[tkj24]

Deja vu all over again for Hendrick, Dale Jr.
Darrell Waltrip, AllWaltrip.com

Folks, as I sit and ponder... and since I'm not going to the track every weekend, I get to sit and ponder a lot. Ask most people who know me, and that usually turns out to be a dangerous thing. But it also can be fun sometimes, and I was just thinking about Rick Hendrick and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

I started looking at what they were doing, and all of the sudden, I had a flashback to 20 years ago. Back in 1987, Rick and I got together and decided we were going to start the Dream Team. Crew chief/engine builder Waddell Wilson and a bunch of superstars wanted to sign up for the program. We were bringing in Tide, a brand-new sponsor in the sport. For a number of reasons, it was the biggest thing that had happened up to that time.

First of all, I had been driving for arguably the best owner/team in the sport — Junior Johnson. From 1981-1986, I won 46 races, three championships and 35 poles and the first Winston. Driving for Junior, I had won pretty much everything you could win.

In my first two years with Junior, we won championships with the Mountain Dew car in 1981 and 1982. We ran the Pepsi car in 1983. Then we had three years in the Bud car, including the 1985 championship. By 1986, Junior had gotten disenchanted with me, and I had gotten disenchanted with him. We were blaming each other because the team's performance had fallen off. I felt like Junior wasn't keeping the team up to the level it should have been, and Junior thought I wasn't driving at the level I should have been. So we really weren't where we needed to be as far as an owner and a driver.

Junior and I had been great friends so there weren't any hard feelings. He wanted to do something different and so did I. We had taken on another car. Neil Bonnett had come in, and Warner Hodgdon had bought half of the team. I wasn't happy with a lot of things that were happening. Besides, I didn't want to be the "Bud Man" anymore. My life had changed. I had become a Christian, and I was trying really hard to have a family. I wanted to change my image and go in a different direction.

When Rick offered me the deal to drive the Tide car, I was taking a chance by leaving and driving for a relatively new company. Hendrick Motorsports was just getting its legs under it, and Tim Richmond was running pretty well with Geoff Bodine. But it was a great opportunity. People asked me the difference between driving for Junior and Waddell/Hendrick, and I said, "It was like getting off of a mule and getting on a thoroughbred." Later, I regretted that comment because Junior had a great comeback. He said, "I don't know anything about that except I did have a jackass, and I ran him off."

Hendrick Motorsports was a rising tide... no pun intended. With the Tide car, Waddell and all the people with whom Rick surrounded us, I didn't see how we could lose. It was nothing but a win-win for everybody. There was no question in anybody's mind that we would win every race. Waddell was notorious for his Daytona/Talladega horsepower. I was notorious for setting up chassis and making them handle on the short tracks and road courses. With that combination, the sky was the limit. It was a beautiful thing, and it all seemed to add up to nothing but blue skies.

But it turned out to not be quite that easy.

As we got into the deal, things weren't working out the way we hoped they would. We didn't run poorly; we just didn't run great. For example, we didn't win Daytona right out of the box like we thought we would. I didn't like the way they were building the cars. It was different than what I had been accustomed to so I had a hard time adjusting to them.

Jeff Hammond and I had worked really well together at Junior's, but he stayed there with Tim Brewer. Finally, I told Rick, "Look, we've got to make a change. We've got to do something here. Waddell and I just aren't on the same page. How about me getting a hold of Hammond and seeing if I can get him to come down here and help me?"

Hammond came down, and we actually moved the team into my own shop on Hudspeth Road late in 1987. Hammond and I ran the team from that point on with our guys. Things got better. We finished fourth in the points in 1987, and we started winning races in 1988. We had a great 1989, winning six races — including all of my favorites — the Daytona 500, Martinsville and Bristol. We finally got the performance we wanted as the team jelled the way we thought it should.
That's an important part of building Dale Jr.'s team. Rick has good people, and Alan Gustafson is a great crew chief with the No. 5 team because he's had to endure a lot, doing what he's been doing. But Dale Jr. and Tony Eury Jr. seem to have a DW-and-Hammond relationship.

It's ironic that there are other comparisons between then and now. I wanted to be No. 17, and Roger Hamby had the No. 17. I had been 17 until I drove the No. 88 and then went to drive for Junior so I let Hamby pick up the number. I didn't need it so there wasn't a problem. When I got ready to go to the Tide deal, I wanted to get my number back so we had to buy the number from Roger. Dale Jr. is in a similar situation, and I'm sure that he's going to have to buy that number from Teresa. I left the Bud car to get in the Tide car. Dale Jr. may be leaving the Bud car to get into the sponsor-to-be-determined car.

I'm pointing out all of these things because they're important, and Rick and I have talked about them many times. As a matter of fact, Rick ribs me all the time. If I had stayed with him, I would have won 100 races and a whole bunch more championships, and he's right. When the tide was rising, I jumped off to do my own deal — with Rick's help — in 1991. I had success on my own, but my advice to Dale Jr. is now that he's there, take advantage of it. Rick and I talk a lot about chemistry so I know that he learned a lot from our experience. Obviously, that was 20 years ago so he's improved his program dramatically. He now has the template for making all of these teams work together. It was a little different back then. Multi-car teams didn't quite work then the way they do today. I just think there are some similarities between the old Dream Team and the new one. Rick is well aware of what we did and how we did it, and he'll apply those lessons to this situation.

I was just pondering a little bit, thinking of how funny this Dale Jr. and Rick thing that has come down is. It reminded me of yesterday. Why is it when you say "yesterday," you always think of the Beatles?

[Curves24]

I have read this before, and it seems like rambling to me. What is the jist? Is DW predicting Jr will do well or not? Thanks

[Lefty Noob]

Seems to me like DW's saying Junior will struggle without Eury Jr. because of the relationship the two have built up. It might take him a little time to build a rapport with a new crew chief, but ultimately I think they can make it work, don't you?

[Curves24]

Originally Posted by Lefty Noob

Seems to me like DW's saying Junior will struggle without Eury Jr. because of the relationship the two have built up. It might take him a little time to build a rapport with a new crew chief, but ultimately I think they can make it work, don't you?

I think Jr will do better without Eury Jr, but I am probably going to get stoned for that....

[tkj24]

Originally Posted by Curves24

I think Jr will do better without Eury Jr, but I am probably going to get stoned for that....

I agree that Jr would do better without Eury jr. I think Jr tends to tell Eury what to do. He don't need to be doing that.

[Quality88]

Originally Posted by Curves24

I think Jr will do better without Eury Jr, but I am probably going to get stoned for that....

I don't know... he may, then again he may not. It didn't work well the first time he went without Eury Jr. The changin factor is Jr is switchin organizations. That's the biggest factor. If Jr and the crew chief don't get along you know "The Felon" will do what it takes to make Jr happy, and competitive. JMHO

[jks812]

I've been trying to find it online, but at the last race, didn't they say Tony Eury Jr was having a meeting with Hendrick about coming over as Jr's crew chief?

[Quality88]

Originally Posted by jks812

I've been trying to find it online, but at the last race, didn't they say Tony Eury Jr was having a meeting with Hendrick about coming over as Jr's crew chief?

Hadn't heard anything.... who knows with everythin else that's goin on

[LSC9901]

I think Jr would be better off with a clean slate. It might be tough to leave your cousin in the middle of the pond but it's not like there isn't room for him at JR motor sports. Fresh start and if that doesn't work then look at bringing in familiar faces.