Hendrick busy being referee between volatile Earnhardt and beleaguered Eury
By David Newton
ESPN.com
Updated: September 14, 2008, 9:59 PM ET
LOUDON, N.H. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s five-second lead had long evaporated because of a bad set of tires 214 laps into Sunday's Sprint Cup race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and NASCAR's most popular driver was having a fit as he fell back in the field.
"We need a security guard over there watching those son-of-a-bitches," he screamed over his in-car radio. "… I can't figure out why we keep f------ up in the middle of all these races. Every f------ time."
In stepped Rick Hendrick.
The owner of Hendrick Motorsports has donned a lot of hats over the years. Lately he's been playing amateur psychologist in an attempt to help Earnhardt keep his cool under such pressure situations and give crew chief Tony Eury Jr. useful information instead of anger.
"You've got a great car right now," Hendrick said. "Just take it easy."
Responded Earnhardt, "This is f------ bulls---."
"You got a bad set of tires," Hendrick responded. "It happens."
Scoffed Earnhardt, "I need to find another series that runs half-distance races."
"You can do this," Hendrick said in a calm voice. "Talk to everybody about what the car is doing. We can make the right adjustments."
Earnhardt continued his onslaught, saying, "I'm pissed off. Sometimes you go your fastest when you're pissed off. So we'll see."
Said Hendrick, "Take it out on those guys in front of you."
Earnhardt didn't rally for the victory in the first event of the 10-race Chase. But he did finish fifth in a race Greg Biffle won, moving Earnhardt within 50 points of Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson for the top spot.
Hendrick said he believes with a little more patience Earnhardt can become a championship driver. He believes much of the criticism Eury has taken when things have gone awry on the No. 88 car are as much or more Earnhardt's fault for not giving his cousin good feedback.
"They're like brothers," he said. "They can fuss and say things, but when you've got millions of people listening … Tony gets some unfair [criticism].
"If he doesn't want Tony to go anywhere, if he's put a stake in the ground that he wants Tony Eury Jr., then he needs to treat him a little better on the radio."
Hendrick has been in Earnhardt's ear since Earnhardt and Eury blew up at Bristol last month after their third straight finish of 18th or worse. The results since speak for themselves.
Earnhardt was 11th at California, fourth at Richmond and fifth at New Hampshire after leading 79 laps.
"I think they can be better," Hendrick said. "I know Tony will be better to help him more if he's calmer when he's giving him information. When you say, 'I'm so loose, I'm so loose,' you've got to talk about your drive off and your entry so you know if you fix one you're going to hurt something else.
"I've had the benefit of listening to a lot of drivers over a number of years. To my knowledge, I've never had one that gave us good information when he's on the chip. It's better information when he's got a little bit more time to think about it."
Hendrick recalled how calm and mild-mannered Earnhardt has been in the Nationwide Series car with Lance McGrew as his crew chief.
"Junior, he knows the car," he said. "He knows what he wants. He knows what adjustments he ought to make. But when you're driving you can't keep up with what adjustments you made a change ago."
Such was the case when Earnhardt got the bad tires. Instead of trying to logically help Eury figure out what to do on the next pit stop, he went on an expletive-laden rant.
"Those kind of things are going to happen," Hendrick said. "In this Chase, it's not going to get any easier. With better communications, we're going to run better."
When such things happen to Earnhardt, the blame always seems to go to Eury. The so-called Junior Nation has called for Eury's head so many times one has to wonder how he has survived this long.
"Junior will tell you, 'Don't take Tony away from me,'" Hendrick said. "I never thought about doing that. I actually had fans at the drag race [in Charlotte, N.C.] stop me and say, 'Boy, I heard you called Junior down the other day.'
"I was waiting on whether they were going to be pissed or not, but they were laughing about it."
Earnhardt admits he's too tough on Eury at times. He also insists he feeds off the shouting even though it led to their split a few years ago at Dale Earnhardt Inc.
"I like getting riled up," Earnhardt said. "It motivates me."
At times Hendrick thinks it's funny. He jokes about it at the shop and calls Earnhardt a comedian.
But when the radio tirades get in the way of performance -- and Hendrick apparently believes they have -- the owner's going to do something to fix it.
"It is frustrating," Hendrick said. "He wants it so bad, and I don't want to take anything away from that. The crew just hasn't been around him so they don't know if he's that upset.
"They all need to be as sharp as they can be and need to think and go back and recap things and talk about things. I told him to take care of the car, we had a five-second lead today. Tony couldn't do any more."
Hendrick wouldn't be so involved if he didn't believe Earnhardt had the talent to win a title like teammates Johnson and Jeff Gordon, who have combined for six.
He commended Earnhardt on the radio during the parade laps for accomplishing his goals of winning a race [Michigan] and making the Chase.
He told him he had what it took to hold the championship trophy nine weeks from now at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
"The fans probably think he really wants to rip Tony apart, then he gets out of the car and wants to hug him," Hendrick said. "If he could just focus, he's got a real shot at this thing.
"I don't even think he realizes sometimes how strong he comes across. Hey, this is our first year. He's either going to wear me out or I'm going to wear him out."
Earnhardt still maintains he needs to get fired up every once in a while. When he gets in those moods, he's not sure even Hendrick can talk him off the proverbial ledge.
But Hendrick hasn't won seven titles by standing on the sideline.
"We're gonna try," he said. "Stay tuned. It's gonna get interesting."
David Newton covers NASCAR for ESPN.com
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Only read about 90% of this but IMHO jr would do a lot better if he'd get rid of eury
Hes got it stuck in his head he's better off and he needs tony but... its like a bad g/f you think you need her and want her then when shes finally gone you cant believe you kept her around as long as you did
if jr. wants to win a championship eury needs to go plain and simple
he cares a lot about eury but thats not going to win a championship
short story... eury's not the smartest pickle in the jar, easy to see and plain as day. youre blind if you dont see it.
Don't Count Earnhardt Jr. Out Just Yet
09/15/08
Permalink 04:25:07 pm, by Ed Coombs Email , 764 words, 1071 views English (US)
Categories: Main category
Don't Count Earnhardt Jr. Out Just Yet
With his fifth place finish at Loudon, New Hampshire Dale
Earnhardt Jr. gained points on the new leader in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. While everyone seems focused on the fact that “Junior lost the race” I need to focus on the big picture and that is that he just might pull it off and finally be considered the real deal. He is still in contention to win this thing. While that not say that one race makes the chase I won’t say that it doesn’t make a difference. Kyle Busch now knows how easy it is to lose the points lead once the chase begins and all it took was, one race.
Earnhardt Jr. has been under a microscope since he entered NASCAR in the late 90’s. Junior said about his fans expectations, “You can never live up to those. I wouldn’t expect to. I would hope their expectations are super high. Anything short of a championship is not reaching their expectations I’m sure.” But he does appear focused on winning the championship. “I try not to get to far off what’s happening today and what I need to think about today and now”, he said in response to being asked about thinking about actually winning it. He continued, “I mean everybody day dreams a little bit, but it doesn’t accomplish anything.”
Earnhardt seems frustrated with people that question his and the teams drive for winning a championship. “We’ve been going for it. No doubt about it”, he said. “We ain’t been holding anything back all year.” He has stated numerous times this season that he is not a points driver, he goes for the win every time he is out there. His cousin and crew chief, Tony Eury Jr. has said the same thing. Eury has come under fire numerous times this season because many have felt that it was his fault that Earnhardt was not finishing to his potential. It always seems that Earnhardt could lead a good portion of the race but could not ‘seal the deal’. When he finally did win at Michigan everyone was quick to point out that it was a fuel mileage race, as many discounted it as such. When a risky pit call did not pan out at Watkins Glen fans were again heard to say that it was Eury’s fault. Problem was he never said it wasn’t his fault. Eury’s relation with Earnhardt has been long, stormy and sometimes explosive, just listen on his scanner frequency. But I have also wondered if Earnhardt was getting too fed up in the car and not communicating as well as he should to Eury. It has to be a two way street.
After battling with Jeff Burton for the fourth position Sunday and failing to get fourth place some may see that as a failure, especially after leading the race as much as he did. However, team mate Johnson was credited the extra 5 points for leading the most laps so who should be more upset about ‘losing’? After the race Earnhardt said about racing hard with Burton, “I don’t want to hit Jeff; I like him. I thought I had him and I slipped a little bit and he got back by me. It was just great, great racing. I hate that I lost a spot though because every one is important, but it’s fun. He’s a good racer. He’s hard to beat man, just smooth.”
When talking about his race day he was excited about his crew’s performance. “We were leading the race, we were the fastest car on the track and we put on a set of tires and fell all the way to 10th or whatever”, he explained. “Where are you going to point the finger other than the racing tires we just put on the car”, he responded when asked what was to blame. “We put on another set and were fine. We went back to good. We just lost all that track position and it was just too short of a race. One thing I am happy about is my guys got me a lot of spots back on pit road that I lost. It’s really, really hard to gain spots on pit road and they gained a bunch today so I want to thank them for that.”
What will make him feel better “I’ll feel good when I’m holding that trophy.” Don’t be surprised if he does hold a trophy or two before the end of the season. Perhaps even the top prize.
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Halfway through the Monday review of the Sprint Cup Series race from Loudon, NASCAR Now host Allen Bestwick turned to a TV guest for more information on the race. It was ESPN.com writer David Newton. His topic was Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Earlier that day, Newton had written an article about Earnhardt for ESPN.com's NASCAR section. The thrust of the article was that Rick Hendrick had to step-in and manage Junior during the races. Newton said Junior was "having a fit."
Newton wrote that the main problem was Earnhardt's "expletive-laden rant(s)" and "radio tirades." Newton made sure ESPN.com readers knew exactly the words Junior had said by carefully using just enough letters to get his point across.
Last week, Earnhardt had joined Tony Stewart in speaking-out about ESPN's perceived poor treatment of NASCAR drivers and teams on-the-air. What Earnhardt had objected to was ESPN's use of team radio comments during the races. The network had replayed several audio clips of heat-of-the-moment comments much later without putting them in context. Some had been used for days.
"I think it's just poor taste by the networks and I am seeing it too often," said Earnhardt. "It's taking it too far where they're putting those type of conversations on network television and it's getting the kind of press it's getting. It's really about class...or the lack of it."
There is an interesting irony in seeing Mr. Newton and hearing him essentially repeat his ESPN.com story on NASCAR Now. Bestwick's Monday guest is usually a driver or crew chief who is in the news from the weekend races. The Monday show has consistently been one of ESPN finest NASCAR offerings.
In appearing on this program, Newton said Hendrick "for a few weeks now" had been monitoring Junior's radio. Newton indicated that Hendrick had turned "amateur psychiatrist" because Junior "gets out of control at times." Again, Newton made sure to mention that Earnhardt "starts yelling and screaming profanities" at Tony Eury Jr. during races.
Hendrick was interviewed after the race. "The fans probably think that he (Junior) wants to rip Tony apart," said Hendrick. "Then he gets out of the car and wants to hug him. If he can just focus, they have a real shot at this thing."
What Hendrick was trying to give Junior on the radio was referred to as "old man experience" by the veteran owner. At the end of Newton's appearance, Bestwick stated that Earnhardt is "always emotional" on the team radio. When asked if this was something new for Junior, Newton said "he was about the same" at Loudon as the other races.
Newton tried one final time to sell this story. "He (Earnhardt) says stuff to Tony Eury Jr. that you wouldn't say to your worst enemy at times and that's got to have an impact," said Newton. All of this hype, it turns out, was over a set of tires.
Earlier in the show, Junior had talked about how just one bad set of tires put him back in the field and he just did not have the time to get back up to the front. In his first Chase race for Hendrick, that had him upset. In a post-race interview with an ESPN pit reporter, Earnhardt was polite and thoughtful.
Todd Bodine, Ray Evernham and Mike Massaro made up the panel for this program and added their thoughts. Evernham suggested that Hendrick will sit the team down and preach his philosophy of respect. Bodine wanted to make sure Junior knew he was the quarterback on the team and everyone took their cues from him. Massaro wondered if Earnhardt will change his style to the non-emotional and more analytical approaches of teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon.
NASCAR Now touched on all the race highlights, including a good review of the Kyle Busch situation. An added touch was a good decision to show Craftsman Truck Series highlights that included the post-race fracas and let Bodine explain what happened. In talking about the meaning of Hornaday's win after the steroid hype, Bestwick made sure to say that was an ESPN the Magazine story.
Things certainly get interesting this time of year when the pressure is on for all those concerned in the sport. Bestwick let Evernham completely off the hook as an owner, even as the Jayski.com website is reporting that GEM is set to buy Bill Davis Racing. That is a huge story that should have been covered.
Bodine was again fun to watch and plain-spoken as usual. Massaro is an observant and thoughtful reporter who has really lent a hand to this series each week with his journalistic perspective. Next week, Boris Said will join Evernham and Massaro on this program that airs each Monday at 5PM Eastern Time.
Here is the link to the David Newton story:
Hendrick Busy Being Referee
Posted by Daly Planet Editor at 9:15 PM
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"Heat of the moment" that's all it is....you'll here Junior say stuff like that over the radio to his crew and then after the race when he gets out of his car he'll shake hands with crew memebers, shoot the breeze with them and put an arm around Tony Jr. Everyone likes to vent when their angry and we say stuff that we don't mean a lot of the time.
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You know, I have been a huge Rick Hendrick fan for many, many years, but this whole Hendrick/Junior love fest we see every sunday is just flat out starting to make me sick. I mean what the heck is Junior, Hendrick's illegitimate son or some kinda crap. I mean while he is messin around with "The Juniors", Dale and Tony, he has got another driver setting the track on fire heading for a third championship in three years! I have never understood why Hendrick brought in Junior, and I understood even LESS why he brought in Tony Eury. I mean all you ever hear is about how bad Eury is, so why the heck did he bring him in? Then again I guess Junior wouldn't come without him. I stand by my opinion all along in that the reason Hendrick brought in Junior is because he saw dollar signs. Who cares that he let the future of the business, Kyle Busch, go to make room for Junior, its all about the marketing dollars Junior can bring in right? Is that what the sport has come down to? Is it more about who sales the most merchandise and not about who is the best driver? I think in Rick's eyes it has gotten to that point. Think about it, when is the last time you saw Rick in Jimmie Johnson or Jeff Gordon's pit? He some how shows up in victory lane for Jimmie's wins, but during the race he is Jurnior's head cheerleader. It all just makes me sick!
DOVER, Del. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. wants there to be no mistaking how badly he wants to win the Sprint Cup championship, and Friday at Dover International Speedway he insisted that anyone who monitors his radio communications with his team will understand his passion.
He didn't apologize for the emotion he displayed last weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on his way to fifth place, and said not to expect any changes in the future -- despite a lot being made about car owner Rick Hendrick coming on his radio frequency during last week's Sylvania 300, ostensibly to calm him down.
“
It's real easy to get frustrated when you're not realizing the potential every weekend, because I feel like we're a great team that should be in the thick of this. I don't want to be sitting there five races in, 150 points out, going, 'What the hell did we do wrong?'
”
DALE EARNHARDT JR.
"I would love to be calmer under those types of situations, I would," Earnhardt said before qualifying 10th for Sunday's Camping World RV 400. "And I was [calmer], when I first started, I was. And then I got called lackadaisical. I got compared to my father and his determination. I got questioned about if I quit partying so much and focused and this, that and the other -- so now I'm on the chip and want it more than anybody else and I am getting hell for getting too excited.
"Regardless of how I act, somebody is going to criticize me one way or another and find an angle. I don't really want to change because I don't want to lose my enthusiasm and I don't want it to matter less -- I want it to matter as much as it matters to me. If that means it is going to get me excited when things don't go right, I just need to be better at controlling that, you know?"
But don't expect Earnhardt to seek professional help, such as from the sports psychologists some of his competitors have sought.
"No I haven't [seen a sports psychologist]," Earnhardt said. "But I could probably teach him a thing or two."
Virtually all of Earnhardt's success has come with his cousin, crew chief Tony Eury Jr. Earnhardt said that relationship and the cousins' affinity for each other leads to some of their broadcast emotion.
"Me and Tony Jr. have worked together for a long, long time," Earnhardt said. "I think Rick likes being in the middle of it because it's fun. I don't know of any driver on the racetrack that doesn't get hot under the collar. I don't do it every race. But I have had some real good ones you all missed apparently -- last week wasn't my best. I've had some pretty good ones.
"The Chase is real important to me. My determination has never been higher. Those things are hard to harness, you know, when you're trying to accomplish what you want to accomplish. You're leading the race all day and things go away and the car changes and there is no answer. That is all you want is an answer. So it's real easy to get frustrated when you're not realizing the potential every weekend, because I feel like we're a great team that should be in the thick of this. I don't want to be sitting there five races in, 150 points out, going, 'What the hell did we do wrong?'
Still, Earnhardt said his emotion in the car is part of who he is, and his relationship with Eury makes it easier to communicate -- something others may not understand.
"I guess I can understand how my comments are offensive and definitely over the top at times," he said. "As you get older you try to do better at that because that is just how you are supposed to act. It's hard in the car. It's hard to remember. I look at those guys and I think they are great friends of mine, but they don't know me well enough, maybe, to talk to them like that."
That was what led Hendrick to get more involved with his newest driver last weekend. With five days to digest that, Earnhardt said he welcomed his owner's involvement, anytime, anywhere.
"I think it's great," Earnhardt said. "I welcome and want Rick's input on exactly what he thinks about exactly what I'm doing every minute of the day that I'm on the job -- and even some of the things I chose to do in my personal life. I want his opinion on it, because I trust him that much. I believe what he says. I wouldn't argue with him. I just told him it would be hard to talk me off the ledge. I know he's talked a few drivers off of it before, but it's hard to get me calmed down, because I want them to get excited. I want to hear the same frustration from them. I want to know -- I'm sitting in the car, I want to know they are as diligent about it as I am as far as finding what happened.
"It makes you more angry and more angry when you hear '10-4' or 'things are going to be better.' I don't want those stock answers; I want to know exactly what's going on. Tell me exactly what you're looking for and what you think it might be. Make up something, lie to me, I don't care. That is what's going to make me feel better."
Earnhardt said the one thing he'd have a hard time doing is taking Hendrick's advice to "tone it down a little."
"I don't know," Earnhardt said. "I mean, it's just hard to take it down a little. I'm serious. I grew up in this sport and I've been raised around this and it's all I can do and it's all that matters to me. I'm very serious about it. When I'm hot on the radio, I'm challenging everybody else to get to that level and get that serious and make it mean that much to you.
"I take it pretty seriously. I understand what Rick's saying and I believe he's right, that I do need to chose my words wisely and take it easy -- only probably because of the exposure it gets, not so much because of how it affects me and Tony Jr.
"I can't do any better at communicating. I only know the car as good as I know it. I'm only going to be able to tell them and explain it to them the best way I can. I feel like I do that. I don't think when I get [upset] I communicate worse, I think it is harder for them. I think at that point, Tony Jr. isn't listening to what I'm saying and thinking how to fix the car -- he's hearing me raise hell, and wanting to raise hell back, you know?
Moving forward, Earnhardt said anyone could scan his radio communications, but at their own risk.
"I don't mind if ya'll listen, but keep your opinions to yourself -- all right?" Earnhardt said. "Because I'm doing business out there and I'm doing my job and that is how I do it. Ya'll can listen all you want, but if you hear something that upsets you, don't come crying to me or whoever said it on my radio. That's the way I feel about it. I don't want to restrict the fans' access, I like the access. If I am a fan, that is what I would want.
"Ya'll can tell, you can sit on the Internet all week and talk about [what] you want. I don't like answering questions about it and I'm not going work too damn hard about changing it because I kind of like how it is -- it keeps me motivated and enthused during the race, it keeps me from getting relaxed and monotone during the race. I don't want that to happen."
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