[Curves24]

For Junior, the years pass, but pressures remain same

Disappointment with poor finishes comes with last name

By David Caraviello, NASCAR.COM
May 9, 2009
09:37 AM EDT

DARLINGTON, S.C. -- It felt like the old days of the Southern 500, the conditions warm and sticky and the humidity as thick as a coastal South Carolina drawl. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was hot and bothered as he emerged from his car following opening practice Friday afternoon at Darlington Raceway, and in no mood to discuss a botched pit-road call that derailed his efforts a week earlier at Richmond.



"Ya'll saw what happened," he said, referring to a wedge adjustment that was misinterpreted by crewmen as a track bar adjustment, and played a part in a 27th-place finish. "Why do I have to comment on it? It don't help nothing to talk about it, not for me. My team's had enough s--- from everybody else, I don't need to weigh in on it. Ya'll saw what happened. Ya'll will say what ya'll want to say. We're working on it, trying to fix it. I'm pretty sure the guys will concentrate harder and try not to make that mistake next time."
It's been that kind of season for NASCAR's most popular driver, one full of mediocre race results and pit-road mistakes and a championship Chase that seems to become a little less realistic with each passing week. The pressure is on, and at times it can feel suffocating, with fans demanding performance and reporters demanding answers and everyone at Hendrick Motorsports pursuing race wins and championships except for the driver in the No. 88 car. But that's the way it is when your last name is Earnhardt, and every stumble is scrutinized, and the bar of expectation is set atmospherically high.
To that degree, little has changed since Earnhardt first began racing in this part of the world. In 1995 Dale Earnhardt sent his son to Myrtle Beach Speedway, a tough short track with plenty of stout competition located 75 miles east of Darlington through the pine forests and Carolina bays. For the better part of three years Earnhardt Jr. raced late model stocks, worked on his own cars, operated on a tight budget and traded paint with seasoned drivers who contended for regional and national titles on NASCAR's weekly series. There was no Junior Nation back then, just savvy local fans who could remember the days when the Intimidator occasionally raced a sportsman car at Myrtle Beach in the 1970s, and found his son to be likeable if a little shy. He was even voted the track's most popular driver once, an event that would repeat itself through the years.

"Everybody liked him. He got along with everyone," said Bill Hennecy, general manager of the Myrtle Beach track. "He basically didn't have enough financing when he came down here. I think his dad was putting him through the school of hard knocks. He came down here basically on a budget. He ate at places like the Raceway Grill. They'll tell you Dale Jr. used to stop down there on his way to the beach, and they'd feed him hamburger steak. Then he would stop at a place called the 501 Pit Stop, where Ernie Hammonds would give him a tank of gas, because he was only making a couple of hundred dollars a week at the dealership changing oil for his dad. He was on a pretty tight budget, and I think Senior did that to say, 'OK, you're going to learn what the value of a dollar means, and what it costs to work on these race cars.'"

Earnhardt Jr.'s Myrtle Beach days are far from forgotten; the driver often credits his three years on the half-mile oval for his traditional strength on Cup Series venues like Phoenix, Bristol, and -- an inadvertent track bar adjustment notwithstanding -- Richmond. There were plenty of carefree days, afternoons kicking back in the shade and eating fried chicken. But then as now, there were questions about why he didn't win more, or whether he could live up to his last name. Earnhardt won just one 50-lap feature during his time in Myrtle Beach, and claimed another at the short track over in Florence. What he's dealing with today is nothing new.
"When you're doing that kind of stuff, you don't realize how good you've got it and how lucky you are," Earnhardt said Friday, remembering his late model days. "There was a lot of pressure and a lot of worry, just like there is today. You don't understand what opportunity you have at that age. I did poorly in trying to enjoy it. Every week if we didn't run in the top three, it was a failure, just like it is up here."
These days, though, it's harder to find an escape. As a 19-year-old in Myrtle Beach, he could cruise Ocean Boulevard or spin records as a guest disc jockey at a local radio station, and nobody gave him any grief. "I don't think everybody expected as much out of him as he maybe expected out of himself," remembered Hennecy, who also worked for a time as public address announcer at Darlington and its sister track, North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham.
"He wasn't leaned on heavily down here. It was like when the Rolling Stones came to town, nobody leaned on the Rolling Stones. Nobody was all over them to get their autograph. It's like race fans somehow can't discern the difference between being in awe and being somebody's friend. That's difficult for them. But overall, he was always friendly, he was always congenial to the people who came, and at the time he was humble."
Earnhardt gave up that relative degree of anonymity long ago. These days he's under siege, his every move or misstep critiqued to the nth degree, his crew chief, Tony Eury Jr., facing the wrath of a fan base that's growing increasingly impatient with mistakes. Many want a crew chief swap, of the kind car owner Richard Childress recently made with the teams of Kevin Harvick and Casey Mears. Alan Gustafson, Mark Martin's crew chief, effectively torpedoed such a notion Friday.
"Fortunately for us, we're with a real high profile organization, we have really great drivers, but with that comes a lot of pressure to perform," Gustafson said. "I heard the same things last year with the 24 [team of Jeff Gordon], and I heard how bad [crew chief] Steve [Letarte] was. Steve is a really good friend of mine, so I'm really glad right now he's the smartest guy in the series. That changes pretty quick, and I feel the same way about Tony. I haven't known Tony as long as I've known Steve; I've known Steve forever. But the same thing is going to happen with Tony. One day we'll all look up, and he's going to be the smartest guy in the garage, and I'll be really happy for him when that day comes."
A sweltering Friday at Darlington brought more head-scratching for the No. 88 team -- 28th in opening practice, 21st in final practice, 26th in qualifying for the Southern 500. Teammate Jimmie Johnson sees no lack of effort.
"They're working their tails off to get stuff right," said the three-time defending series champion. "Last weekend [at Richmond], they were extremely optimistic about their car in debriefs we had leading into the race, even race day morning. I think they're learning, they're running their course. I don't know what I'd change. There are a lot of great things that come from Tony Jr. and ideas that he has. Junior is as committed and as focused as I've ever seen him, and giving great feedback. So hopefully whatever is needed will spark, and off they'll go."
The next step is a Saturday night event under the lights on a difficult South Carolina race track, where Earnhardt Jr. will once again try to silence the critics and show the promise so many believe lives within him. In some ways, it must seem a lot like all those days back in Myrtle Beach.
The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.

[mkadams]

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[mike honcho]

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[Curves24]

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[mike honcho]

Originally Posted by Curves24

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[Curves24]

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[Topgear]

Finally Some Answers About the Struggles of Dale Earnhardt Jr.

by Kelly Crandall (Senior Writer)Bleacher Report


May 18, 2009

The debate rages on about what or who is to blame for the struggles that Dale Earnhardt Jr. is having thus far in 2009.
I could be rich just by reading all the comments about how much of a bad driver Earnhardt Jr. is.
I could pay off my college tuition from all the times that I've heard that crew chief Tony Eury Jr. needs to be fired.
Everyone can't seem to grasp how Earnhardt Jr. went from being the best Hendrick car the first half of 2008, to the worst in 2009.
What's amazing is that the answer has been revealed, and yet not one media member has chosen to discuss it and let the fans know.
After all, people would take notice of an article about Earnhardt Jr.
How many of you chose to read this one because of the headline?
But, because of the media for once not doing a story of Earnhardt Jr., then I will share what has been learned.
One week ago after the Darlington weekend in which Hendrick Motorsports driver Mark Martin found Victory Lane and Earnhardt Jr. found the wall and another poor finish, the phone lines were ringing off the hook on the NASCAR Sirius Radio Channel.
I settled into my two and a half hour drive back to college and laughed as Dave Moody and Suzy Q. Armstrong had their everyday fun of talking NASCAR and interacting with the fans.
But then something really made me get up on the wheel and turn the volume waaaay up.
Moody said he knew why Earnhardt Jr. was struggling and it wasn't just another theory.
Moody told the listeners how he had talked to an insider from Hendrick Motorsports, who asked to remain anonymous, and that official revealed that the No. 88 teams struggle had to do with...equipment.
Now, before everyone starts to jump down to the comment section, listen carefully.
When he said equipment, it wasn't an excuse for Junior Nation to defend Earnhardt Jr. and say it wasn't his fault.
It wasn't an excuse to protect Eury Jr. from everyone calling for his head.
Think of it this way: one year ago today, Earnhardt Jr. sat third in points behind Kyle Busch and Jeff Burton. Just 134 points out of the lead.
He had one pole, four top fives, and eight top 10s after the first 11 races.
Look at the current point standings and you'll see that Earnhardt Jr. sits 18th in points, 419 behind teammate and points leader Jeff Gordon.
He has no poles, one top five, and three top 10s after 11 races.
So when looking for an answer and hearing the Hendrick official say that it's equipment was enough to have me convinced.
After all, a driver that has won two Nationwide Series Championships and has 18 career Sprint Cup wins and knows how to win, doesn't just wake up and begin a new season and just become a horrible driver.
After all, a crew chief that helped put Earnhardt Jr. to third in the point standings last year and be one of the most consistent drivers in the Series the first half of last year, doesn't just come into a new season and forget how to do his job.
So, I listened on to what Moody had to say and what he learned.
The answers and my confusion about Earnhardt Jr. and his No. 88 team were soon cleared up.
Three of the four Hendrick cars, that would be Gordon, the current points leader and winner at Texas, Jimmie Johnson, fourth in points and the winner at Martinsville, and Martin, 11th in points and the winner at Phoenix and Darlington, are each running the same setups and building their cars alike.
They head to the race track with their cars almost identical.
The fourth Hendrick team, which would be Earnhardt Jr., who sits 18th in points with no wins...is using a different set up.
Presumably, the No. 88 team is still using the same set ups and such that worked so well and gave them such great success in 2008.
However, what has become painstakingly clear, is that what worked in 2008, is not working in 2009.
Things have changed. The car is different and the 88 team has not accepted that.
Each week they are choosing to build their cars the same way they did a year ago, while their teammates are building them a different way and succeeding.
Which makes it easy to understand why Earnhardt Jr. can't go to his teammates and ask what they are doing and why Gordon, Johnson, and Martin can't go to Earnhardt Jr. and see what he is doing.
When they are on two opposite ends of the spectrum, nothing is going to be learned.
The No. 88 team and Earnhardt Jr. are on their own island and for some reason have not found the rowboat that will bring them back to Hendrick Motorsports and to the equipment and set ups they should be using.
When three of your teammates, plus the satellite teams of Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman, are succeeding and you are not, someone in the 88 team needs to look around and say: "Hey, maybe we should be doing what they are."
So, it's not the driver, and it's not the crew chief.
It's a team that has not accepted that what made them so successful and the leader of Hendrick Motorsports in 2008, is not working in 2009.
And until they figure that out, Junior Nation is in for a long year.
And if people are still convinced that Earnhardt Jr. or Tony Eury Jr. is the problem and you don't believe an official from Hendrick Motorsports who sees what is going on because he works there, then you probably don't believe that the sky is blue.

[LSC9901]

That could all be very correct, but .... an unnamed source ???? That always scares me into not fully believing what I hear or read. If someone in the organization knows it then why doesn't Rick Hendricks know it and fix it ? Why would they know this and spend money as if they were pouring sand down a rat hole ????