Jr ain't his Daddy (of course, Dale Jr Ain't his either).
Maybe he will stop sucking so badly. That would be good for the sport's most popular driver.
(edited by AWArulz on 28.5.09 1309)
We'll be back right after order has been restored here in the Omni Center.
That the universe was formed by a fortuitous concourse of atoms, I will no more believe than that the accidental jumbling of the alphabet would fall into a most ingenious treatise of philosophy - Swift
If nothing else, this will definitely be a wake-up call for Junior. He has too good equipment to not do well and now he has a competent crew chief to work with him as well.
I find the selection of McGrew as his crew chief interesting. I highly doubt Dale will get let go at the end of the year if he keeps doing badly (and I still think for the bad start he has had, he will at least contend for a chase spot before too long), but if he does, all Hendrick has to do is replace him with Brad Keselowski. McGrew & Keselowski seem to click together pretty well as of late, with the win at Talladega and the top 10 in Darlington. So this move in addition to helping Junior might sevre as a sort-of warning for him and a way for Hendrick to keep Keselowski from going to another team next year by dangling a possible open full-time seat in the future for him.
If this does not work, JR. maybe looking for a new team and a new sponser. I guess D.E.I. would take him(JR) back if things do not work out with Hendrick.
Originally posted by supersalvadoranIf nothing else, this will definitely be a wake-up call for Junior. He has too good equipment to not do well and now he has a competent crew chief to work with him as well.
Whatever they did at Charlotte was a huge indictment of Tony Jr. None of the Hendrick stable was really good there, but Junior might have had the worst car of his career there. It has been interesting to hear the fallout the last couple of days.
Kyle Busch: "If Junior doesn't run well, then [Lance McGrew's] going to be the problem. It's never Junior. It's always the crew chief."
The news organizations have taken this as a(nother) slam on Junior from Kyle, but I thought Kyle was referring to how Junior Nation looks at things.
Holy fuck shit motherfucker shit. Read comics. Fuck shit shit fuck shit I sold out when I did my job. Fuck fuck fuck shit fuck. Sorry had to do it....
*snip*
Revenge of the Sith = one thumb up from me. Fuck shit. I want to tittie fuck your ass. -- The Guinness. to Cerebus
Originally posted by JayJayDeanKyle Busch: "If Junior doesn't run well, then [Lance McGrew's] going to be the problem. It's never Junior. It's always the crew chief."
The news organizations have taken this as a(nother) slam on Junior from Kyle, but I thought Kyle was referring to how Junior Nation looks at things.
I don't understand why Dale Jr. is so popular; can anyone enlighten me? I've only been into NASCAR for about four years give or take. Maybe I just don't "get" it, but then again...I dunno. I'm guessing it's because his father was a legend, but there has to be more to it than that.
Originally posted by OliverI don't understand why Dale Jr. is so popular; can anyone enlighten me? I've only been into NASCAR for about four years give or take. Maybe I just don't "get" it, but then again...I dunno. I'm guessing it's because his father was a legend, but there has to be more to it than that.
(edited by Oliver on 29.5.09 1943)
A lot of it definitely has to do with the family name, but it also has to do with the fact that he is (or was) really good at one point. If it was just the name itself, then his half-brother (I think) Kerry would get just as much attention. Junior though does have a lot of talent: he's a two-time Nationwide(Busch) champion and has a combined 40 wins in Nationwide & Sprint Cup series (thanks wikipedia!). It's just that 1 win (aided by playing the gas game) in two years isn't going to cut it, especially when you have arguably the best teammates and equipement in NASCAR to work with.
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