By VIV BERNSTEIN
John Raoux/Associated PressRick Hendrick has tried for three years to make Earnhardt, the son of the seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt, a regular in victory lane and a Nascar Sprint Cup title contender, with mostly disappointment to show for it.
Year 4 will mark Plan C.
Hendrick, the owner of 10 championships, including the last five in a row with Jimmie Johnson, reshuffled three of his four race teams in a head-turning shakeup of his organization, in part to try to jump-start Earnhardt’s stalled career. Earnhardt struggled with the crew chiefs Tony Eury Jr., his cousin; and Lance McGrew, a 2009 midyear replacement. He will now be paired with Steve Letarte, the crew chief who helped Jeff Gordon to top-10 finishes in each of the last five years.
Earnhardt, who finished 21st last season after a 25th-place showing in 2009, will essentially have Gordon’s staff, engineers and racecars, and his team will work alongside Johnson and his crew chief, Chad Knaus. Gordon and Mark Martin will have new crew chiefs and work together in the other Hendrick shop.
When the dust settled, the only team left intact at Hendrick was the No. 48, with Johnson and Knaus, who enter the season as the odds-on favorites to win the title again.
Hendrick insisted the changes were made to improve the performance of all three teams, not just Earnhardt’s. Gordon has one victory in the past three seasons. Martin slumped to 13th place in 2010 after finishing second the year before.
But if Earnhardt, 36, is given a team that has challenged for titles, his devoted followers can no longer accuse Hendrick of shortchanging him.
When asked why this combination would work, Hendrick said: “You never know. I’ve just got to keep trying till I hit the right note and I think this is the best shot I’ve given him.”
For his part, Earnhardt has said all the right things about Letarte and the move.
“He has good control of his team and he has a great plan of action and he has all the details under control,” said Earnhardt, whose sometimes caustic commentary during races has led to questions about tension with his crew chiefs over the years.
So far, so good. Earnhardt Jr. won the pole for the Daytona 500 in qualifying Sunday. This came after he finished 19th out of 24 drivers in Saturday night’s Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway. Earnhardt Jr. led four laps early before being caught up in a wreck. Still, it will be at least a few weeks before the combination can begin to settle in and address the issues that have kept Earnhardt from victory lane. If they can.
This will be the third crew chief in four years for Earnhardt. No crew chief has consistently been able to succeed with Earnhardt since 2004, when he won six races with Tony Eury Sr.
The longtime driver Kyle Petty, the son of a seven-time champion Richard Petty, said Letarte and his predecessors were interchangeable.
“There’s no indication he is going to be any different,” Petty said of Letarte. “All his fans have, all he has, all anybody at Hendrick Motorsports has right now is hope that he will.”
The problem, Petty said, is with Earnhardt.
“He’s putting pressure on himself,” Petty said. “It’s not the equipment, it’s not the crew chief, it’s not that. It’s between his ears.
“I think he’s put so much pressure that he’s so caught up in wanting to succeed that he’s in his way right now.”
That pressure comes from all sides — from a fan base second to none in Nascar, and all the way up to Nascar’s chairman, Brian France, who has said Earnhardt’s success is critical to the sport’s overall success. Television networks have also had a drop in ratings coinciding with Earnhardt’s struggles.
“I feel worse for Dale than anybody else because that is an enormous amount of pressure to put on one single person,” McGrew said.
Of course, as McGrew knows, it falls on the crew chief as well. That pressure will now be on Letarte’s shoulders.
“I’m not underestimating the pressure, I’m just putting it realistic to the level I’ve already had to learn to work within,” Letarte said. “We have very lofty goals and we expect great things out of ourselves, and we’re glad our fans expect them as well.”
It may be time for the expectations on Earnhardt to change, rather than the crew around him. Humpy Wheeler, the longtime promoter and former president of Charlotte Motor Speedway, said Nascar and its fans should place their bets elsewhere.
“If he doesn’t do well, he’s not going to impact anything any worse than it’s already done,” Wheeler said, “and we just need to move on.”
That process has already begun. Eddie Gossage, president of Texas Motor Speedway, said Earnhardt used to be included in every promotion the track held in advance of a race there.
“Today we may or may not,” Gossage said. “He’s still the most popular driver by a long shot, but others are catching up to him or he’s coming back to the field.”
Hendrick, the owner of 10 championships, including the last five in a row with Jimmie Johnson, reshuffled three of his four race teams in a head-turning shakeup of his organization, in part to try to jump-start Earnhardt’s stalled career. Earnhardt struggled with the crew chiefs Tony Eury Jr., his cousin; and Lance McGrew, a 2009 midyear replacement. He will now be paired with Steve Letarte, the crew chief who helped Jeff Gordon to top-10 finishes in each of the last five years.
Earnhardt, who finished 21st last season after a 25th-place showing in 2009, will essentially have Gordon’s staff, engineers and racecars, and his team will work alongside Johnson and his crew chief, Chad Knaus. Gordon and Mark Martin will have new crew chiefs and work together in the other Hendrick shop.
When the dust settled, the only team left intact at Hendrick was the No. 48, with Johnson and Knaus, who enter the season as the odds-on favorites to win the title again.
Hendrick insisted the changes were made to improve the performance of all three teams, not just Earnhardt’s. Gordon has one victory in the past three seasons. Martin slumped to 13th place in 2010 after finishing second the year before.
But if Earnhardt, 36, is given a team that has challenged for titles, his devoted followers can no longer accuse Hendrick of shortchanging him.
When asked why this combination would work, Hendrick said: “You never know. I’ve just got to keep trying till I hit the right note and I think this is the best shot I’ve given him.”
For his part, Earnhardt has said all the right things about Letarte and the move.
“He has good control of his team and he has a great plan of action and he has all the details under control,” said Earnhardt, whose sometimes caustic commentary during races has led to questions about tension with his crew chiefs over the years.
So far, so good. Earnhardt Jr. won the pole for the Daytona 500 in qualifying Sunday. This came after he finished 19th out of 24 drivers in Saturday night’s Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway. Earnhardt Jr. led four laps early before being caught up in a wreck. Still, it will be at least a few weeks before the combination can begin to settle in and address the issues that have kept Earnhardt from victory lane. If they can.
This will be the third crew chief in four years for Earnhardt. No crew chief has consistently been able to succeed with Earnhardt since 2004, when he won six races with Tony Eury Sr.
The longtime driver Kyle Petty, the son of a seven-time champion Richard Petty, said Letarte and his predecessors were interchangeable.
“There’s no indication he is going to be any different,” Petty said of Letarte. “All his fans have, all he has, all anybody at Hendrick Motorsports has right now is hope that he will.”
The problem, Petty said, is with Earnhardt.
“He’s putting pressure on himself,” Petty said. “It’s not the equipment, it’s not the crew chief, it’s not that. It’s between his ears.
“I think he’s put so much pressure that he’s so caught up in wanting to succeed that he’s in his way right now.”
That pressure comes from all sides — from a fan base second to none in Nascar, and all the way up to Nascar’s chairman, Brian France, who has said Earnhardt’s success is critical to the sport’s overall success. Television networks have also had a drop in ratings coinciding with Earnhardt’s struggles.
“I feel worse for Dale than anybody else because that is an enormous amount of pressure to put on one single person,” McGrew said.
Of course, as McGrew knows, it falls on the crew chief as well. That pressure will now be on Letarte’s shoulders.
“I’m not underestimating the pressure, I’m just putting it realistic to the level I’ve already had to learn to work within,” Letarte said. “We have very lofty goals and we expect great things out of ourselves, and we’re glad our fans expect them as well.”
It may be time for the expectations on Earnhardt to change, rather than the crew around him. Humpy Wheeler, the longtime promoter and former president of Charlotte Motor Speedway, said Nascar and its fans should place their bets elsewhere.
“If he doesn’t do well, he’s not going to impact anything any worse than it’s already done,” Wheeler said, “and we just need to move on.”
That process has already begun. Eddie Gossage, president of Texas Motor Speedway, said Earnhardt used to be included in every promotion the track held in advance of a race there.
“Today we may or may not,” Gossage said. “He’s still the most popular driver by a long shot, but others are catching up to him or he’s coming back to the field.”