NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
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CUP: Extreme Makeover At Hendrick Starts Now
Hendrick Motorsports' Steve Letarte is now NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s crew chief...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted November 23, 2010   Concord, NC
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Left) and Lance McGrew (Right) will part ways in the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Less than 24 hours after Jimmie Johnson won his record fifth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup championship, team owner Rick Hendrick has radically overhauled his four-car organization in an attempt to make his other three cars more competitive.

Effective immediately:

• The No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet of Dale Earnhardt Jr. will move into the No. 48 shop with Johnson. Steve Letarte will be Earnhardt’s crew chief in the renamed 48/88 shop

• The No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy driven by Jeff Gordon will be paired with the No. 5 Chevrolet of Mark Martin in the new 5/24 shop. Lance McGrew will be Mark Martin’s crew chief, while Alan Gustafson take over as crew chief for Jeff Gordon.

“This will improve us as an organization, across the board,” said Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports, who will address the moves tomorrow at 10 a.m. in a teleconference. “We had a championship season (in 2010), but we weren't where we wanted and needed to be with all four teams. We've made the right adjustments, and I'm excited to go racing with this lineup.”

The move is a high-stakes gamble by team owner Hendrick, who has shown he’s not afraid to take chances.

“Our guys, nobody’s going to outwork ‘em,” Hendrick told SPEED.com last month in an exclusive interview at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“People keep saying, ‘What are you doing with the 88 (Earnhardt)?’ And they ought to be saying, ‘What are you doing with the 5?’” Hendrick told this reporter. “You had a guy (Martin) who won five races last year and was second in points struggling more than the 88 was struggling. And I not one person asked me that. Nobody. Not one.

“But I walk through that gate and I’ve got 15 people and 1,000 fans, ‘When are you going to do better with the 88?’ What do you do when you start to run really good and you’re gaining on it and everybody feels good, and you just haven’t gotten there? What do you do? Do you chuck it and start all over?”

In this case, apparently the answer is yes.

“We always say we are willing to change anything to get better, but I’m not willing to change something just to change it,” said Hendrick. “If I can see and we all see there’s something we can do to get better — I think we’ve proven that.”

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