Is Tony Eury Jr.’s Ouster Also Dale Jr.’s Last Chance?
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When he removed Tony Eury Jr. as Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s crew chief Thursday, Rick Hendrick did what he felt needed to be done. As team owner of Hendrick Motorsports, the buck stops with him.
Well, not exactly in this instance. Rather, the buck – ultimately – will wind up stopping with Dale Jr.
There no longer are any excuses left for Junior. If he is truly to become the driver he and millions of his diehard fans really think he is, he can’t throw Tony Jr. under the bus any more with alleged and ongoing “miscommunication” issues.
This time, where the No. 88 team goes from here will rest on only one person’s shoulders. No, not on Brian Whitesell’s shoulders as he serves as interim crew chief this weekend at Dover, or when Lance McGrew takes over the position full-time next week for the race at Pocono (although the team is saying his status will also be as “interim” crew chief for the time being – perhaps until he proves he can keep the job … or not).
No longer can Dale Jr. call out or overrule Eury. If he tries that with Whitesell this weekend or McGrew starting next week, I’d love to watch either of them tell Junior to stick his opinion where the sun doesn’t shine.
If Junior and his performance fail to improve markedly with McGrew, or if yet another crew chief eventually replaces McGrew as a “permanent” crew chief and winds up having similar outcomes as Eury and McGrew had during their tenures, maybe Hendrick the savvy team owner and billionaire businessman may come to realize that the problem rests in the driver of the No. 88, not the supporting cast around him.
Sure, Junior is the most popular driver in NASCAR the last half-dozen years – and will likely earn that honor for a seventh consecutive season later this year. But being popular doesn’t necessary guarantee you championships. Look at Bill Elliott: he won Most Popular Driver honors for 16 years, yet he won only one Winston Cup championship (1988).
Popularity does not necessarily translate into championships, and now we’re going to find out whether Junior truly is a great racer and potential champion to be … or has had many of us fooled over the last decade as NASCAR’s great pretender.
There’s no more pretending. It’s put up or shut up time, and it all starts this Sunday in Dover.
Have a good weekend, everyone. We’ll catch you back here on Monday.
