Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Eury: He is the only crew chief for me

Driver says he's to blame for slow start to 2009 season

By David Caraviello, NASCAR.COM
March 21, 2009
12:40 PM EDT


BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. can handle the criticism. If you want to blame someone for his rather underwhelming first 40 races at Hendrick Motorsports, NASCAR's most popular driver urges you to point the finger squarely at him. But attacking his crew chief? That's going a little too far.

Yet Earnhardt hears it, on a regular basis -- fans, reporters and opinion-makers all blaming crew chief Tony Eury Jr. for the struggles of the No. 88 team, which has won once since Earnhardt moved to Hendrick at the beginning of last year. His reaction is a shake of the head and more solid support for his cousin, who's been on the pit box in some capacity for all but one of the driver's 18 career Cup victories.

“
I'd rather be crucified than him, because every time I read in the paper that people are on his case, I feel like people are sending my brother to jail for a crime I committed.
”
DALE EARNHARDT JR."I've said it 100 times, and it just doesn't seem to make a dent, but the guy that I feel bad for is Tony Jr., because he gets criticized so badly. And everyone in this [media] room, some of you have criticized him yourselves, know how smart a guy he is, truly know that he's a good mechanic and a solid crew chief. He just wanted to do this for a living, just like I do. I'll take the fall. I'd rather be crucified than him, because every time I read in the paper that people are on his case, I feel like people are sending my brother to jail for a crime I committed," Earnhardt said Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway.

"I feel bad for him, because he just wants to work and have fun and just wants to race. That's what everybody in the garage wants to do, they just want to race. But I understand that I need to run better, I understand y'alls point of view when y'all say, 'What gives? Where's the results?' I understand that, and I'm out there busting my butt trying to make it happen. And that's my goal until nobody will employ me in this sport. That's my goal, to make it happen. I just wish it was an easier job for him."

Right now, that job is far from easy. Although Earnhardt snapped a 76-race winless streak last year at Michigan and returned to the Chase in 2008 after a one-year absence, the breakthrough many expected when he moved to Hendrick has yet to occur. It's all been exacerbated by a slow start to this season, where a blown engine at California and pit-road mistakes at Daytona have relegated him to a 24th-place position in points. Even top-11 finishes in his last two races haven't stopped the wolves from howling. (Continued)

Eury, who has engineered two race wins since becoming Earnhardt's crew chief in September of 2005, often bears the brunt of it. But there are no indications that Earnhardt and his crew chief will be separated anytime soon.

"You see certain drivers and you know what they need for a crew chief, and I think it was all unanimous, and still to this day is unanimous, that Tony Eury Jr. is the guy for Junior, and possibly the only guy for Junior," said Jeff Gordon, Earnhardt's Hendrick teammate. "There is a tremendous amount of expectations and pressures that come along with being Dale Jr., as well as being Dale Jr.'s crew chief. There just aren't many guys in the garage area that could withstand that kind of crucifixion that comes along when things aren't going well, and Tony Eury Jr. is one of them. Plus, the uniqueness of their relationship and how they communicate is second to none."

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That communication is sometime unorthodox -- the two cousins sniping at one another, and then making up. Splitting them up, Earnhardt believes, might ultimately do more harm than good.

"There are risks between every driver and every crew chief, and they either work it out or they don't. I think me and Tony Jr. do a pretty good job of working it out. Obviously, through everything we've been through, we still love each other to death and we'd do anything for each other. I don't dread seeing him when I get to the race track. I can't wait to see him when I get to the race track. We really do enjoy working together," Earnhardt said.

"I like racing with my cousin. Whether we are the perfect combination or not, that doesn't mean anything to me. I just like racing with him. That's what I want to do for the rest of my life. I like working with him. Whether I get to do that or not, I don't know. I like racing with him, and maybe we're not the best combination out there, but I think if we're both on our A game and doing what we should be doing and get a little bit of luck and a break here and a break there, we'll be just as good as anybody out there."

Ultimately, Earnhardt said, it comes down to two sides. There's the side with sponsors and teams where the only goal is performance, and it's all about winning races and championships. And then there's the side of the driver, who's been going to the track with his buddies since his days running late models, and doesn't want to give that up. That's the way Earnhardt feels about Eury.

"You just want to have fun, because you did this for fun and people decided to pay you to do it. That's where I'm at," Earnhardt said. "It's up to all the professionals and experts to decide what we need to do to be a winning race team. We'll make the changes, and we have made changes. But I like working with the guy. We trust each other. We go through a lot of crap together, and I know where he's at and he knows where I'm at. We just have a bond."