Eury Jr Out As Dale Jr’s Crew Chief

Tony Eury Jr is out as crew cheif for Dale Earnhardt Jr starting this weekend at the Autism Speaks 400 at Dover.

Team manager Brian Whitesell will assume the role for Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Amp/National Guard Chevy this weekend, with Lance McGrew taking over on an interim basis after that.

In a prepared statement, Rick Hendrick said:

Our performance hasn’t been where it should be. It’s impossible to pin that on any one factor, but a change is the right decision at this point. We have a plan in place, and we’re going to move forward with it.

Whitesell and Hendrick’s lead chassis engineer, Rex Stump, will support McGrew when he takes over. Tom Stewart, a team engineer, will also be on the pit box for the No 88.

These moves are an indication that Hendrick is committed to turning around the No. 88. Hendrick continued:

We’re going to put our full resources toward improving the situation and winning races. It’s going to be a collective effort that includes all of our drivers, all of our crew chiefs and all of our engineers. Everyone in our company will be involved on some level.

No word on what will happen to Eury Jr at this point.

UPDATE: Eury Jr will move to an R&D role with Hendrick Motorsports.

Martin Wins Southern 500

Mark Martin took the lead in the closing laps of the Southern 500 from Darlington Raceway, and drove to victory, his second of the season. Jimmie Johnson completed the Hendrick Motorsports 1-2 sweep, finishing second.

All in all, it was a pretty good day for Hendrick, with Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski finishing fifth and seventh, respectively.

Top 5: Martin, Johnson, Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman, and Gordon.

Martin Truex Jr, Keselowski, Greg Biffle, Joey Logano, Matt Kenseth finished sixth through tenth, respectively.

Notables: Kevin Harvick (11th), Jeff Burton (12th), Denny Hamlin (13th), Kurt Busch (16th), Kasey Kahne (23rd), Dale Earnhardt Jr (27th), Carl Edwards (32nd), Kyle Busch (34th),  Clint Bowyer (37th), and David Ragan (38th).

Give a call to Brad Keselowski who proved his victory at Talladega Superspeedway two weeks ago wasn’t a fluke. He drove the No. 25 GoDaddy.com Chevy to a seventh-place finish. Dale Earnhardt Jr., however, struggled throughout the day and never ran consistently in the top 10. He finished 27th after spinning in the closing laps.

Martin To Drive Full Time In 2010

SceneDaily is reporting that Mark Martin will return next season to drive Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 5 Chevrolet full time.

Last year, Martin signed a two-year deal with Hendrick that would allow him to compete the full year this year and 26 races next season. That agreement was recently revised, making him the full time driver of the No. 5 next year.

Martin said:

It means a lot to drive the No. 5 Chevy for Rick and for Hendrick Motorsports. I’m in the best condition of my life, I’m recharged, and I’m motivated. Going to the race track every weekend is still really fun, and that’s the key. There’s more gas in my tank.

Hendrick Denies Considering Crew Chief Change

Following earlier reports that Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick considered swapping crew cheifs for the Nos. 88 and 5, with Alan Gustafson moving to Dale Earnhardt Jr and Tony Eury Jr moving to Mark Martin, the team has officially denied the report.

Regardless of what actually happens, I stick by my opinion that a move might be good for all involved, at least on Jr’s team. This is assuming he continues struggling.

I don’t question Jr’s focus or Eury Jr’s ability. I think Jr is focused and committed to turning around his team’s performance, as is Eury Jr. But, if everyone is working hard, and is focused, and the results still don’t come, something has to be done.

I believe Hendrick is committed to Eury Jr for the time being. But, if track performance doesn’t improve, he would be forced to do something, and maybe a crew chief change is the answer. Maybe it isn’t.

That’s not for me to decide. Ultimately, that’s a decision Hendrick may have to make.

Talladega May Seal Eury Jr’s Fate

It is being reported that during the Easter break, Hendrick Motorsports held discussions about a possible crew cheif switch between the No. 5 and No. 88, with Alan Gustafon becomming the new crew cheif for NASCAR’s most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr, and Tony Eury Jr. moving over to driver Mark Martin.

As I said a few days ago, I suspected that this might be coming, but I thought next year, not this year.

At the end of the discussion, it was agreed that the teams would stay in tact for three more weeks to see if both teams could improve without the switch.

But, with Martin’s victory in the Subway Fresh Fit 500, Rick Hendrick is said to be unlikely to move Gustafson from the no. 5 team. If the team builds more momentum, the move would become more unlikely.

If Jr continues to struggle, Eury Jr could be replaced by car cheifs Ron Malec (no. 48 team) or Jason Burdett (No. 24).

If both teams struggle, a switch could come All Star weekend.

Despite defending Eury Jr recently, if the team continues to struggle, then a move becomes inevitable.

Eury Jr takes a lot of flack for Jr’s poor performance, but last week’s race showed, without a doubt, that there was a problem with the changes that were made to the car. Jr’s car was junk for most of the night, despite leading 50+ laps due to pit strategy.

A move might be good for all of those involved. While this isn’t the first time the two would be broken up — they were separated in 2006 — Hendrick is a different team than Dale Earnhardt Inc was when they were split.

I doubt that Hendrick is going to let his most popular driver struggle without trying something to inject some life into this team.

And, given Jr’s track record at Talladega Superspeedway, his performance this Sunday should tell us if Eury is in jeopardy.