Slowly But Surely, Earnhardt, McGrew Showing Signs of Improvement
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It’s been one month exactly since Lance McGrew replaced Tony Eury Jr. as crew chief for Dale Earnhardt Jr.
McGrew’s first race atop Earnhardt’s pit box was May 31 at Dover; today is June 30. In that period of time, the duo has worked together in five races, with finishes of 12th (Dover), 27th (Pocono), 14th (Michigan), 26th (Sonoma) and 13th this past Sunday at New Hampshire.
That’s somewhat of an improvement over the previous six races that preceded Eury’s removal as crew chief and reassignment within Hendrick Motorsports: 20th (Texas), 31st (Phoenix), 2nd (Talladega), 27th (Richmond and Darlington) and 40th at Charlotte in the Coca-Cola 600 before the big change was made.
While they still haven’t come close to winning a race yet, and Junior has not led even one lap in a race since his runner-up finish at Talladega back in April – a span of eight races – I’m starting to see some positive signs coming from the Earnhardt-McGrew marriage.
While consistency is an issue with their up one week, down the next finishes, the fact that Earnhardt has three top-15 finishes in five starts with McGrew would seem to bode well for the rest of the season.
But we have to temper that performance with reality.
With nine races left to make the Chase, it’s admittedly not looking very good for Junior right now, sitting 285 points out of 12th place. Sure, he moved up one place in the standings after Sunday’s race in New Hampshire, but it was a modest gain at that, improving from 20th to 19th place in the Sprint Cup standings.
If that’s the case, it will mark the third time Junior has failed to qualify for the Chase in the last five seasons. Still, I think McGrew will be good for Junior in the long run. They’re still working on their communication, but there are definite signs that the honeymoon period is still far from over.
Like any new couple, be they in love or a business relationship, it takes time to learn about each other, their respective likes and dislikes with the car, how Lance can most help Junior on the pit box, as well as how Junior can most help Lance behind the wheel.
Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway, wouldn’t it be great for McGrew, Junior, his fans and NASCAR as a whole if the driver of the No. 88 finally broke through what has been the longest and worst slump of his career and drive into victory lane?
At a place that has meant so much to Earnhardt and his late father, I can’t think of a better way to see the new partnership move to the next level than with a win. And if everything goes the way everyone at Hendrick Motorsports would like, that first win will lead to another and then another and yet another.
They can only hope.
Posted by on 06/29 at 11:53 PMIt takes awhile for a change to either be possitive, or negative, why don’t all you reporters back off and leavr jr alone, then he can concentrate on what needs to be done, you reporters are like buzzards on fresh roadkill.
