CUP: Hendrick Behind No. 88’s Efforts

Sprint Cup

CUP: Hendrick Behind No. 88’s Efforts

Rick Hendrick says there will be no shakeup on Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s team

Tom Jensen | Posted March 25, 2009 Harrisburg, NC

Rick Hendrick has said there will be no changes in the No. 88 team. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Left) with Rick Hendrick (Right) (Photo: LAT Photographic)

While much has been written in the media and on fan websites about the comparatively slow start to Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s 2009 season, team owner Rick Hendrick issued a blunt statement Wednesday about the team, its driver and crew chief Tony Eury Jr. “I have no intentions of making any changes,” Hendrick said in a NASCAR teleconference.

Heading into Sunday’s Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway, Earnhardt is ranked 19th in points, with his best finish in the first five NASCAR Sprint Cup races being a 10th at Las Vegas. That subpar performance has led to speculation that Eury, who is Earnhardt’s cousin, could be replaced as crew chief on the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Impala SS.

“I can tell you that we have looked at everything,” said Hendrick. “Dale Jr. is working out. He has changed his eating habits. We have got all of the folks that hopefully and supposedly know what to do here focused on that team, and I think the good news is, we are all trying, and I think that I'm not sure we will see the results tomorrow. But we have put all the effort we have against it, and right now, Tony Jr. is our guy.”

Hendrick drew a parallel between Earnhardt’s situation and that of fellow team driver Jeff Gordon, who went winless in 2008. Gordon’s poor performance led to speculation that his crew chief, Steve Letarte, would be replaced. But the two have stayed together and Gordon now leads the NASCAR Sprint Cup points standings.

“What I want to say is that I am 100 percent behind this group,” said Hendrick of the No. 88 squad. “I have no intentions of making any changes. I have all intentions of making it better. And these guys are working their butts off no different than Stevie and Jeff did, and I've got to believe in the next few weeks, we are going to see some real success out of that crowd, and it's just one of those things that, you know, you can shuffle the deck and start all over, but when you see little things, a little tenth here, a tenth there, with the people in the team, with the preparation, with the plan getting to the racetrack, we are just putting a lot of effort against it, and I think it's going to pay us some huge dividends.”

Hendrick noted that last year at this time, it was the No. 88 that was running the best of his four cars, but that consistently maintaining a top level of competitiveness for all four of his cars simultaneously is nearly impossible.

“It's almost like going to the fair, and you have these gophers that you hit one on the head and the other one pops up,” Hendrick said. “It's hard to get them all going at the same time. So it just seems like you've always got one that there's a little something going on with. But my philosophy is, if you can tweak it and keep inching it forward before you've got to just cut it apart to try to completely rebuild it. I see a lot of effort from everybody on the team, and that's what it takes to make it work. There's just no way that these guys are going to sit in a meeting for three hours today and not come out of here with a plan that's going to make them better.”

Tom Jensen is the Senior NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,” and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to

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