Tony Eury Jr.’s tumultuous tenure as crew chief for his cousin Dale Earnhardt Jr. is over. Thursday, Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports, announced that Lance McGrew is replacing Eury Jr. on the No. 88 team just days after the National Guard Chevy finished a dismal 40th place at Lowe’s Motor Speedway with handling issues.
“Our performance hasn’t been where it should be,” Hendrick said. “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.”
That plan has McGrew assuming the lead point on the No. 88 team beginning next week at Pocono Raceway. For this weekend, team manager Brian Whitesell will serve as crew chief this weekend at Dover.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s HMS stint has been highly disappointing. The No. 88 began 2008 with high hopes and plans for a championship and started the season with impressive top 5 runs that faded into top 10s and top 15s, after adjustments made late in the race by Eury Jr. sent the handling of the racecars in the wrong direction. Earnhardt Jr. ended the season by finishing last in The Chase, with only one win (a fuel mileage gamble) at Michigan.
2009 has been nearly a nightmare for both the driver and the crew chief. The No. 88 team sits 19th in points, with only one top 5 and three top 10s and has only led 84 laps amongst three races. Junior has also infamously driven by his pit box several times this year, costing the team track position and further igniting the bickering between himself and Eury Jr. The rest of the Hendrick Motorsports teams sit in the top 12 in points.
Despite the struggles, Earnhardt Jr. has stuck by his cousin, even going as far to tell the media that having fun in his job and remaining with Eury Jr. is more important to him than winning a championship. Nevertheless, Junior infamously has also been very critical to his crew chief during in-race radio transmissions.
Eury Jr. has worked with Earnhardt Jr. for many years and has been his crew chief since late in 2005, when the pair still worked at DEI and the No. 8 team. Eury Jr.’s father, Tony Eury Sr., served as Earnhardt Jr.’s Cup Series crew chief from 2000-2004. After winning six races during the 2004 season, DEI owner Teresa Earnhardt decided to switch the personnel and equipment for the No. 8 and No. 15 teams, because of the infamous bickering between Dale Jr. and the Eury’s. The switch did not work well, as Junior missed The Chase and won only one race, while the No. 15 and driver Michael Waltrip (paired with Tony Eury Jr. as crew chief) struggled even more. Before the end of the year, Eury was back with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 8 and followed NASCAR’s most popular driver over to Hendrick Motorsports, when he decided to leave DEI.
Tony Eury Sr. currently works as crew chief for Brad Keselowski and Earnhardt Jr.’s No. 88 Nationwide Series team.
McGrew served as Brian Vickers’ crew chief during his Nationwide Series championship-winning run in 2003 and moved to the Cup Series with the young driver and the No. 25 HMS team. McGrew served as crew chief for that team, until being replaced atop the pit box by Darian Grubb just before the beginning of the 2007 season. The No. 25 team became the No. 88 team that Earnhardt Jr. drives for. McGrew had one win, 10 top 5s, and 23 top 10s in three full seasons as Vickers’ Cup crew chief. He has remained at HMS in several capacities since then.
NASCAR town hall meeting Tuesday leaves drivers and owners relieved
At the NASCAR R&D Center in Concord, North Carolina on Tuesday, NASCAR held two town hall meetings with select owners and drivers to discuss the state of the sport. With several questions hanging in the air about declining ratings, the ailing economy, the Car of Tomorrow, and the ambiguous drug policy, drivers that commented after the meeting seemed satisfied with what NASCAR had to say.
Outspoken about some questions he had about the drug policy before the meeting, No. 5 driver Mark Martin said he felt much more comfortable with the limited substance list that NASCAR provided drivers.
NASCAR officials said that many drivers brought up issues with the current racecar, but that there are no plans to change its setup and that it puts on a good show for the fans.
Third place finish for Robby Gordon ruined by rear-end housing penalty
Robby Gordon’s pit strategy to snag a third place finish in Monday’s Coca-Cola 600 helped boost the No. 7 team in the owner’s points standings, but a NASCAR penalty for improper toe settings in the Jim Beam Toyota’s rear-end housing bit into the newfound points cushion.
Tuesday, NASCAR officials announced punishments for the No. 7 team for the rear-end violations. Gordon loses 50 owner’s and driver’s points and crew chief Kirk Almquist has been fined $50,000 and placed on probation until December 31st. Gordon and the No. 7 team still remain 34th in owner’s points, just ahead of the Front Row Motorsports No. 34 team.
Truex to MWR? Penske going to four teams? Silly Season rumors starting up
A rumor surfaced late last week that had Martin Truex Jr. close to signing a contract to drive for Michael Waltrip Racing. Equally as intriguing as Truex Jr. considering driving for a semi-proven team is the fact that he could replace a retiring Michael Waltrip. MWR official Ty Norris said that nothing has been finalized for 2010 and negotiations with Waltrip and the No. 55’s sponsor NAPA are ongoing about the future plans of the auto parts giant and the team. Waltrip said earlier this year that 2009 may be his last season, if he does not qualify for The Chase. Waltrip sits 31st in points. Truex has said that he wants to have a decision very soon about his future plans and many believe he will not remain with the struggling No. 1 Earnhardt Ganassi Racing team.
Another rumor swirling around in the rain in Charlotte last weeks was that Penske Racing was considering upping its Cup effort to four teams, with Justin Allgaier possibly running a limited schedule later this season. No word on any details or sponsorship agreements has surfaced.
TomTom finds a home on Truex No. 1
TomTom, a popular GPS device company, will serve as the primary sponsor for the EGR No. 1 Chevy and driver Martin Truex Jr. for two races this season and as an associate sponsor for the rest of the year as well. Tom Tom is scheduled as a primary sponsor for the June 7 Pocono race and the New Hampshire race a couple of weeks later. TomTom will also sponsor Ganassi’s Indy Car entries and served as Aric Almirola’s sponsor in the No. 8 EGR Chevy at Las Vegas back in March, before the team folded.
Riggs out at TBR; Skinner will run majority of rest of the races
Scott Riggs and Tommy Baldwin Racing have mutually agreed to part ways. Riggs and Baldwin made the decision prior to the Coca-Cola 600 race weekend, mainly because Riggs took issue with the team starting and parking in some races. While Riggs likely will have to look in either the Nationwide or Camping World Truck Series for rides, Truck Series driver Mike Skinner will take his place in the No. 36 Toyota. Skinner, who has not run full-time in the Cup Series for several years, has run races off and on, while competing full-time in the Truck Series. Skinner will run all of the Cup Series races that run at the same races as the trucks. Patrick Carpentier, who raced most of last season in the No. 10 Dodge for Gillett Evernham Motorsports, will run the other non-road course races and Brian Simo will race at Infineon Raceway and Watkins Glen.
Goodyear plans to test tires two more times at Indy before the Brickyard 400
After a disastrous race last year and tire testing sessions hampered by rain and poor results, Goodyear will hold a tire test at Indy next week on June 1-3 and again June 15-17. Approximately a dozen teams will test at each session.
Entry lists show several changes amongst the top three series at Dover
49 cars will attempt Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series race at Dover. Some items on the list worth noting include Mike Skinner replacing Scott Riggs in the No. 36, David Starr returning for another attempt in the Boys Racing No. 06, Brad Keselowski running a 5th Hendrick car (the No. 25), Derrike Cope attempting the race in his own No. 75 team, Regan Smith and Furniture Row Racing attempting another leg of their partial 2009 schedule, John Andretti returning to the Front Row Motorsports No. 34 and his two-race replacement Tony Raines returning to the No. 37 to attempt the race, and Max Papis and the No. 13 Geico Toyota of Germain Racing attempting yet another race in their partial schedule, also. All full-time teams outside the top 35 that were at last week’s race return to Dover this week.
There are lots of Nationwide Series changes on the entry blank. David Green, recently released from the No. 07 SK Motorsports team, will run for JM Motorsports in the No. 04 and Patrick Carpentier will race in the No. 07. Ryan Newman will attempt his first race for JR Motorsports and the No. 5 Chevy and Jeffrey Earnhardt (son of Kerry) and DEI have purchased a spot in the Rick Ware Racing No. 31 Chevy to attempt the Dover race. Bobby Hamilton Jr., despite owning the No. 25 Rensi-Hamilton team, will race in the No. 81 MacDonald Motorsports Dodge. The No. 36 Marc Davis Racing team has withdrawn, but driver Davis and his sponsors have moved to the Braun Racing No. 10 Toyota (he will run that car for six races this season), replacing Kelly Bires. The No. 42 team and driver David Gilliland have also withdrawn.
Withdrawals have been a big problem in the Truck Series this season. This week, the Nos. 22 and 40 have withdrawn from the event. Other changes of note include J.R. Fitzpatrick, recently departed from TRG Motorsports, making his debut in the No. 4 KHI Chevy; David Gilliland is returning to the No. 7 TRG truck, despite rumors of that team’s demise and the departure of crew chief Butch Hylton; Max Papis is making a start in the No. 9 Geico Toyota; Brandon Whitt will race in the No. 76 Ray Hackett Racing truck as a teammate to Ryan Hackett. Tim Bainey Jr. and the No. 00 Aaron’s Chevy make their debut this season.
Georgia boys up and down at Lowe’s; Butler bouncing a baby
Joey Logano, who cut his teeth racing on tracks in Georgia, had the best week of the Georgia driver brigade. In the Coke 600, Logano placed the No. 20 Toyota in 9th place, scoring that finish for the third time in four races. He now sits 25th in points and finished 5th in the Nationwide Series race won by Mike Bliss.
David Ragan struggled at yet another race track, placing the No. 6 UPS Ford 24th in Monday’s race; he is sitting an astounding 32nd in points. Ragan did finish 7th in Saturday night’s Nationwide Series race.
Reed Sorenson struggled the entire race and finished 35th; he sits 24th in points. Bill Elliott ran a solid race in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford and finished 15th, a great run for the team he started running for two years ago at that same race.
John Wes Townley failed to qualify for the Nationwide Series race, his second DNQ of the year.
Part-time Nationwide Series driver Ken Butler III and his wife Jamie celebrated the birth of their first child last Saturday afternoon. Butler III, whose grandfather Ken is the COO of Aaron’s had a big weekend, as he became both a grandfather and a first-time Cup Series winner (Aaron’s sponsored David Reutimann, who won the Coke 600 Monday) in the same weekend.
Listen to Doug on The Allan Vigil Ford Lincoln Mercury 120 racing show with host Captain Herb Emory on News/Talk 750 WSB in Atlanta and online on wsbradio.com this Saturday, from 2-4 p.m.
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