Dale Earnhardt Jr. Interviews Tony Eury Jr.

CIA Stock Photo, Inc.

Apr 22, 2008

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: How would you describe the relationship you had with Dale Earnhardt?

Eury: I looked at him as a dad. I mean he taught me a lot; kept me straight a lot. He showed me a big deal about racing, how you should do the best at what you are doing. I have got a lot of respect for him in that aspect. It was just like having two dads. You had Pops on one arm and Big E on the other. You always looked at him as a father figure that you looked upto. Respected everything .

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: What goes in your head during a race. What are you paying attention to? How much of a plan do you have going into the race, and does the race, crew, engineers, owners, ever dictate or influence your next move?

Eury: There are things you think about to start, like how many (pit) stops it will take to finish the race. You sit there and think to yourself ,”I can make it in four stops or in five stops, whatever.” But a lot of things factor into it. Like Martinsville for instance, we started 22nd. There are two ways you can go about it. If you got a strong enough car, you kind of do what leaders do. If you are in the middle of the back its kind of your own game plan. You can do what ever you want . we chose to pit early, get our track position, and that way we can get it up there and make it a lot easier on you. But you go to let the race play itself out there at the start, and basically I’m paying attention to several things, like what (lap times) the leaders are running and how, and how long it’s taking them to slow down. I try pick out about five car and pay close attention to them. One might be running in 27th but making his way through the field. Another may be in the top-two, and they’ll run good for a while but fade off. You also keep up with who’s on either side of your pit stall. That way you can say, “Ok, this guy is having a bad day, so we’re going to be in good shape here. It’s going to take a couple pit stops, but we’ll be in good shape.” That’s basically how your race starts out. Then we listen to Dale Jr. and get his feedback on how the car is handling. That way we know what kind of adjustments we need to make. So you got a lot of stuff going on, but I’ve got good people around me. That’s why I’m confident in my decisions. I have to be. When its said and done, its my decision. I make 100% into what I believe. That’s the biggest thing. You got to be 100% confident when you make the call”

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: How do you characterize your radio exchanges?

Eury: I think it’s fun. There’s a lot of emotion on both sides of it. In the last two years, you being a car owner and sitting on thee Nationwide pit box has allowed you to see a lot from my side . I’ll never get a chance to see jr. side because I don’t drive. I think everybody at Hendrick motorsports gets a Kick out of it because they have never heard it, and they think its comical. But we get our points across. We know what each others talking about. I think we have done a lot more communication this year than we ever have. I think its comical at times. We just have fun with it, and no matter what is said during a race, we leave it at the track.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: If you retired tomorrow, what would be your advice to a crew chief who takes your place?

Eury: What I would tell that guy is, look, you are in the biggest spotlight you can be in. you are going to have lot of criticism, fans expect one thing, and if doesn’t happen, you catch flack for it. Its like one of those deals where you do things bad, it’s magnified a lot more than when you do things good. You got to have tough shoulders, you have got to make 100% sure decisions, and be confident on what you say.”

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