The Official Dale Earnhardt Jr. Thread

#1
tclowers23

tclowers23

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#1
If you haven't noticed, I'm a huge Dale Jr. fan. My "Top 5" predictions each week will probably show this bias. Thought we could have a thread to just keep up with how he's doing this year.

Anyways... looks like he has a pretty good car down there in Atlanta this weekend. Anyone but me think he can finally get back into Victory Lane in a points race on Sunday?
 
#2
#2
he'll definitely be in my top 5 this week. Not sure on my winner yet though.
 
#3
#3
Atlanta is one of his better tracks, but last time I noticed he still had Eurey.
 
#4
#4
rbroyles said:
Atlanta is one of his better tracks, but last time I noticed he still had Eurey.
Click to expand...

What does everyone have against Eury Jr.? Now, I'm not trying to get smart, I just really don't know much about him. I know in past years I've thought some of his pit strategy was pretty ignorant, but you can say that about any Crew Chief in NASCAR at some point in time.

What is it about Eury that people think is going to prevent Junior from winning a championship? Is it just another excuse? The way it seems, they work well together. But maybe Junior has just stuck with him because they're family, and that's the way its always been.
 
#5
#5
Chad Knaus doesn't even begin to make the same mistakes as Eury Jr.

from the way he sets up cars to the way he calls a race, he's just weaker than the best of the best. for example, as a crew chief, you cannot allow your driver to be bickering with his spotter while you are trying to make crucial pit calls toward the end of the race. which was the case at Daytona. the driver is responsible for driving the car. the crew chief, on race day/weekend, is essentially responsible for everything. while Jr certainly has had his share of bad luck, there's a lot of problems that could be prevented.

another problem with Eury is he's not a leader and he's not as smart as guys like Pat Tryson, Robbie Reiser (who now runs Rouch), Letarte, Knaus, Zippadeli.

how many names did i just butcher?
 
#6
#6
i will add that while hate the 48 team, Chad Knaus is easily the best crew chief in NASCAR and its not really even close for the second place guy.

when Knaus talks, i listen. i have total respect for his knowledge of a race car.
 
#7
#7
Jr. has as good of chance as any to get the W in Atlanta. He is sitting 10th in points right now. He spun his tires on the restart last week and then when the race was stopped his tires cooled off and he had nothing to catch the 99 on cold tires. I think he would have had a chance last week had it not been stopped. Take away the wreck at California that sent Mears in Earnhardt during the 24 hour speedboat race and Earnhardt isn't looking all that bad. I will agree that Eury blew the call at Daytona. Jr still finished 9th and finished 2nd last week. He will be in the Winner's Circle soon enough. I might be a little biased too since I am a Jr. FAN. He had the fastest time in Practice at Atlanta, Gordon beat him on the qualifying but I don't think he had a faster car, I think the track was cooler when Gordon made his run. Cooler tracks = Faster speeds
 
#8
#8
actually, Gordon went out earlier than Jr. did. but not by but about 9 spots ahead in the order, so track conditions were pretty much void.
 
#9
#9
doozer said:
actually, Gordon went out earlier than Jr. did. but not by but about 9 spots ahead in the order, so track conditions were pretty much void.
Click to expand...

I stand corrected, I saw it on ESPN and they reported that Gordon knocked Jr. from the Pole. I didnt watch the qualifying. If that's the case then he must have left the oil lid off his car. J/K:)
 
#10
#10
doozer said:
i will add that while hate the 48 team, Chad Knaus is easily the best crew chief in NASCAR and its not really even close for the second place guy.

when Knaus talks, i listen. i have total respect for his knowledge of a race car.
Click to expand...

Hammer meets nail.
 
#11
#11
lll Adidas said:
Jr. has as good of chance as any to get the W in Atlanta. He is sitting 10th in points right now. He spun his tires on the restart last week and then when the race was stopped his tires cooled off and he had nothing to catch the 99 on cold tires. I think he would have had a chance last week had it not been stopped. Take away the wreck at California that sent Mears in Earnhardt during the 24 hour speedboat race and Earnhardt isn't looking all that bad. I will agree that Eury blew the call at Daytona. Jr still finished 9th and finished 2nd last week. He will be in the Winner's Circle soon enough. I might be a little biased too since I am a Jr. FAN. He had the fastest time in Practice at Atlanta, Gordon beat him on the qualifying but I don't think he had a faster car, I think the track was cooler when Gordon made his run. Cooler tracks = Faster speeds
Click to expand...

I've already said he has a good chance at Atlanta, but I just do not think Eurey's ability is up to the level of Junior's driving ability. They had a similar radio snafu as Daytona at a race last year. I'll make a prediction the two split-up by next season.
 
#12
#12
I wonder how Brian Whitsell or Darian Grubb would do with Jr. instead of Eury? I know Whitsell is the team manager for the #5 and #88 and he was Gordon's crew chief for a short time between Evernham and Loomis. He must not like to travel as much because he seems to be highly respected by Hendrick. I think Grubb would do a great job too seeing that he learned a lot from Knaus and he guided Casey Mears to a win last season. Both of them were on the pit box with Eury at Daytona but I don't know if that was temporary or if they plan to assist him all season. I would pick Grubb or pair him back with Mears and move Alan Gustafson to the #88 before keeping Eury on.
 
#13
#13
rbroyles said:
I'll make a prediction the two split-up by next season.
Click to expand...

If that happened it wouldn't bother me in the least. I think that Dale is loyal to Eury because of him being his cousin. That doesn't make him the best man for the job.
 
#14
#14
Solid finish at 3rd today for Junior. He dominated about the first 60 laps of the race, but it was all Kyle Busch after that. Junior's car was just never as good as it was in the early laps.

NASCAR.com has him moved up to No. 6 in the overall points standings.
 
#15
#15
tclowers23 said:
Solid finish at 3rd today for Junior. He dominated about the first 60 laps of the race, but it was all Kyle Busch after that. Junior's car was just never as good as it was in the early laps.

NASCAR.com has him moved up to No. 7 in the overall points standings.
Click to expand...

Good solid run for Little E, I don't think anyone would pass young Busch today. Even if they had a fast enough car, I honestly believe he would have driven so far over his head that he would wreck whoever tried plus himself most likely.
 
#18
#18
What's up Dooz? I'm well, I poke in every day or so to see what's up. By the time I show up again my posts are buried under everyone elses so I don't post much.

2 more months, can't come quick enough.

How about Bobby so far huh, just outside the top 12, hope they can stay consistent.
 
#19
#19
USAF_Vol said:
What's up Dooz? I'm well, I poke in every day or so to see what's up. By the time I show up again my posts are buried under everyone elses so I don't post much.

2 more months, can't come quick enough.

How about Bobby so far huh, just outside the top 12, hope they can stay consistent.
Click to expand...

I look for Bobby to do well at Bristol.
 
#20
#20
Junior's car didn't look real good in practice this morning. I don't think they practiced with qualifying setup before the rain, so he couldv'e ran a little faster... but still. I'm sure the 88 team will get some good info from the 24, 48, and the 5. Hopefully they'll put a good car out there on Sunday.
 
#21
#21
tclowers23 said:
Junior's car didn't look real good in practice this morning. I don't think they practiced with qualifying setup before the rain, so he couldv'e ran a little faster... but still. I'm sure the 88 team will get some good info from the 24, 48, and the 5. Hopefully they'll put a good car out there on Sunday.
Click to expand...

Based on the TV guys, only the go - go homers were running qualifying set-ups, thus the 00, 78, 22, 84, 49, 21, & 45 cars were so high in speeds. Of the Hendrick cars, only Mears was in the top 25 in lap times, but no one got in that many laps on a "green" track.

Practice Times


FIN CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR SPEED TIME BEHIND
1 00 David Reutimann Toyota Aaron's Dream Machine 121.713 15.765 Leader
2 5 Casey Mears Chevrolet CARQUEST / Kellogg's 120.725 15.894 -0.129
3 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker 120.641 15.905 -0.140
4 84 Mike Skinner Toyota Red Bull 120.550 15.917 -0.152
5 78 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet Furniture Row
/ DenverMattress.com 120.490 15.925 -0.160
6 49 Ken Schrader Dodge Qtrax.com 120.188 15.965 -0.200
7 22 Dave Blaney Toyota Caterpillar 119.993 15.991 -0.226
8 18 Kyle Busch Toyota M&M's 119.678 16.033 -0.268
9 21 Jeff Green Ford Little Debbie 119.656 16.036 -0.271
10 45 Kyle Petty Dodge Marathon American Spirit Motor Oil 119.626 16.040 -0.275
11 34 John Andretti Chevrolet Thompson Metal Services 119.604 16.043 -0.278
12 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Budweiser 119.589 16.045 -0.280
13 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 119.559 16.049 -0.284
14 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Express 119.529 16.053 -0.288
15 44 Dale Jarrett Toyota UPS 119.410 16.069 -0.304
16 43 Bobby Labonte Dodge Cheerios / Betty Crocker 119.395 16.071 -0.306
17 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull 119.395 16.071 -0.306
18 6 David Ragan Ford AAA Insurance 119.321 16.081 -0.316
19 42 Juan Montoya Dodge Texaco / Havoline 119.313 16.082 -0.317
20 12 Ryan Newman Dodge ALLTEL 119.291 16.085 -0.320
21 7 Robby Gordon Dodge RVs.com / Camping World 119.262 16.089 -0.324
22 77 Sam Hornish Jr.* Dodge Mobil 1 119.077 16.114 -0.349
23 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota NAPA AUTO PARTS 119.018 16.122 -0.357
24 99 Carl Edwards Ford Office Depot 118.922 16.135 -0.370
25 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 118.892 16.139 -0.374
26 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont 118.863 16.143 -0.378
27 17 Matt Kenseth Ford DISH Network 118.818 16.149 -0.384
28 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's 118.782 16.154 -0.389
29 16 Greg Biffle Ford Jackson Hewitt 118.767 16.156 -0.391
30 26 Jamie McMurray Ford Crown Royal 118.752 16.158 -0.393
31 15 Paul Menard Chevrolet PEAK / Menards 118.613 16.177 -0.412
32 28 Travis Kvapil Ford Yates Racing 118.532 16.188 -0.423
33 70 Jeremy Mayfield Chevrolet Haas Automation 118.430 16.202 -0.437
34 66 Scott Riggs Chevrolet Haas Automation 118.386 16.208 -0.443
35 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge Stanley Tools 118.189 16.235 -0.470
36 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge Target 118.182 16.236 -0.471
37 01 Regan Smith* Chevrolet DEI / Principal Financial Group 118.116 16.245 -0.480
38 96 J.J. Yeley Toyota DLP HDTV 118.102 16.247 -0.482
39 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet National Guard / AMP Energy 118.036 16.256 -0.491
40 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet AT&T Mobility 118.022 16.258 -0.493
41 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Jack Daniel's 117.812 16.287 -0.522
42 20 Tony Stewart Toyota The Home Depot 117.487 16.332 -0.567
43 38 David Gilliland Ford FreeCreditReport.com 117.150 16.379 -0.614
44 10 Patrick Carpentier* Dodge Charter Comm. 117.143 16.380 -0.615
45 8 Aric Almirola Chevrolet U.S. Army 117.064 16.391 -0.626
46 40 Dario Franchitti* Dodge The Hartford 115.800 16.570 -0.805

* Denotes Rookie
 
#23
#23
I am done putting up with Eury JR and his mediocre abilities.

He needs to learn how to make decisions fast. JR would have won this race if they would have pitted. :banghead2:
 
#24
#24
checkerboard_charly said:
I am done putting up with Eury JR and his mediocre abilities.

He needs to learn how to make decisions fast. JR would have won this race if they would have pitted. :banghead2:
Click to expand...

He definitely would have been up there in the mix. I was surprised that Junior held on to a top 5 finish, after not pitting. If your driver is saying we can't hold 'em off on these tires, you may want to listen to him as a Crew Chief.

Wow.
 
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