Hendrick Motorsports crew chief Steve Letarte (Left) is leaving Jeff Gordon (Right) and the No. 24 team to work with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 88 crew in 2011. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Earnhardt Jr. in is in the midst of a 94-race winless streak and has won only once in three years since joining Hendrick Motorsports.

He started his Hendrick tenure with Tony Eury Jr. as crew chief before Lance McGrew took over in May of 2009.

“I believe he’s a remarkable race-car driver, and I think some people in the world have forgotten that,” Letarte said. “I look forward to the opportunity to remind them that he is as good as I think he is.

“I’ve had the ability to work around some very remarkable talents, and I think he is included in that bunch. That’s my motivation – to show everybody in the world how talented Dale Earnhardt Jr. is. … We know he can do it. We just have to give him a consistent platform to operate on. I have all the faith in the world with him.”

Before sitting down with McGrew, Letarte will talk more with Earnhardt Jr.

“The first person I will talk to is Dale,” Letarte said. “I won’t talk to anybody about Dale except for Dale. I will have a relationship with him. After I feel that relationship has fostered in the direction where it needs to be, then without a doubt I will be on the phone with everybody he’s worked with, everybody who has ever set up a car for him.

“Because if I didn’t, then that would just be ignorant. If I didn’t call Lance McGrew, then we wasted the last number of races they worked together on setups and information. Just because their success level wasn’t where it needed to be doesn’t mean they didn’t learn anything.”

Letarte said he wasn’t surprised by the decision nor the crew chief swaps. McGrew will now work with Mark Martin while Gordon will work with crew chief Alan Gustafson, who was Martin’s former crew chief.

“We all knew that the company didn’t run as well as we wanted to and I know Jeff and I were disappointed in our performance together and we knew that the 88 [of Earnhardt Jr.] needed to improve and we knew there were areas around the company that needed to improve,” Letarte said.

“I wouldn’t say it was shocking. We definitely didn’t have a lot of conversation before yesterday about this specifically. … Nothing surprises me anymore.”

Letarte said he and Earnhardt Jr. have talked since the announcement. They will do some testing in the offseason, including possibly one day of the Goodyear tire test Dec. 15-16 at Daytona International Speedway.

“The biggest challenge with Junior is keeping it as simple as racing,” Letarte said. “That’s really all it is. Everybody makes it a whole lot more than that.

“The simple fact is we race for a living. We have the best jobs in the world – to make sure my team and Dale Jr. and me and the sponsors and Rick everyone remembers what we’re on the race track to do. That will be our biggest goal.”

Letarte said he would have to sit down with Hendrick and Earnhardt Jr. to determine their specific goals. Earnhardt Jr. made the Chase in 2008 but was 25th in the standings in 2009 and 21st in 2010.

Team owner Rick Hendrick suffered four broken ribs and a broken clavicle in a recent aviation incident. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

“We need to set what expectations we think are realistic,” Letarte said. “The most important thing is [to] give him an opportunity to showcase his talent. I think he is a remarkable talent.

“I without a doubt think we can go to victory lane with Dale Jr. I think we can contend for the Chase.”

Letarte already has told Earnhardt Jr. one condition of their relationship.

“I already told him this isn’t going to help on the trades,” Letarte said in reference to their fantasy football league. “He’s out of luck. Those bum trades he offers up are ridiculous. He isn’t going to get a good player out of me just because I’m his crew chief.”

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