JR....TONY....NO MORE..

[harvey lee]

I agree Pier that all have a bad year. Jr does need to get things rocking though.

[LMITOUT]

OF his wins 7 of them are at the Plate tracks like Dega and Daytona.

Where he struggles is why he will never be able in my opinion to ever win a championship is because he can't seem to win on very many of the 1.5 mile tracks.

Wins don't mean much, ask Matt Kenseth.

Yes, they changed the point system to give additional points for wins since the Kenseth championship year, but ask The Rat how that worked out for him last year...

And if you still want to harp about wins, Jr. is ranked #9 on the win list of active drivers.

It's all about consistency throughout the season to get you into the chase, and it also is what gets you the big trophy at the end of the year.

[gregg52]

funny you talk bout the 17 they kinda come up together

not sure who has more wins but again i like matt

wisc boy asa guy

both are good drivers i dont think they are great drivers

i guess the real thing here is i think everybody thought jr was going to really excel at HMS but hasnt

when an old guy can come in and win outa the box not once but twice and dont think hes done to me it just doesnt say much for him or

eury when u talk about bad yrs for the 24 and (now) the 14 they both had championships already and i think they might get another one before they are done maybe we should kinda put drivers in brackets really great.. over 50 wins.. great 40 or more

aboove average 30 or more.. i dunoo something like that

hard to compare alot of drivers different eras different situations different teams etc etc whos better yarbougho or johnson 3 staight petty or pearson peason didnt run all the races waltrip or alison then you have terry l dale jarrett rusty wallace ricky rudd mark martin

needless to the 3 but i think he was the best

i was a mark m fan and watched him get beat by the best

[SledNeck]

# Rank Active Driver Wins Last Win Track Starts Win %

1 1 Gordon, Jeff 82 4/5/2009 Texas 557 14.72%

2 2 Elliott, Bill 44 11/9/2003 Rockingham 800 5.50%

3 3 Johnson, Jimmie 41 3/29/2009 Martinsville 267 15.36%

4 4 Martin, Mark 37 5/9/2009 Darlington 734 5.04%

5 5 Stewart, Tony 33 10/5/2008 Talladega 368 8.97%

6 6 Labonte, Terry 22 8/31/2003 Darlington 862 2.55%

7 7 Labonte, Bobby 21 11/16/2003 Homestead 558 3.76%

8 Burton, Jeff 21 10/11/2008 Charlotte 523 4.02%

9 8 Busch, Kurt 19 3/8/2009 Atlanta 304 6.25%

10 9 Earnhardt, Dale Jr. 18 6/15/2008 Michigan 339 5.31%

11 Kenseth, Matt 18 2/22/2009 California 340 5.29%

12 10 Edwards, Carl 16 11/16/2008 Homestead 169 9.47%

14 11 Busch, Kyle 15 5/2/2009 Richmond 162 9.26%

13 12 Biffle, Greg 14 9/14/2008 Dover 234 5.98%

15 13 Newman, Ryan 13 2/17/2008 Daytona 272 4.78%

16 14 Harvick, Kevin 11 2/18/2007 Daytona 298 3.69%

17 15 Marlin, Sterling 10 3/17/2002 Darlington 744 1.34%

18 16 Kahne, Kasey 9 6/8/2008 Pocono 191 4.71%

19 17 Petty, Kyle 8 6/4/1995 Dover 829 0.97%

20 18 Mayfield, Jeremy 5 8/21/2005 Michigan 433 1.15%

21 19 Hamlin, Denny 4 3/30/2008 Martinsville 127 3.15%

22 Nemechek, Joe 4 3/9/2008 Kansas 499 0.80%

23 Schrader, Ken 4 6/2/1991 Dover 732 0.55%

24 Waltrip, Michael 4 9/28/2003 Talladega 737 0.54%

25 20 Gordon, Robby 3 8/10/2003 Watkins Glen 318 0.94%

26 Sadler, Elliott 3 9/5/2004 California 369 0.81%

27 21 Andretti, John 2 4/18/1999 Martinsville 368 0.54%

28 Bowyer, Clint 2 5/3/2008 Richmond 121 1.65%

29 Cope, Derrike 2 6/3/1990 Dover 408 0.49%

30 McMurray, Jamie 2 7/7/2007 Daytona 234 0.85%

31 22 Keselowski, Brad 1 4/26/2009 Talladega 6 16.67%

32 Mears, Casey 1 5/27/2007 Charlotte 228 0.44%

33 Montoya, Juan Pablo 1 6/24/2007 Sonoma 85 1.18%

34 Reutimann, David 1 5/25/2009 Charlotte 75 1.33%

35 Truex Jr., Martin 1 6/4/2007 Dover 129 0.78%

36 Vickers, Brian 1 10/8/2006 Talladega 184 0.54%

[LMITOUT]

Now it's official.

[PikeBayCommanche]

Eury out!

Hopefully something changes for JR.

[gregg52]

ya wonder if JR's will match or come close to the top 4

after 6-700 races if hes even around that long lol

[Sifty]

From Fox.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Dale Earnhardt Jr. will have a new crew chief starting with this weekend's race at Dover because of a slump that has dragged deep into the season.

Tony Eury Jr. was removed as crew chief of Earnhardt's No. 88 team Thursday. The two are cousins and have worked together during Earnhardt's entire career.

They left Dale Earnhardt Inc. last season to drive for Hendrick Motorsports. But despite driving for NASCAR's top team they have one win in 48 races with Hendrick and are 19th in points. They hit rock bottom with Monday's 40th-place finish at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Team manager Brian Whitesell will be the crew chief this weekend. Lance McGrew will take over next week on an interim basis as team owner Rick Hendrick decides on a long-term plan for NASCAR's most popular driver.

After Monday's rain-shortened race, Hendrick's commitment to the pair had clearly waned. Following months of steadfast support, he was noncommittal about Eury's future with Earnhardt.

Earnhardt and Eury spent Tuesday and Wednesday testing on the road course at Virginia International Raceway. Hendrick told them he was splitting the pair upon their return.

Whatever route Hendrick takes, he's giving Earnhardt the full-time use of Whitesell and Rex Stump, the lead chassis engineer.

Earnhardt and Eury are grandsons of Robert Gee, one of Hendrick's first employees. The two went through a rough patch that led to constant bickering at the end of the 2004 season when they raced for the championship at Dale Earnhardt Inc.

Earnhardt's stepmother, Teresa, separated them at the start of 2005, a move that led Earnhardt to finish a career-worst 19th in the standings. They were back together before the end of the season, but won just one race together in 2006 as Earnhardt's relationship with his stepmother rapidly deteriorated.

The next year, Earnhardt wrestled with the decision to leave DEI, then embarked on one of the most high-profile free agencies in NASCAR history. He settled on Hendrick Motorsports, and Eury went with him.

Although they opened their first season at Hendrick by winning the exhibition Budweiser Shootout and a Daytona 500 qualifying race, Earnhardt didn't win a points race until the 15th event of the year. That was at Michigan, his only victory all season.

Still, consistency put him at the top of the title contenders when the Chase for the championship began. But Eury and Earnhardt moved away from what got them into the Chase and finished last in the 12-driver field.

This year, Earnhardt opened with two pit-road mistakes in the Daytona 500 that put him in position to later trigger a nine-car accident. The pit-road errors have plagued him most of the season, but the poor showings have spilled onto the track as well.

Earnhardt has just three top-10 finishes this season and six finishes of 27th or worse. He's getting dangerously close to getting too far behind to rally for a spot in the Chase.

That's unacceptable for a driver who went to Hendrick to win the Cup title that has eluded him his entire career. His father, the late Dale Earnhardt, was a seven-time Cup champion before his death in an accident on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.

Despite their shortcomings - two wins in the past 120 races - Earnhardt remained fiercely loyal to Eury and was pained when his rabid fans blamed the crew chief for their failures.

"The guy that I feel bad for is Tony Jr. He gets criticized so badly," Earnhardt said in one of his early season defenses of Eury. "Everybody in this room, and some of you have criticized him, know how smart a guy he is and that he's a good mechanic and a solid crew chief. He just wants to do this for a living, just like I do. I'll take the fall. ... Every time I read in the paper that people are on his case I feel like I'm sending my brother to jail for a crime I committed."

Hendrick said shortly after that he was "100 percent" behind the pairing.

"Both Junior and Tony have told me that if they thought they needed to be split, that they understood," Hendrick said. "That's my call, and I'm not ready to make that call. Not even close. I am convinced that they're better together. We've got the right combination, and I think we're going to be able to prove that to you guys soon."

Sifty

[gregg52]

well thats no big surprise!

[HOF#13]

Nope, it's definitely not a shock. I believe the move needed to be made as Eury Jr. was not getting it done IMO. However, I cannot help but feel a little sorry for him. Being Jr.'s crew chief really is a no win situation. If you win, it's because you are suppose to and it's expected. If you lose...well, you have all seen how it goes.

It'll be interesting to see how the rest of the season goes. After last weekends debacle, I truly think it can only get better. Hopefully this will not only help with getting the car adjusted in the correct direction during races and make it more drivable, but hopefully it will re-energize and refocus Dale Jr. and the rest of the team.

[yaggie]

It will be hard for any crew cheif to get the car set up without better feedback from the driver.

[harvey lee]

I would not look for any big gains for Jr and his new crew chief for quite some time. It takes a long time for these teams to gel.

[SledNeck]

The eury excuse is gone.

NOW the pressure is really on

[harvey lee]

Yes, if he doesn't beat the 18 the first race or win, he will have to quit cup. Either one wins right away or good-bye.

One of the issues or problems is that some fans believe that he has to win right away or else. Anyone who knows anything about racing knows that a team isn't built in a few races.

[gregg52]

well i think you should see results in 4-5 races

hes no rookie hes surround by info 24..48..5...14

plus i'm sure who ever hendricks puts with him will be no dummy

hes 6-7 yrs into a career been to all these tracks serval times he should know what he needs to run good

we're not talkin joey lagano here who is showing great impovement every week

crew cheifs at hendricks seem to be pretty wise threw out the yrs from everham knaus now gustason grub

i spose the next thing we'll hear is all the good guys are gone poooooor JR lol

[harvey lee]

I would agree that in 5 races there should be improvement. But I don't believe they can be a contender until next season. To big of a hole to dig out of.

[gregg52]

yes thats maybe true harvey but he should start with good top 10s and top 5 in that amount of time maybe win yet this year

[L_Cappo]

well here is my opinion on this whole deal.i hope jr can rebound and have a great season.if not ohwell there is next season to start over with the new crew cheif.as for the earnhardt haters,its not cause of his last name.the guy can drive.every driver goes into a slump.you dont have to win every race to win the cup.didnt kenseth win the cup with only 1 win that season???so keep it real and talk stupid.just my opinion.

hey what about tony stewarts run so far with his new team.i dont see ppl rippin on him anymore.he wil be the 2009 champ.

[SledNeck]

hey what about tony stewarts run so far with his new team.i dont see ppl rippin on him anymore.he wil be the 2009 champ.

That shows that you dont necessarily need alot of time to mesh with a crew chief and team.

[gregg52]

well i'm not a JR hater just not a big fan

i get tired of listening to lame excuses he an average driver

just like you said the 17 won only once that hes an average driver look above just bout exactly the same stats

[VMS]

I would tend to agree that Jr. is more or less an "average" driver out there.... With a Crew chief change, we will see whether or not he will make some substantial improvements in the races to come...it will not come overnight, but if it is going to happen, we will see it in the coming few weeks. If the mesh works really well, Jr very well could be back in the hunt, although I do think it is a slim chance.

I think the big thing with Jr is everyone expects/figures him to be as good as his father was, which in my humble opinion, is not the case. To be similar to his father, Jr would need to be more like (dare I say this?) Kyle Busch. Not necessarily as reckless as shrub can be at times, but definitely be able to take ill-handling equipment and somehow make it work...whether it is set-up changes, or changing how one drives the car for that particular situation (easier said than done, though..). As has been stated before...better communication to the crew chief to make good changes in set-up.

Steve

[PierBridge]

Just when you think you can't hate_on the Rat anymore than we already do he opens his trap again....

http://blogs.courant.com/autoracing/2009/05/kyle-busch-lobs-another-quiet.html

[SledNeck]

Just when you think you can't hate_on the Rat anymore than we already do he opens his trap again....

http://blogs.courant.com/autoracing/2009/05/kyle-busch-lobs-another-quiet.html

They asked him a question and he answered honestly.

Whats the big deal?

F.K.B.O.

(Fake Kyle Busch Outrage)

[gregg52]

well good for him just cuz JR is JR and has a big fllowing which i never will understand other than being the son of a great driver

when your as good as bush you can speak the truth and he can back up

he right its never JR its alway hes to busy the crew chief blah...blah..blah lol

well as i said 5-6 races in my mind will tell the tale

[Papa Grump]

Can't see any fault with the Rat's comments. Truth hurts... Personally I never have seen the "love affair" that people have with JR. He is just a average driver who has been lost at the track since the memory of what his father has taught him fades futher and further away. If Senior was still around , we wouldn't be having this conversation now would we?