COLUMN: Is This The Motivation Dale Jr. Needs?

Think what you want about Kyle Busch – love him or hate him – but he said what almost certainly was on the minds of many NASCAR fans when he took a jab at the slumping Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Friday.

Commenting about the dramatic changes made this week at Hendrick Motorsports, where team owner Rick Hendrick fired Earnhardt’s long-time crew chief and cousin, Tony Eury Jr., in an effort to salvage the season, Busch suggested that maybe it was time fans started to put the blame where it belonged: on the driver.

“It’s never Junior. It’s always the crew chief,” Busch said.

When asked about Busch’s comments, Junior first tried to take the high road, suggesting that he ultimately would be the one responsible for his successes and failures. But he couldn’t resist firing back at Busch, the driver he replaced at Hendrick Motorsports.

“He’s always had a chip on his shoulder for me,” Earnhardt said. “I expect any opportunity to throw a jab at me, he’ll do it. That’s just his personality.”

And with that, a lot of fans, particularly the ones fiercely loyal to Earnhardt, will dismiss Busch’s comments. And it’s tempting to do just that, because Earnhardt is the sport’s most popular driver while Busch, despite his on-track success, is one of its least likeable personalities.

But is Busch really that far off the mark?

For months, Earnhardt’s fans have been calling for Eury’s scalp, so much so that Earnhardt felt compelled during the Sprint Cup stop at Bristol Motor Speedway in March to defend his cousin, even though he was never specifically asked about him.

And, while Eury must shoulder some of the blame for the team’s 2009 struggles – since finishing second at Talladega on April 26, Earnhardt has run 27th at Richmond and Darlington and 40th at Lowe’s Motor Speedway – it isn’t all his fault. He isn’t the one who tangled with Brian Vickers to start a 10-car pileup at the Daytona 500, and he can’t be blamed for Earnhardt’s multiple pit-road mistakes.

Other drivers typically steer clear of commenting specifically about Earnhardt and his problems at Hendrick Motorsports, but many will say they’d never trade places with him, no matter how popular he might be.

“I feel that [Earnhardt Jr.] is the strongest man, got the broadest, strongest shoulders of any man in NASCAR racing and I would not trade places with him. Absolutely not,” Mark Martin said.
“That being said, when we talk about the performance side of it, every great race car driver goes through what Dale Jr. is going through. Sometimes it’s just not as big of news, and sometimes it is big news.”

And because Earnhardt is NASCAR’s most popular driver, anything involving him or his team is big news.

Earnhardt admitted as much on Friday: “When you’re running bad, you’re just a target and you’re angry because you’re running bad and frustrated. You can’t win for losing. If you get angry, you’re a jerk. If you take it on the chin, you don’t care.”

But there are times when it appears as if Earnhardt doesn’t care. It often appears as if he’s operating in a fog.

Hendrick couldn’t help but notice, and that, probably more than anything else, is why he pulled the plug on the two Juniors. He had to do something to shake Earnhardt out of his doldrums, short of replacing him. He did the only thing he could do: He fired Eury.

The day after the Daytona 500, the Herald Courier published a column critical of Earnhardt for his role in the multi-car crash that took out several contenders, including the front-running Kyle Busch. Neither Earnhardt nor Vickers was in contention at the time of the accident.

The column prompted a number of angry calls from Earnhardt fans, including one from an older woman who insisted that the newspaper should never again publish anything critical of her favorite driver.

The thing is, maybe Earnhardt needed to hear it. He hinted at just that when he was asked about Lance McGrew, who takes over as his crew chief after the series moves to Pocono, Pa., next week.

“I like Lance. He’s going to tell me like it is, and that’s what I want,” Earnhardt said.

In other words, maybe what Earnhardt needed most right now is a kick in the butt. And, maybe because he’s family or simply too close to the driver, Eury simply couldn’t do it.

It explains why Hendrick made the switch.

And, as the rest of the season plays out, we might find out who really is on the right track: Earnhardt’s legion of fans, or Busch.

JIM CNOCKAERT is sports editor of the Herald Courier. He can be reached at or at (276) 645-2572.