Dale Jr. willing to do 'whatever it takes' for No. 88
Dale Earnhardt Jr. came to the Motor City to rally an audience of 1,700 autoworkers and National Guardsmen.
But it was NASCAR's most popular driver who needed a little cheering up.
On Thursday, Hendrick Motorsports announced the inevitable — Earnhardt and his crew chief Tony Eury Jr. would part ways effective immediately.
downlevel descriptionThis video requires the Adobe Flash Player. Download a free version of the player.
Before the fan forum, the driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet couldn't mask his sorrow or frustration in the dissolution of his partnership with Eury Jr.
Earnhardt knew the situation had become "delicate." After weeks of meeting with management to create a solution "without results," the eventual outcome did not surprise him. As distraught as Earnhardt was over the move, he trusted Rick Hendrick to make the right decision.
"Whenever you decide that something needs to happen, you just make the change you want to make," Earnhardt said. "I told Rick that whatever he wanted to do, to do it, and that meant whatever.
"If he thought I wasn't able to get the job done, then I would be fine if he wanted to change who was in the seat, if he wanted to change certain particulars on the team — whatever — to not necessarily involve me in it.
"They run race teams. That's their business. They put together champions. I want 'em to just do whatever it takes, and that's the way Tony Jr. felt, too."
Still, for Earnhardt, it was like losing his brother — again. The cousins hit a similar impasse with the No. 8 team after the 2004 season at Dale Earnhardt Inc. Eury went on to have success as the crew chief for Michael Waltrip, but Earnhardt finished the season a career-worst 19th in the point standings.
Earnhardt now finds himself in that same position again.
"This year we're not even mediocre, and in the last two weeks, possibly, quite arguably, have been one of the worst teams on the track," Earnhardt said.
The silence was deafening on the No. 88 Chevrolet's radio channel last Monday and it grew with every lap in the Coca-Cola 600. During the rain delay, Earnhardt distanced himself from the team.
By Lap 111, race leader Kyle Busch had knocked then 42nd-place Earnhardt Jr. off the lead lap. Three laps later, one of the few radio exchanges of the afternoon occurred between Earnhardt and Eury, "It's really, really loose."
The pit stop adjustments on Lap 126 offered Earnhardt no relief. Earnhardt simply resigned 30 laps later after falling two laps down. "Help me get out their way by telling me where they're running," he instructed spotter T.J. Majors. He finished the race a season-low 40th.
