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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Hendrick – No Changes With 88 Team
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has little chance of making the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chase...
Mike Hembree  |  Posted September 04, 2010   Hampton, GA
Crew chief Lance McGrew (Left) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Right) will no longer work together in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Team owner Rick Hendrick said Saturday he has no plans to dissolve the driver-crew chief pairing of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Lance McGrew.

Earnhardt Jr. is winless this season and is 18th in points entering Sunday night’s Emory Healthcare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

After a press conference during which he announced Quaker State’s renewal as a Hendrick Motorsports sponsor, Hendrick expressed confidence in the No. 88 team’s situation.

“Actually, I’m pretty happy with the chemistry there now,” Hendrick said. “Maybe some of you guys [media] don’t agree. I’m around them. I’m in the shop during the week. I’m in the Tuesday [team] meetings.

“I talk to Dale. I talk to Lance. I’ve talked to them both after they’ve been testing. We had some good momentum going, but we’ve kind of fumbled the ball a little here right before the Chase.

“Right now, we have a game plan, and we’re sticking to it. Our plans are for those two guys to be together.”

Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon will be in the Chase in Hendrick cars. Earnhardt Jr. and Mark Martin, the team’s other drivers, probably will be racing in the background of the Chase.

“We’re working hard, but we’re not where we need to be with all four cars,” Hendrick said. “But the guys are working hard and working together. If you miss the Chase and just decide you’re going to change something just to be changing, I think that’s a mistake. I’ve never tried to do that. I keep my options open, but at the same time the driver and the crew chief are getting along and working together and trying, and that’s all I can ask for.

“We’re not happy with where we are as an organization, but we’re working on it. Nobody’s blaming anybody, and nobody’s giving up. We’re getting ready for the Chase, and we’re trying a lot of stuff. We’re all over the map here this weekend, but we’re trying some things. We’ve got to get better.”

In announcing that Quaker State will join Martin’s team as a primary sponsor for four races next year (and continue as an associate sponsor on his team’s other cars), Hendrick said the sponsor environment is “the toughest I’ve ever seen it. Most everybody is wanting to cut back some if they can. So, when you have one that is willing to up the ante a little bit, it’s pretty neat.”

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.

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