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Trials and tribulations lead to watershed moment for No. 8 team
By Marty Smith, NASCAR.COM
December 4, 2005
08:33 AM EST (13:33 GMT)
For Dale Earnhardt, Jr., the 2005 Nextel Cup season was disappointing, at times even borderline miserable.
But it was equally educational, for Junior and everyone else affiliated with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. A new respect was built between Earnhardt and Tony Eury, Jr., both for their respective abilities as driver and crew chief and in acceptance of just how good they are together.
Inside the Numbers
Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2005
Race Start Finish
Daytona 500 5 3
Auto Club 500 40 32
UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 34 42
Golden Corral 500 35 24
Food City 500 19 4
Advance Auto Parts 500 26 13
Samsung/RadioShack 500 11 9
Subway Fresh 500 15 4
Aaron's 499 36 15
Dodge Charger 500 39 8
Chevy American Revolution 400 27 14
Coca-Cola 600 15 33
MBNA RacePoints 400 15 22
Pocono 500 34 33
Batman Begins 400 41 17
Dodge/Save Mart 350 10 42
Pepsi 400 39 3
USG Sheetrock 400 25 1
New England 300 24 9
Pennsylvania 500 38 32
Allstate 400 at the Brickyard 27 43
Sirius Satellite Radio at the Glen 16 10
GFS Marketplace 400 16 18
Sharpie 500 41 9
Sony HD 500 41 38
Chevy Rock & Roll 400 29 20
Sylvania 300 3 5
MBNA RacePoints 400 4 31
UAW-Ford 500 20 40
Banquet 400 38 34
UAW-GM Quality 500 28 42
Subway 500 20 18
Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 17 4
Dickies 500 10 8
Checker Auto Parts 500 19 40
Ford 400 40 19
Average 24.9 20.5
Despite earning career-highs in wins (six, including the Daytona 500), top-fives (16) and top-10s (21) and a run at the Nextel Cup championship in 2004, DEI chose to switch crews between their Nos. 8 and 15 teams in search of improved chemistry.
Since he entered the NASCAR Busch Series in 1998, Earnhardt had only raced with his uncle and his cousin. And they'd always bickered.
So the DEI brass thought it best to separate them for '05, to send Eury to lead Michael Waltrip's team and appoint Pete Rondeau to head-up the No. 8 squad. It was a disaster from the outset.
Admittedly miffed, the Eurys refused to communicate with Rondeau and the No. 8 team, starting a downward spiral from which they were never truly able to recover.
"The biggest thing about the whole year was we wanted the world to know that that team wasn't riding Dale Jr.'s coattails," Eury Jr. said in June. "We're a legitimate team. We're one of the best out here. We can be in this Chase with Michael Waltrip or Dale Jr., either one.
"I think when the change come a lot of people thought, 'Well, those guys are done. We won't see them no more.' That was a point we wanted to prove, and it got real tense around the shop. I'll be the first one to admit that. It was."
Junior struggled, but 10 weeks into the season, following a string a three top-10s in four races, managed to climb to ninth in the championship standings. But after a 14th-place finish at Richmond International Raceway dropped him to 11th, he'd never see the top 10 again.
Two weeks later, just before to the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway, DEI announced its decision to replace Rondeau with technical director Steve Hmiel. The team saw instant results, as Earnhardt consistently ran among the top 10 at Charlotte before the season's seminal moment unfolded:
Earnhardt, running eighth just behind Waltrip, got into Waltrip's Chevrolet exiting the tri-oval on Lap 245, sending the No. 15 Chevy hard into the wall and ruining a promising night for both teams. The incident drew the ire of Tony Eury, Sr., who publicly criticized his nephew.
"I don't know what his problem is with Michael, but it'll be fixed [Monday] -- I'll guarantee it," Eury said that night. "He acts like he's friends with [Waltrip], but every time he gets around him on the racetrack he ends up wrecking him."
Sure enough, a team meeting was called the following week to clear the air.
"It took a blowup like that for everybody to sit down and sort it out," Eury Jr. said in June. "After the Charlotte deal, we all sat down and let everybody know how everybody feels, just kind of opened the lines up a little bit.
"We just mainly wanted to find out who wants to stay and who's not wanting to be there. We didn't have that train of thought earlier in the season. Earlier in the season it was [about] who could get an edge on the other."
Earnhardt never did find the necessary edge in 2005. His lone victory came at Chicagoland Speedway, thanks largely to Hmiel's call for two tires on the final pit stop that pushed him to the lead. He then held off hard-charging Matt Kenseth to secure a much-needed triumph.
"I was worried I was going to go winless this year," Earnhardt said. "Now, let's go out and do it again, win some more."
There would be no more victories, but there would be plenty of promise.
When it became clear that Earnhardt would miss the Chase for the Nextel Cup, DEI reunited him with Eury, Jr. The results bode well for 2006.
"I'm wore out, but I can't believe the season is over," Earnhardt said after finishing 19th in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. "This one went by fast. I wish we were racing somewhere next week."
It's safe to say 2006 can't get here soon enough for the No. 8 team.
By Marty Smith, NASCAR.COM
December 4, 2005
08:33 AM EST (13:33 GMT)
For Dale Earnhardt, Jr., the 2005 Nextel Cup season was disappointing, at times even borderline miserable.
But it was equally educational, for Junior and everyone else affiliated with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. A new respect was built between Earnhardt and Tony Eury, Jr., both for their respective abilities as driver and crew chief and in acceptance of just how good they are together.
Inside the Numbers
Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2005
Race Start Finish
Daytona 500 5 3
Auto Club 500 40 32
UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 34 42
Golden Corral 500 35 24
Food City 500 19 4
Advance Auto Parts 500 26 13
Samsung/RadioShack 500 11 9
Subway Fresh 500 15 4
Aaron's 499 36 15
Dodge Charger 500 39 8
Chevy American Revolution 400 27 14
Coca-Cola 600 15 33
MBNA RacePoints 400 15 22
Pocono 500 34 33
Batman Begins 400 41 17
Dodge/Save Mart 350 10 42
Pepsi 400 39 3
USG Sheetrock 400 25 1
New England 300 24 9
Pennsylvania 500 38 32
Allstate 400 at the Brickyard 27 43
Sirius Satellite Radio at the Glen 16 10
GFS Marketplace 400 16 18
Sharpie 500 41 9
Sony HD 500 41 38
Chevy Rock & Roll 400 29 20
Sylvania 300 3 5
MBNA RacePoints 400 4 31
UAW-Ford 500 20 40
Banquet 400 38 34
UAW-GM Quality 500 28 42
Subway 500 20 18
Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 17 4
Dickies 500 10 8
Checker Auto Parts 500 19 40
Ford 400 40 19
Average 24.9 20.5
Despite earning career-highs in wins (six, including the Daytona 500), top-fives (16) and top-10s (21) and a run at the Nextel Cup championship in 2004, DEI chose to switch crews between their Nos. 8 and 15 teams in search of improved chemistry.
Since he entered the NASCAR Busch Series in 1998, Earnhardt had only raced with his uncle and his cousin. And they'd always bickered.
So the DEI brass thought it best to separate them for '05, to send Eury to lead Michael Waltrip's team and appoint Pete Rondeau to head-up the No. 8 squad. It was a disaster from the outset.
Admittedly miffed, the Eurys refused to communicate with Rondeau and the No. 8 team, starting a downward spiral from which they were never truly able to recover.
"The biggest thing about the whole year was we wanted the world to know that that team wasn't riding Dale Jr.'s coattails," Eury Jr. said in June. "We're a legitimate team. We're one of the best out here. We can be in this Chase with Michael Waltrip or Dale Jr., either one.
"I think when the change come a lot of people thought, 'Well, those guys are done. We won't see them no more.' That was a point we wanted to prove, and it got real tense around the shop. I'll be the first one to admit that. It was."
Junior struggled, but 10 weeks into the season, following a string a three top-10s in four races, managed to climb to ninth in the championship standings. But after a 14th-place finish at Richmond International Raceway dropped him to 11th, he'd never see the top 10 again.
Two weeks later, just before to the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway, DEI announced its decision to replace Rondeau with technical director Steve Hmiel. The team saw instant results, as Earnhardt consistently ran among the top 10 at Charlotte before the season's seminal moment unfolded:
Earnhardt, running eighth just behind Waltrip, got into Waltrip's Chevrolet exiting the tri-oval on Lap 245, sending the No. 15 Chevy hard into the wall and ruining a promising night for both teams. The incident drew the ire of Tony Eury, Sr., who publicly criticized his nephew.
"I don't know what his problem is with Michael, but it'll be fixed [Monday] -- I'll guarantee it," Eury said that night. "He acts like he's friends with [Waltrip], but every time he gets around him on the racetrack he ends up wrecking him."
Sure enough, a team meeting was called the following week to clear the air.
"It took a blowup like that for everybody to sit down and sort it out," Eury Jr. said in June. "After the Charlotte deal, we all sat down and let everybody know how everybody feels, just kind of opened the lines up a little bit.
"We just mainly wanted to find out who wants to stay and who's not wanting to be there. We didn't have that train of thought earlier in the season. Earlier in the season it was [about] who could get an edge on the other."
Earnhardt never did find the necessary edge in 2005. His lone victory came at Chicagoland Speedway, thanks largely to Hmiel's call for two tires on the final pit stop that pushed him to the lead. He then held off hard-charging Matt Kenseth to secure a much-needed triumph.
"I was worried I was going to go winless this year," Earnhardt said. "Now, let's go out and do it again, win some more."
There would be no more victories, but there would be plenty of promise.
When it became clear that Earnhardt would miss the Chase for the Nextel Cup, DEI reunited him with Eury, Jr. The results bode well for 2006.
"I'm wore out, but I can't believe the season is over," Earnhardt said after finishing 19th in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. "This one went by fast. I wish we were racing somewhere next week."
It's safe to say 2006 can't get here soon enough for the No. 8 team.