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Junior, team creating their own bad luck
By admin | August 24, 2008
By Richard Allen
Over the last three races Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and his Hendrick Motorsports team have almost seemed as if they are looking for ways to dig themselves into a hole.
In Watkins Glen a questionable decision by crew chief Tony Eury, Jr. to leave his driver on the track well after other competitors had made their final pit stops backfired when a caution flag flew and mired Junior well back in the pack. The result was a 22nd place finish when a Top 5 seemed almost a certainty.
The next week in Michigan a decision once again not to pit with the competition led to disaster. After a late race caution, most of the lead lap cars hit pit road. The #88 team chose to stay out in order to gain track position. When the green flag waved, the cars on new tires were much faster than the HMS Chevrolet and Junior was forced up into the wall. The resulting damage caused a 23rd place finish.
Junior himself did his part to contribute to the team’s recent run of misery in Bristol. On the very start of the race NASCAR black flagged the popular driver for jumping the start, which he clearly did. The drive-through penalty he incurred caused him to lose a lap.
And to make matters worse, the long stretches of green flag racing allowed the lead cars to lap other machines and thus kept Junior from being able to recover his lap by means of the “lucky dog”. He eventually lost another lap on the track and finished 18th.
After Pocono, Earnhardt was in second place in the overall standings 176 points behind leader Kyle Busch. Now, only three races later, Junior has dropped to 3rd in the standings 416 points back of Busch.
Junior was working on a very solid season as of the Pocono race. However, the type of mistakes made by this team of late are not championship caliber. While they are assured of a place in the Chase for the Championship it will make little difference if they piece three, or even two, such races together during the 10 race playoff.
Team #88 has to get back on its game if they want to compete for anymore wins and a championship title, especially considering the runs Busch and Carl Edwards are having.
Richard Allen is a member of the National Motorsports Press Association. His weekly column appears in The Mountain Press every Wednesday.
Topics: Articles |
August 25th, 2008 at 12:50 am
it is looking as though jr picked the wrong team and wrong crew-chief.hendrick success might all be due to ray evernham figuring out how to manipulate the old car and passing this on to his protege chad knauss. i do not see any of the hendrick’s cars contending for the title. should have went to rcr and left the cousins.
August 25th, 2008 at 7:54 am
I think the constant attention and high expectations has made Jr.’s life miserable. When he is interviewed, the spark is not ther and he doesn’t sound or act like a happy person. I think he wants to be left alone. The constant attention would make anyone unhappy. You don’t perform well when you are not mentally prepared.
August 25th, 2008 at 8:38 am
Jr has to accept blame for a lot of the Bristol race. That move he pulled was ROOKIE, I was mad as hell. I have been a Jr fan for a long time. This time he screwed the pooch, and as usual they couldn’t get a handle on the car either. The team is getting weaker with every passing race. They need to pull their collective heads out of their B**TS and start being smart.
August 25th, 2008 at 8:46 am
sorry guys, say what you will. He is still 3rd in the points and can coast for the next three races. Did you doomsayers notice that he had a competitive car the whole race. I could hate Paul Menard who was the lucky dog 3 or 4 times. If not for him, Jr would have been on the lead lap and done well. If I were Jr and Jr, I would take the next three races to get ready for the chase, try some new things and come out like gang-busters. Everyone is making a big deal about the bonus points, but they can be wiped out with one cut tire or one jumped start.I think Jr is over his mid-season slunp and will do very well in the chase. In fact, I still think he will place first or second. I look for Kyle or Carl to take each other out in the first race and finish 40 th or worse. Bye-bye bonus points. The ground trembling after that will not be an earthquake; it will be Jr Nation screaming, “I TOLD YOU SO.”
August 25th, 2008 at 8:50 am
I think it is time Dale Jr got a new crew chief. If you remember most of his wins came with Tony Eury Sr as his crew chief not Tony Eury Jr. Tony Jr cannot adjust on the car throughout a race and cannot come up with good strategy.
August 25th, 2008 at 9:14 am
Yankeegranny,
what race were you watching? Competitive car all night? He had opportunities to pass othr lapped down cars and receive the Lucky Dog PAss and each and every time he faded fast. He couldn’t pass Menard for goodness sake.
Being a fan as I am, I can understand your desire to defend him but the truth of the matter is, the team is not performing very well at all lately. Bad decisions and POOR driving skill to blame.
August 25th, 2008 at 9:24 am
Yes he is 3rd in the points, so? If he and the crew don’t ramp it up, that will be his only claim to fame. A Champion doesn’t forget how to race, or the rules, Jr made a ROOKIE mistake, the points have nothing to do with that. We are quick to throw Tony Jr under the bus, as fans we need to call it like it is even when that means calling June bug out, fair is fair.
August 25th, 2008 at 11:04 am
I’m with you, Larry! I was at the race Saturday night and you could feel the oxygen get sucked out of the stands as soon as Junior pulled the boneheaded move. I’m a JR fan as well, but I am not blind to his shortcomings. He is a good driver who has shown that he’s capable of being a great one. However, continued mistakes ( that he should not be making at this stage in his career) and poor decisions by Eury, Jr. will always doom their championship hopes. There is no one left to blame now.
August 25th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Well said yankeegranny! I agree. While I am not pleased with the results of the last three races, he is third in points. I think, when it’s time to git-er-done, the team will come together and git-er-done! Atleast, that’s my hope.
August 25th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
I also was surprised about that move at the start of the race. If not for that, I believe he would have had a decent finish but he certainly didn’t have a car to win even if he did get his lap back. Another thing, anyone else noticed how he seems to lose spots on every pit stop when they all take the same number of tires? Don’t know what the reason is but it needs to be corrected and soon.
August 25th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
REMEMBER JR TURNING DOWN THE 18 CAR FROM GIBBS TO GO HENDRICKS?TE,S FAULT?
August 28th, 2008 at 9:30 am
guys and gals, jr has been racing now for 10 yrs. and no trophy(championship) this is the reality, when jeffg and jimmie j get their problems worked out, its bye bye jr , jr cannot keep up with his teammates, when they are runnin well. everyone knows that jr will always be the 3rd wheel at hendrick , that if they keep him thru next yr. no teammates survives long at hendricks, that last name will carry him awhile, then they will throw him out the door like the rest, brian v, and casey m and, kuly busch???????????
August 28th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
Earl get a grip.
September 1st, 2008 at 9:59 am
larry, are you sayin that dale jr can outdrive jimmie j???? i hope your being sensible here???? dale jr will never be the leader over jeff g or jimmie j. do you think he will ever outdrive the legend jeff g???? and do you think dale jr can ever get 4 championships?????? or will he ever get 1?????????? i doubt it. reach deep in your soul, and think about it dude!!! its his last name!!!!
September 1st, 2008 at 10:02 am
larry let me ask you this??? do you think dale jr, is gonna win the cup this yr?????? honestly???? jr has not had a top ten in the last 6 races??? 1i more to go before it starts, then jr will be shuffled down to 5th or 6th place, over 100 pts back!