CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Expect a tougher, in-charge Dale Earnhardt Jr. this season.
That’s the message from Earnhardt, son of the late NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt, winner of seven championships before losing his life on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.
Earnhardt, who finished fifth in the 2004 Nextel Cup point standings, turned 30 in October. He made a key crew change in the off-season, replacing longtime family friend Tony Eury Sr. with Pete Rondeau as crew chief on his No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet. Although Teresa Earnhardt, his stepmother, remains president and CEO of Dale Earnhardt Inc., Junior is ready to take on more responsibility at one of stock car racing’s premier outfits, he says.
“It’s time to be more in control – I don’t like other people telling me what to do,” Earnhardt said during Wednesday’s 2005 Nextel media tour. “I’ve always been treated like I was a couple of years younger than I actually was. I just feel a little bit wiser now. I want to be my own man.”
Earnhardt is eager, too, to shed his reputation as being somewhat wild. “I hope people don’t assume I’m wild and crazy, because I’m not really like that,” said Earnhardt, winner of last year’s Daytona 500.
In December, DEI announced sweeping organizational changes, including new posts for Eury Sr. and his son, Tony Eury Jr., who also had worked on Earnhardt’s car.
The older Eury, also crew chief for Dale Earnhardt , was named director of competition at DEI. Eury Jr. was appointed crew chief on Michael Waltrip’s No. 15 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, the second of the DEI Nextel Cup cars.
The moves were seen as a shake-up at DEI, which had grown perhaps too comfortable with its relationships within the organization. Earnhardt believes the reorganization will benefit him and others involved.
“We had all capped out and held each other back,” said Earnhardt, who made last year’s inaugural Chase for the Championship but couldn’t catch eventual champion Kurt Busch . “It was time for the both of us – Tony Eury Jr. and me – to grow up and mature.”
Eury Jr. joined his father at DEI in 1991. He swept floors before he was named car chief under his dad two years later. He formed a close bond with Earnhardt Jr., much like his father did with the Intimidator. In recent years, the friendship has been strained, with Earnhardt Jr. and the Eurys disagreeing publicly about race strategy and setup.
Despite the tiffs, Earnhardt says he holds no grudges.
“Me and Tony Jr. are still the same people,” said Earnhardt, who recorded six Cup victories in 2004 but was unhappy with his inconsistency and the reliability of the race car. “There are no hard feelings between us.”
Earnhardt says the changes will lead to better performances at DEI this season.
“This will be a building year,” said Earnhardt, in his seventh year as a Cup competitor. “Pete (Rondeau) has what it takes. The team has what it takes. I feel great and the car feels great. We’ve had some great cars in the past, and we should have won. I think we have a fast car this season.”
Earnhardt is confident Rondeau, promoted to crew chief on Waltrip’s car in 2004, can get the job done on the No. 8. Rondeau, in turn, would like to see more consistency from the team .
“We need to run the best we can every week,” said Rondeau, a native of Saco, Maine. “If you do that, you are in a position to win.”
Like Earnhardt, he sees this season as one to build on.
“We must minimize our DNFs,” said Rondeau, a former Busch North Series competitor. “But I think we can have a good year.”
Comments are no longer available on this story