tony eury jr is out

[SHELBYSALEEN]

Hendrick did it he removed eury jr as juniors crew chief. He will be moved to the r & d sector.

Story is on espn. What happens if junior still doesnt perform? How long till they give him the boot.

[Chuck-17]

What happens if junior still doesnt perform? How long till they give him the boot.

Not as long as he keeps bringing in the huge sponsor money and his sales are high.

[JUQ1115]

New crew chief for Dale Jr.: 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.

Its about time. Tony & Dale only won 2 races together in their time together. Dale had 15 points wins before that. This has taken way too long. Dale Jr. has won enough races to show that he isn't a bad driver as some haters would say. He has won on every type of track except a road course which he has come close on before. Dale Jr. is still the best thing that has happened to Hendrick just for the $ he brings in, Hendrick is smart enough to know that and that is why Kyle Busch had to go. Kyle is probably a better driver but there is still a big diffference in the $ that is made off of them, not even close.

So for all the haters just look at the facts. Dale Jr. stopped winning when Tony Jr. got there. I am not saying Dale Jr. has no blame (i.e. pit mistakes, frustration possibly affecting his driving), but how many times the last few years have you seen him lead a race and then his car fades or comes in too late? Until this year he has always been at the top or near in laps led and average finishes at over 1/2 the tracks. I can't believe he just forgot how to drive or lost his ability. This dismal year meant the results were finally bad enough to make a change, it should have happened a long time ago.

Now Lance Mcgrew has a chance to become the next great new crew chief and Hendrick tends to produce the best so I am very excited about this. I believe you will see a big change in performance, it might take a few races but it might not. In the long run this was the right decision for everyone. Less pressure now for Tony Jr. and even more pressure for Dale Jr. but I think he will pull thru.

Jami

[Ripken8fan55]

I also agree, bout time Tony Jr. hit the bricks. But now I think the pressure will really be on Jr. to perform up to the capabilities of all the other Hendrick drivers.

Tom

[amorse7]

To many people are fans of Jr. because of his dad. He is no where near the caliber that his father was and thats what people expect of him. He is not a bad driver but he is no where near elite (expect at Daytona and Talladega). It is like JUQ115 said though. Hendricks has him for the money. Not because of his driving skills. At this point, he is being out driven by a 50 year old (no offense to Mark Martin). I wish him the best but no matter what happens, I just don't see him ever living up to the hype.

[nadeau01_johnson48]

To many people are fans of Jr. because of his dad. He is no where near the caliber that his father was and thats what people expect of him. He is not a bad driver but he is no where near elite (expect at Daytona and Talladega). It is like JUQ115 said though. Hendricks has him for the money. Not because of his driving skills. At this point, he is being out driven by a 50 year old (no offense to Mark Martin). I wish him the best but no matter what happens, I just don't see him ever living up to the hype.

Hit it right on the head there. I couldn't agree more. If his name wasn't Earnhardt, he probably never would have made it to the Cup Series.

[SHELBYSALEEN]

as sang by public enemy DONT BELIEVE THE HYPE [sort of]

Don't believe the hype - Im just a sequel
nowhere near dads equal, can I get this through to you
My 88's boomin' with a trunk of junk
All the jealous punks can't shut their mouth
thanks to them cuz's job went south.

[twistedracing44]

I can hear Chuck D, Flavor Flav and the rest of Public Enemy writing the rest of this song right now.....maybe it will be a comeback...lol

[JUQ1115]

I agree that Dale Jr. will never be like his father for good or bad. But that is it, Dale Jr. doesn't say he will be. As much as some Dale Jr. fans think he will be just as many if not more people dislike him for that reason. They say he gets everything for the Earnhardt name. But what I get so mad about is that Dale Jr. never asked for that. So how can people hate him as a driver for those reasons? He didn't make it the way it is, the fans did. He actually has put up with alot of stuff in his life and come out pretty well and that is from his own doing. Those are the reasons I like him so much.

Also for people who say it is never Dale Jr. it is always the other person, what evidence is there to really back that up? Dale Jr. and Tony Jr. only won 2 races together with Tony Jr. as his crew chief in 5 years. To me Tony Jr. got more than enough time. Dale had won 15 races before that in just 5 years. I think they never worked that good together. Larry McReynolds said it best, he said bacially that they operated different than most crew chief/driver combos. Dale Jr. had to tell Tony Jr. too much info to fix the car, as the crew chief Tony Jr. should have been able to fix the car more on his own and not had to rely on so much info from the driver. I have said that the last 3 years b/c that is how long I have listened to their scanner consistently during a race. It was like that almost every race and the car always was good for just the 1st or 2nd half of the race. Tony Jr. has said himself that he wants to work at Hendricks, it was a **** of alot better than DEI. So at least Tony Jr. was able to leave DEI while he had a chance.

Kyle Busch took another jab at Dale Jr. today. Can anyone say bitter??? Jealous?? Kyle has won a bunch of races and is the best driver in the sport right now but for some odd reason he always acts like he is bitter or jealous of Dale Jr. and his popularity. If Kyle acted like Dale Jr. a little more, specifically more like his attitude and personality, then Kyle would have alot more fans. I am so sick of that little punk saying things behind people's back. If he was a real man he would say it to Dale Jr's face. I liked Kyle when he 1st came in the sport but he is just creep. I have been told some other stories also that I know are definitely true b/c of the source they come from about Kyle that would worsen your opinion of him even more. I use to pin Kyle's issues on his age and he just wasn't mature yet but he is old enough to act better than the way he is acting. But I think it will be fixed eventually. Kurt was taught a lesson by Jimmy Spencer and ever since has been great for the most part, I think that is what it will take with Kyle. I just can't wait to see who is the "teacher"??

[nadeau01_johnson48]

Kyle Busch took another jab at Dale Jr. today. Can anyone say bitter??? Jealous?? Kyle has won a bunch of races and is the best driver in the sport right now but for some odd reason he always acts like he is bitter or jealous of Dale Jr. and his popularity. If Kyle acted like Dale Jr. a little more, specifically more like his attitude and personality, then Kyle would have alot more fans. I am so sick of that little punk saying things behind people's back. If he was a real man he would say it to Dale Jr's face. I liked Kyle when he 1st came in the sport but he is just creep. I have been told some other stories also that I know are definitely true b/c of the source they come from about Kyle that would worsen your opinion of him even more. I use to pin Kyle's issues on his age and he just wasn't mature yet but he is old enough to act better than the way he is acting. But I think it will be fixed eventually. Kurt was taught a lesson by Jimmy Spencer and ever since has been great for the most part, I think that is what it will take with Kyle. I just can't wait to see who is the "teacher"??

I'm not sure how you get Kyle being bitter out of the whole thing....he's just stating how he feels. And what reason does he have to be jealous of Dale Jr.? Kyle is doing 100x better than Dale is. If anything, he's taking shots and Hendrick, letting him know that it was a dumb move letting him go. And quite frankly, I don't think Kyle cares how many fans he has....plus, you gotta look at it from the other perspective.

Most people who AREN'T Dale Jr fans can't stand Dale Jr. (mainly can't stand his fans more than anything), so if Kyle stands up to God's gift to NASCAR, maybe he figures that not only will Jr. Nation boo him more (which you can tell he enjoys), but also that most of the people who don't like Jr. will start to like Kyle.