Full speed ahead for Hendrick Motorsports' Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Hendrick Motorsports' Dale Earnhardt Jr. talks to the media at Dover International Speedway on Friday. // David Griffin, NASCAR Scene
DOVER, Del. – Dale Earnhardt Jr. reiterated Friday afternoon that he endorses the changes within his Hendrick Motorsports team, and that his plan is to move forward – with all due speed.
“You can’t do these type of things under the radar and not expect people to have certain expectations,” Earnhardt Jr. said in an afternoon press conference at Dover International Speedway. “We have them, too. My expectations are basically the same as everybody else. You want to win races and championships. I understand the heat that comes with this situation.”
Team owner Rick Hendrick decided this week to break up the professional relationship between Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Eury Jr., his crew chief and cousin. Earnhardt Jr. and Eury have spent most of their careers as teammates, but performance issues this season spurred Hendrick to split the pair.
Veteran Hendrick lieutenant Brian Whitesell will be Earnhardt’s crew chief this weekend at Dover, and Lance McGrew will take over that role starting next week at Pocono. Eury is moving into a research-and-development role at Hendrick.
Earnhardt Jr. admitted his disappointment at Eury’s departure from his team but said he’s ready to push forward.
“I really, really wanted him to want to stay and in some indirect way help continue to further my career as a driver,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I hope that’s the way he feels. We’re really almost like brothers. I think if our relationship in that way has gotten fractured somehow that we’ll be able to repair that. I also want to retain the working relationship because I believe in his talent and what he can bring to the table.”
Earnhardt Jr. worked with Whitesell in Friday practice at Dover.
“You sort of immerse yourself in the mechanics of preparing for the weekend,” he said. “You don’t wrap yourself up in the soap opera of what’s going on. It can get carried away. The way for me not to be spun out is to dig into what’s going on with my team and sink my claws into the mechanics of preparing for the weekend and try to do the best job I can.”
Earnhardt Jr. is winless this season and is mired in 19th place in the point standings. He had his worst finish of the year – 40th – in Monday’s race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. That disappointing effort sparked Hendrick’s decision to make a change.
“My focus right now is strictly on being just ridiculously professional in every approach toward the car and all the people I’m working with,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I’ve taken every serious bone I’ve got and put it together to try to repair this situation and be a part of the solution to the problem. It definitely is going to require all the focus I have and all the determination to get it going in the right direction.”
Earlier Friday, driver Kyle Busch said when the No. 88 team does not perform crew chiefs – not Earnhardt Jr. – are criticized.
“It’s never Junior,” Busch said.
Earnhardt Jr. said Busch’s comment didn’t surprise him.
“He’s always had a chip on his shoulder for me, so I expect it any time he gets an opportunity to throw a jab at me,” Earnhardt Jr. said.
