I know he hasn’t won yet, and I know he won’t win the championship, but no matter how you slice it, 2011 has been a very solid season for Dale Earnhardt Jr.
After struggling mightily in 2010 with Lance McGrew atop the box, Rick Hendrick decided it was time to make a change. For 2011, Steve Letarte and his entire team were moved from Jeff Gordon and the 24 to Dale Jr. and the 88. And the improvement in Earnhardt’s performance has been dramatic.
Jr.’s last two points finishes coming into 2011 were 25th (2009) and 21st (2010). With two races remaining this season, he’s currently seventh. It’s only his second Chase appearance in the last five years. His top five finishes (4), top ten finishes (12), and average finish (14.3) are his best since 2008. And if he can maintain his points position, it would be his best season since 2006.
Besides consistently better finishes, Earnhardt had two near misses this season in the quest to end his winless streak. He was passed late at Martinsville in the spring by Kevin Harvick and finished second, and he was leading out of turn four on the white flag lap at Charlotte in May before he ran out of fuel and finished seventh; Harvick won there too. While still winless, these races were the closest he’s come in some time to actually winning.
Transforming Earnhardt from an also-ran into a contender again was not going to happen overnight. A major component in being able to win in any series is believing you can do so, and Jr. was clearly lacking that confidence. A season like he’s having might be just what he needs to get over the hump. As the saying goes, you’ve got to crawl before you can walk.
Of the two races remaining, Phoenix is probably Earnhardt’s last legitimate chance to win this season. The track has been reconfigured so the race is a big question mark, but Earnhardt has won there twice in the past. Even if he doesn’t win though, 2011 has been a very good year for ol’ Junebug.
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This was a tough weekend for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the #88 team. For the second time this season they came just short of a win; oddly enough, to the same guy – Kevin Harvick. On top of that, the conspiracy mill was in full force this week over the caution that didn’t get called at the end of the race. It was a disappointing way to end what had been a good a day.
Even with that bad day it’s hard to feel too bad for Earnhardt Jr. Consider these stats from NASCAR:
Those are stats to be proud of considering the difficulty of the last few seasons. Remember this is a guy who is on his fourth crew chief since 2005, and though he has 18 Cup wins in 12 full seasons, he has just three wins since 2005. The success of the DEI years have yet to be replicated at Hendrick.
Chemistry has clearly been important for Earnhardt Jr.’s success (as it is for most teams) and it was a key thing missing with Tony Eury Jr., and Lance McGrew. He needed someone to support him, to serve as a cheerleader and to achieve on the box – I think he’s found all that in Steve Letarte.
In interviews and on the track he just seems to be a happier guy. His worst finish of the year was at Daytona – a 24th – and he’s finished on the lead lap in all but two races. Last year, at this same point, he had three sub-29th place finishes and sat 16th in the points.
Without a doubt, Hendrick is providing Earnhardt Jr. with the equipment he needs to get things done. That key chemistry has been missing for a while though and I think they may just have found it. There is still two-thirds of the season remaining, but Junior looks to be on track for his first Chase appearance since 2008. And you never know when they could end up in victory lane.
All in all, things could be worse.
Seven races into the season and all those questions we got in the off-season are starting to be answered, namely what off-season changes have worked, and in some cases haven’t so far in 2011.
One of the biggest changes that came after Homestead last season (and the topic for this particular follow up) was the crew chief swap at Hendrick Motorsports. Alan Gustafson was moved from the #5 to the #24; Lance McGrew was moved from the #88 to the #5, and Steve Letarte was moved from the #24 to the #88. And the results so far? Well, it’s a mixed bag.
After struggling through much of last season, Mark Martin’s fortunes have not turned around with new crew chief Lance McGrew. Through the first seven races of last season Martin averaged a finish of 16.1 including three top-fives – this year, he’s averaging 17th place finish with just two top-ten finishes. He finds himself 15th in points.
How about Jeff Gordon? He was able to finally overcome that winless streak and head to victory lane at Phoenix, but he’s had some struggles elsewhere. A wreck at Las Vegas and sub-20th place finishes at Texas and Daytona have pushed Gordon’s average finish to 17.9 – compare that to an average finish of 12.2 after the first seven races of last season. In points, he sits next to teammate Mark Martin in 14th.
The biggest winner of this shift appears to be Dale Earnhardt Jr. who struggled through his first three seasons at Hendrick with crew chiefs Tony Eury Jr., and Lance McGrew. With Steve Letarte at the helm Junior hasn’t finished worse than 12th since Daytona and was in position to win at Martinsville. With an average finish of 10.9 he sits sixth in the points right now. Not too shabby for a guy who, just a few short months ago, finished an abysmal 21st in points. Consider though through the first seven last year he was averaging a 14th place finish and sat 10th in the points. Can his strong start be maintained?
With 29 races still remaining in the season there is a ton of time for the slow starters to start making some headway. Still it’s interesting to see where they stand right now. What do you think of the swap? Has it been a success? A flop? Talk amongst yourselves.
Caught beneath all the hustle and bustle of last week’s Sprint Media Tour was a very interesting bit about Hendrick Motorsports and their pit crew situation for 2011 (see articles here and here). Specifically, that Chad Knaus and his shop mate Steve Letarte had yet to really solidify their starting pit crew lineups for the season. In an attempt to build depth for their over-the-wall crews, no doubt in response to last season’s debacle at Texas, Knaus and Letarte have put together the equivalent of three full crews. Supposedly this will allow them to have capable guys available at the track in the event of injuries or performance issues. Does this sound like trouble to anyone else?
Having backup pit crew guys is not a new phenomenon. I actually wrote about it early last year (see post here). There is too much at stake during these races to not have some sort of a contingency plan. But it appears to me that Knaus and Letarte may have taken this too far.
What I see here, is two race teams with three pit crews. And you have Knaus saying he has yet to settle on a lineup (let me remind you that the Budweiser Shootout is 11 days away). With all the changes coming to the Cup Series this season in regards to the new fuel cans and procedures, these guys need all the time they can get to work through the difficulties of the new system. The fact that Knaus can’t point to six guys and say “yup, that’s my pit crew” should worry 48 fans.
I also question whether having a third pit crew looking over your shoulder at all times is really good for morale. I’m all for competition and having to earn your spot, but having another starting lineup hanging around will screw with your head. Doing what we do can be a big head game as it is, without adding the extra pressure.
It’s also important to note that the really good pit crews are those that have had continuity, and have had ample time to work together and get to know each other. I don’t know how you build any of that when you are constantly plugging in guys and facing the possibility of a different six every week.
I realize that I probably shouldn’t question the guy who’s been the man in charge of the team that’s won the last five straight championships. Don’t get me wrong, I think Knaus is a really smart guy. You don’t get to where he is unless you know a thing or two about people and race cars. I just wonder if maybe he has over thought this situation because of his team’s issues last season.
Only time will tell if Knaus’ plan will pay dividends, but on initial inspection, I’m not sold.
After several bad pit stops during the Texas race led to Chad Knaus replacing his own pit crew with that of the 24, Hendrick Motorsports announced today that the switch is now permanent. The seven over-the-wall guys for the 24 will pit the 48 for Phoenix and Homestead, and vice versa.
Now, being a tire changer myself, I have to say that I feel for guys when they get the boot. In my own career I’ve not only had bad races, but I also know what it feels like to be replaced. And trust me, it really sucks. What we always have to remember though, is that at the end of the day, this is a business, and sometimes changes are warranted.
In the case of the 48, pit stops have often been a weakness this season. And with a championship on the line, these teams must pull out all the stops. It certainly isn’t the first time we’ve seen an entire crew replaced (see Kevin Harvick), but it is definitely the first time we’ve seen one replaced mid-race. It also isn’t uncommon for teams to change one piece, say a changer or carrier, but again, it usually doesn’t happen mid-race.
Opportunities to score valuable points are running out, and in defense of Knaus and Johnson, they needed better than they were getting. The 24 bunch was available because of the wreck with Burton, so the swap was made. I do want to point out though, that if Gordon doesn’t get wrecked, this change probably never happens. It would be extremely disruptive to both teams to try and swap while the race was going on. And especially if Jeff Gordon was in contention for the win, there is no way Steve Letarte or Gordon sign off on such a change. That isn’t to say that it wouldn’t have happened on Monday anyway, but definitely not during the race.
Once the change was made, it was only a matter of time before HMS announced the swap was permanent. I’m not sure those seven guys could have come back to the 48 and been able to do the job after being replaced, and the powers that be at Hendrick seem to understand that.
While I do believe the 24 crew to be a bit stronger then the 48, let’s not get too down on that bunch. Gordon’s chances at winning a race are certainly not in jeopardy now because he has the 48 crew. Let’s remember that this is pretty much the same pit crew that Johnson was able to win championships with in both 2008 and 2009. They must be doing something right.
At the end of the day, NASCAR is a performance based business. If those of us who are in these positions come to a point where our performance just isn’t up to par, we can be sure that changes will be made. There is just too much at stake. I don’t know for certain what the future holds for the pit crews at Hendrick Motorsports, but don’t be surprised if we see some big changes and new faces for 2011.
Filed under: Jeff Gordon, Sprint Cup, Hendrick Motorsports, NASCAR
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