(May 28, 2009) A week ago and in conjunction with promoting the Sprint Cup Series race on June 14th, Michigan International Speedway announced "Dale in the D" at Motor City Casino's 1,500 seat Sound Board Theater. A special invite-only event where Earnhardt would meet, greet and answer questions for GM employees and members of the Michigan National Guard. As we were making our Memorial Day plans and watching the rain @ Charlotte, little did we realize exactly what news this day would bring.
There had been some talk and rumors circulating on various racing websites as of late, would or should Earnhardt’s cousin, Tony Eury Jr be replaced as crew chief of the #88? By Noon today, team owner Rick Hendrick answered that question. Lance McGrew was named as “interim crew chief” beginning with the June 7th race at Pocono Raceway. Team manager Brian Whitesell will fill the crew chief role this weekend at Dover. "Dale in the D" started just a few hours after the official announcement was made and for obvious reasons was the first topic asked.
Earnhardt Jr sat down with media first to answer questions, before taking the stage for the "Dale in the D" event. He said, “It was a very difficult situation. Obviously, when me and Tony Jr. went to work with Rick we expected to have a lot of success and be in a totally different situation than we are now. It's really disappointing, I guess, that we aren't making that happen. It's a situation; it's a relationship that's very important to me, the one with Tony Jr. We are family and it was a pretty big risk, I guess, for me and him both to make the move. We really wanted it to work. Unfortunately, we didn't succeed. Being this is a business, Rick and the guys decided we needed to go in a new direction. I'm supportive and confident in the decisions that they make. They have a lot of great success. Obviously, there is no arguing they know how to run a race team. I want to be in a good position where I run as well as I can. We have a lot of sponsors and a lot of responsibilities to put ourselves in that situation if we want to be able to race every weekend. I'm pretty confident. I still have a good resolve and a good initiative and motivation to get up and get to the race track every weekend and try to see when we'll turn this thing around. Rick and the guys are positive about the decision that we've made to make the change in crew chief. They seem confident about the decision. That kind of makes me feel pretty good about it. It makes the team feel good. At least their aware of situation and they're willing to make changes and do whatever it takes.”
Junior went on to say, “To Rick's credit, they waited a lot longer to make this change than they probably would've considering me and Tony Jr. have a relationship like brothers. They gave us more time than anyone else probably would have gotten to try to make this work. To Tony Jr's credit, he tried everything he knew to try to give me what I needed at the race track. He worked and has always worked harder than anybody I know in the sport. The guy has devoted his entire existence to working on race cars. He's sacrificed extensive amounts to be where he is today. So it's really, really disappointing that it didn't work out, because we gave everything we have to be there. I think me and him deserved to have it work out, so it's really frustrating, but I've been through a lot tougher things. Situations like this come and go and you move forward. You've got to go out and perform under the circumstances the best we can this weekend. We'll band together and go do the job the best we can. I feel confident, I told Rick, me and Tony Jr. were aware of how delicate our situations was over the last several weeks. We knew we needed to step up our performance somehow, someway to be able to keep our situation intact. Me and Tony Jr. both told Rick throughout the last six to 10 weeks when they were looking at us closely to make the decisions they needed to make as a company and we would both support them whichever decisions they made. So that's what's happening.”
Tony Eury Jr will move into a key role with Hendrick Motorsports' research and development group. As crew chief of the #88 team, he posted one win, one pole, 19 top-10 finishes and 11 top-fives in 48 races. "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."
He opted to stay on the track and not pit for tires with 10 laps to the finish knowing fresh tires made a difference. Scott, Dennis Setzer, Stacy Compton and Jason White stayed out after watching Kyle Busch and Colin Braun both blow right fronts. Each hit the outside wall in the same corner on lap 184.
