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View Full Version : Dale Earnhardt Jr's struggles continue!



KIDWCKED
08-13-2010, 10:46 PM
c/p from espn
By David Newton
ESPN.com

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Tony Eury Jr. works feverishly to prepare Danica Patrick's Nationwide Series car for another practice at Michigan International Speedway late Thursday afternoon. He does so without being second- or third-guessed, without being scrutinized for every move he makes.

He does so without being blamed for Patrick's struggles.


He shouldn't have been blamed for Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s struggles, either.


"When I left over there, I told them I'd love to help them make it better," says Eury, standing in the back of the No. 7 JR Motorsports hauler. "It is what it is. They've got a long row to hoe. I knew when I left they wasn't going to fix it."


They haven't.


[+] Enlarge AP Photo/Ralph LauerWhat's wrong with Dale Earnhardt Jr.? Former crew chief Tony Eury Jr. and Earnhardt himself seem to agree the overall team just isn't good enough.




In 48 Sprint Cup races at Hendrick Motorsports, Earnhardt and his crew chief cousin combined for one win, 11 top-5s and 19 top-10s. They made the Chase in 2008 and had an average finish of 14.1 that season, the third best of Earnhardt's career. They also were 19th in points, 203 behind teammate Mark Martin for the 12th and final playoff spot, when they separated in 2009 just before the Coca-Cola 600.


Two shy of the same number of races with crew chief Lance McGrew, NASCAR's most popular driver has no wins, three top-5s and eight top-10s. They didn't make the Chase in 2009, and they probably won't this season as Earnhardt sits 16th in points, 121 behind Martin for the final spot with four races remaining.


Is this just cause to make another change? Should McGrew get the blame just as Eury, a person Earnhardt called "really, really talented" at the time of their separation, did? Should the crew chief get thrown under the bus once again and blamed for poor communication?


No.


Eury seems to agree.


"There's too many people that put it on a driver, that put it on a crew chief," he says. "It's a team effort. It's not one person. It's a whole organization working toward one goal to make that happen and everybody believing in one another that the next guy is doing his part. If the next guy ain't doing his part, then you step up and say you're not doing your part."


The numbers between Eury and McGrew aren't different by enough to say either is at fault. The numbers suggest you have to look past the crew chief.