November 2, 2009
By Matthew Pizzolato
Matthew Pizzolato
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The career of Dale Earnhardt Jr., was supposed to hit new highs when he signed with Hendrick Motorsports before the 2008 season. With the best equipment in the garage, he was expected to win a championship sooner rather than later.
The first half of last season started off well for the fledgling 88 team. They won a fuel mileage race at Michigan, qualified for the Chase, but fell into slump and tanked their first post-season effort for Hendrick by finishing dead last in the Chase standings.
Things have gotten so bad for Earnhardt recently that Rick Hendrick replaced his long time crew chief, Tony Eury Jr., with Lance McGrew. The crew chief change came too late for the 88 team to turn their season around and qualify for this year's Chase, but Earnhardt's results with McGrew at the helm haven't been markedly better. He's had a few more top fives, but nothing spectacular. The most loyal of Junior Nation have been left scratching their heads, wondering what is wrong with NASCAR's favored son.
Earnhardt hasn't been bashful about expressing his frustrations either.
"I'm about at the end of my rope," Earnhardt was quoted as saying in an article on cbssports.com by Pete Pistone. "I feel like I don't have any control, you know? Rick Hendrick put me in a great position but I haven't made the most of it. For whatever reason we're just not getting it done."
Earnhardt finds himself at rock bottom with Hendrick Motorsports, and there's no where else to go but up. With all of his teammates currently competing for a Championship as well as both drivers for Hendrick's satellite team, Stewart Haas Racing, Earnhardt is the lone driver with the best equipment in the garage not to have qualified for the Chase.
Rick Hendrick announced recently that Lance McGrew will be the crew chief for the 88 team for the 2010 season. McGrew is a proven winner, having won with other drivers such as Tony Stewart, Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, and Ricky Hendrick. He has proven to be a Championship caliber crew chief by winning the 2003 Nationwide title with Brian Vickers. And with 18 Cup wins and two Nationwide titles to his credit, Earnhardt himself is a proven winner. So, what is the problem with the 88 team?
When Earnhardt made the transition to Hendrick last season, he joined a stable of legitimate Championship contenders. Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon have both won mulitiple Cup Championships for Hendrick and are currently in the midst of a championship battle as is his other teammate, Mark Martin. It's too much to expect that either Johnson or Gordon would be displaced to make room for Earnhardt, so if the 48, 24, and 5 cars are currently occupied, which team does that leave for Earnhardt? The answer is the former 25 team that was changed to 88.
Regardless of how committed Rick Hendrick says he is about turning around the 88 team, there is a simple fact that many people are overlooking. In addition to bad racing luck recently, Earnhardt has had engine failures at California, Indianapolis, and Kansas, something that never happens to Hendrick equipment. How many blown engines has the 48 or 24 team had this season? The answer is zero.
As good as Hendrick Motorsports is, and its common knowledge they are the best in the business, there is only one reason for a Hendrick made motor to blow up. Generally, a motor failure occurs when a team is experimenting with horsepower or pushing the limits of the motor in another area, to see how much they can get out of a car. Granted, mechanical failure does happen occasionally, but out of all the cars using Hendrick equipment and there are five others, why would equipment failure plague just one?
Earnhardt is not contenting for a Championship, so there is no immediate need for him to win right now, regardless of how badly his fans want him to win, or how much pressure is being put on him by the media. The 25/88 team has always been the racing and development team of Hendrick Motorsports, just look at the history of that team.
So, it is not surprising that Earnhardt finds himself struggling and frustrated and unsure of himself, although it is through no fault of his own. Even his car owner Rick Hendrick chimed in on the subject recently.
"Every driver that I've had drive for me has had a period somewhere in that stretch where their confidence is shaken," Hendrick said in a David Caraviello article on nascar.com.
At least Richard Childress still believes in NASCAR's most popular driver.
"Junior can still drive a race car, he can compete, he can win, and he will win a championship someday," Richard Childress said in a Sporting News Wire Service report. "It's just a matter of going through a few of these peaks and valleys. I spoke to him a couple of times trying to give him encouragement -- because we've been there."
Maybe Earnhardt should reevaluate his employment options at the end of the season.
Frankly speaking, Earnhardt is not being given the best equipment in the garage to race with; he is being given the best "experimental" equipment in the garage. So unless Earnhardt can win with experimental equipment, he is always going to be looking forward to next season.
If you would like to learn more about Matthew, please check out his web site at matthew-pizzolato.com.
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