Comments on: Driver Profile: Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR’s Favorite Son

By: jimmccoy22

jimmccoy22 — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:49:18 +0000

@JoJo. If you look carefully, you’ll see Susan was not making that comparison, but rather, she said that numerous blogs were doing that. I know Susan well, and I can tell you she feels more like you do.

“There’s only one.”

By: JoJo

JoJo — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 06:59:30 +0000

Hey Susan, I just found this web site. I was just woundering how you can even compare Kyle to Dale Earnhardt Sr. Then you said that Kyle would be the next intimidater. There was only one intimidater and there will never be another intimidater. By you you sayen that you disrespected Dale Earnhardt Sr. his family, and all of his fans. Dale Sr. was a man not a crybaby like Kyle is so do not disrespect Dale Sr. like that again!!!!!!!!!!!!

By: Larry

Larry — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 19:59:13 +0000

Let me preface this comment by saying that I am a Dale Jr. fan so don’t think I am saying these things because I don’t like him. In fact, the fact that I do like him is the reason I’m saying this. At the start of the 2008 season, I felt each week that Junior had a chance to win each race but as the year wore on and they continued to worsen, I felt they had no chance at all to win. How did this happen over the course of the year? Well, I have come to realize that Tony Eury, Jr. had no idea what he is doing as a crew chief. He can’t set the car up properly, can’t adjust for a changing track during a race and is terrible at making strategy calls during a race. Unfortunately, as long as Eury, Jr. is allowed to remain as Junior’s crew chief, the results of this seaon will be the results of future seasons. It is painfully obvious to me, and I sincerly hope to Rick Hendrick, that a change is necessary. And now that the number 5 team is getting a new driver next season, this would be the perfect time to make the switch. Who cares if Junior likes working with his cousin? This is big business and the whole world doesn’t revolve around him. Just ask Amp and the National Guard who are pumping $30-$35 million into this sponsorship annually if it’s OK with them to keep achieving mediocre results from this team. Junior is the most popular driver at this time but that is subject to change if he doesn’t pick up the pace. And I feel his attitude has something to do with this situation. When things don’t go his way, he gives up and pouts about it. None of these scenarios are conducive to a championship team. What makes the #48 team so superior year in and year out? They don’t make mistakes and the can handle the pressure both of which the #88 team could learn from if they had the proper chemistry within the team. And it is so obvious that they DO NOT. So to Junior’s fans, I beg you to contact Hendrick Motorsports somehow and plead with them to give Junior a new crew chief. I think Alan Gustafson would be a great fit for Junior. And this change could probably change Junior’s attitude of being so down all the time. Have you seen the big change in him as the year went on? He is just like he was at DEI, seeming to be focused on something other than the job at hand. And what could it hurt to try the switch? If it doesn’t work, they can always switch back. I’m no fan of Roush-Fenway Racing but Jack Roush is never afraid to move people around in search of the perfect combination of team chemistry and he has found it many times. So, why can’t Rick Hendrick do this? Is he afraid of offending Junior or Tony Eury, Jr.? As I said before, this is big business and it has no place for spoiled little boys in it.

By: Susan

Susan — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 22:32:56 +0000

I am a huge Jr fan. My comments aren’t meant to be negative about Jr in any way. I think Tony is a good crew chief. I think Tony and Jr both might benefit from being with a different driver/crew chief. If I was Tony I’d probably be wondering why I work my butt off but no one ever appreciate’s me. If I was Jr then I might be thinking that I might be better off with someone else. Tony isn’t a proven championship winner and neither is Jr. There has to be some doubt with both of them.

I don’t think Jr is worried about anyone calling him a whiner. I think that he would like to have normal reactions to racing events involving him. Unfortunately, there is a huge over-reaction (by Jr Nation AND anti-Jr Nation) to everything that happens with Jr. I think that is why he always has to be calm. I don’t think Junior is a ranter and I know he’s shy BUT I wanted to hear more than a ‘it is what it is’ statement.

Kyle’s chase problems were in no way due to Junior. Kyle’s team made a huge mistake at the start of the chase. Not every event is tied to Junior.

Kyle sure gained a lot of fans for a ‘marked’ man. Junior didn’t say anything IMO to make Kyle a marked man. I kept reading on blogs that Kyle was the next intimidater and Kyle is more like Dale Senior than Junior is. I read a lot more pro-Kyle than pro-Junior comments on blogs.

Nascar needs some smack talk. One of the greatest Nascar moments was Jeff Gordon toasting Dale Sr with milk at the banquet. Junior has a great sense of humor and Nascar needs for him to show the public more of that. JMO.

By: Larry

Larry — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 15:33:25 +0000

@Larry- This is an interesting question of whether or not Tony is dragging Junior down. From what I know, I think TE is a good chief,
>>>>>>If you listen to an interview with Chad Knaus about the dynamics of a race car and an interview with Eury, Jr., you soon get the impression that Eury knows nothing compared to Knaus. Additionally, Junior did great in the Busch series with Eury, Sr. as his crew chief just as Brad Keselowski is now.

but the chemistry with Junior is all wrong.
>>>>>>This is true. Junior needs a crew chief, not a cousin to work with.

It looks like he gets good set-ups, but everything goes away late in the race. I don’t think Tony is getting the information he needs from Junior to help and that’s on Tony.
>>>>>>This may be true, too but Hendrick isn’t going to change the driver so the crew chief must go. Junior needs an authority figure to work with.

I believe he may be on a short leash. I think intervention by Rick is needed.
>>>>>>I believe Amp and The National Guard would appreciate this as well. They are going to get tired of spending $35M per year for such lackluster results. As the economy tightens, the sponsors are going to demand more from their drivers for the dollars spent. Because, eventually, those sponsorship contracts will be up for renewal and average results won’t be tolerated for such an expensive sponsor. I know Junior is highly marketable and popular but that will wear thin as time goes on if he doesn’t start performing on the racetrack. My whole point with this feeling toward Eury, Jr. has always been that it couldn’t hurt to try switching Eury, Jr. with one of the other crew chiefs just to see how it works out. But it’s painfully obvious that it’s not working in the present configuration.

By: Larry

Larry — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 15:13:11 +0000

It’s obvious that Junior doesn’t llike controversy. And I assume that is, at least in part, due to growing up as the son of one of the most controversial drivers of all time. He is bound to have seen a lot of the fallout from such actions in a much more personal atmosphere. And I believe Junior doesn’t want to make negative comments about other drivers and situations due to the way most so-called fans will perceive him as a whiner. So, he takes the Mark Martin route and simply clams up and says basically nothing!
As far as the repercussions other drivers fear from wrecking Junior, that must have been highly reinforced in May of 2008 at Richmond when Kyle Busch took him out. Kyle has been a “marked man” ever since that night. And the pressure from that incident snowballed for Kyle and his team until they finally just fell apart in The Chase.

By: jim

jim — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 15:02:45 +0000

@Larry- This is an interesting question of whether or not Tony is dragging Junior down. From what I know, I think TE is a good chief, but the chemistry with Junior is all wrong. It looks like he gets good set-ups, but everything goes away late in the race. I don’t think Tony is getting the information he needs from Junior to help and that’s on Tony. I believe he may be on a short leash. I think intervention by Rick is needed.
@Susan- Not only do I think Junior overthinks what he says, I tend to think he’s overthinking how he races. Perhaps taking the gloves off would do him some good.

By: Susan

Susan — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 05:44:52 +0000

Jr isn’t as aggressive as his dad was but I wish Jr could say what he’s thinking. I think it would help Nascar tremendously. For example, Kyle wrecked Jr this past season. I think Jr would have loved to really call him out but he didn’t. The announcers said Jr knew the weight of his words so Junior’s words were measured. The other drivers don’t ‘have’ to be careful and worry about blowback when they call out other drivers. I’ve heard several drivers complain that they have to be cautious around Jr. They don’t want to be the driver that takes him out. Junebug needs to be able to talk freely and not walk on eggshells. The other drivers should be able to have at it against Junior as well (without worrying about any serious blowback). Nascar would be in a much better place if the fan favorite driver was able to display emotion. Sports are built on a good team with rivalries and a little bit of controversy.

By: Larry

Larry — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 03:52:25 +0000

Junior will never achieve greatness in NASCAR as long as Tony Eury, Jr. is his crew chief. It will only continue to be more of the same. I don’t understand why Junior wants to keep him and why Rick Hendrick continues to tolerate their average performances. GET RID OF EURY!!!