Will Tony Eury Jr. be the next reason Dale Jr. wasn't able to get it done?

Question

I've noticed a few negative comments toward him the last few days.

Dale Jr. has had a great season as compared to last season. I remember Dale Jr. choosing to bring Tony with him from DEI!

Answer 1

Tony Eury Jr. mad a very bad call last weekend, costing Dale Jr. another top 10 or even top 5 finish. I felt he could have challenged for the win, but one will never know now. After the first stop where he stayed out waaaaay longer than everyone else, he lost several spots, I would have thought he would have learned.

As far as talking down to Eury, I don't think that is the case at all. Dale and Tony are pretty comfortable with each other, h**l they are cousins, and I feel any discussion between them is going to be different than most other people. That being said, Dale still has to drive the car, and it is ultimately up to him to let tony know what the car is doing, and how it feels.  

One poster made a good point regarding the fact that a driver has to trust the calls made by the crew chief. Well, I believe that to be true too, except for one thing. When has Eury made a series of good calls? Sure, he made one at Michigan, and some may say it was just luck, but he made it. One good call in my mind does not automatically give you carte blanche over every situation. Dale is a very head strong driver, and he is going to say his peace. Now, does he need to learn some patience and trust? Perhaps. Does that mean he can't ever say anything? No.

In the post race interview, it looked to me like he was doing everything to bite his lip for a bit there. Then he started to give excuses for all the decisions as if to try to down play the whole thing. I think he realized he IS having a good year, and wanted it not to sound like he is/was questioning his crew chief.

Dale Jr. has come a long way in this past year, and I can't help but think he owes a lot of that to his teammates, and Rick Hendrick.

Thanks for reading this....... it is but my humble opinion.

Steve.

Answer 2

Being the most popular driver and having everyone wanting you to win every race means that when you don't win it opens up the door for haters to say

"Well, jr. didn't win so that means he's not that good." We 88 fans need to tell some (I said some, not all) of these Busch fans to get their heads on straight and realize that he is the 4th best driver in NASCAR, and if you consider that bad than I guess you're calling a 2-time champ and a 4-time champ bad as well.  

Answer 3

I was going to say something similar to what Trego said, he's just nicer than I am.

I've said before, Jr second guesses him way too much, he needs a crew chief that will tell him to "shut the (bleep) up and drive"

I honestly don't think Tony Eury's as bad of a crew chief as people make him out to be, he just isn't allowed to do his job.

And yes, it seems that Tony Eury Jr. is the new whipping boy for SOME fans..

Answer 4

I made negative comments about Tony Eury Jr. long before this last weekend's situation and I'm not even a big fan of Dale Jr.  I'm not even convinced that he is the only one to blame a lot of the time.  Dale Jr. lacks the respect for his cousin that I think a driver needs to have for their crew chief.  The familiarity factor plays into their working relationship.  Have you ever listened to their radio communications and the way that Dale talks down to Tony?  He seems to question his race and fuel strategies most of the time and in the end Dale usually gets his way.  A driver has to trust in the crew chief to make the correct calls at those critical times of the race.  I'm not saying that Tony always makes the right one but you have to have a plan and stick with it the best you can.  In my opinion Dale might have hurt his chances by bringing Tony with him but that was part of his contract with Rick.  He was given full control over his crew chief and it may come back to bite him this year.  I think Jr would have been better off with Alan Gustafson calling races, he may have listened more and back talked less.  Tony Jr could be a decent crew chief for somebody else but he will never be a Zippy, Robbie, Chad or Ray!

3 STR8 N 08!!!

Answer 5

I said at the beginning of the season that I believed Jr. needed a stronger crew chief who would tell him to "shut up and drive". I have listened to their scanner talk. I got numerous thumbs down for saying that. But, my opinion has not changed.

By the way, if you watched This Week in NASCAR, nobody there could figure out what Eury Jr. was thinking either. I think everybody is patiently waiting for him to comment as to why he made the call he did, or to see if he could shed some light as to his reasoning. All crew chiefs make a call that doesn't go the right way once in awhile. But, that was one of the worst calls ever.  

Answer 6

Steevo up there is exactly right^!  Yeah I've heard that Junior talks bad to Tony.  And I've also heard some other drivers doing the same thing.  

What about the times Junior has been soooo upset with the calls Tony's made this yr.  Naw, I don't think Junior is making the final call, that's absurd.  Junior has been furious with Tony on several of his calls.  

Somehow Junior, and Tony have a great relationship, I'm wondering if they both would be better with someone else.  Maybe a change would be good.  Tony couldn't be a "Bad" crew chief, he has kept Junior second in pts up until this past race.  Why he make some dumb calls, we'll never know the true answer to that.  One thing is for certain though this last call was plain ole D-U-M-B...

Answer 7

JH51, I like what you wrote and agree. I certainly did not expect Dale to come out and take the cup this year. I also believed that it would take some time for them to gel and learn the new car and team and all. I expected mistakes along the way, not quite as glaring as the glen but mistakes indeed. I hope to see a few more wins this season. Ones that hopefully will shut the mouths of those in here that like to run them without any brain activity involved. I hope that Tony sits down and talks to Chad and Rick to see where he can improve, maybe even talk to his dad.

Answer 8

The way some Jr. fans see it, Jr. has never ever lost a race in the history of NASCAR by being outdrove. Under perfect conditions he would be undefeated because he's supposedly that talented. In my opinion, the talent rises to the top in the end, and the excuses won't work forever. It's put up or shut up time. Also, the first year with a new team excuse isn't that good either. Note: See Kyle Busch...and a whole new manufacturer that Tony and Denny haven't seemed to adjust to. And he didn't carry his crew chief over either.

Answer 9

Tony Jr is definitely the reason Dale Jr didn't finish higher this past weekend and the entire NASCAR world knows it.

Answer 10

In what regard has Dale Junior "Not gotten it done" this year???? He has had a tremendous season so far............1 win, 7 top 5's and 12 top 10's......Average finish 12th, Average start 9th.

Where is the problem??

and he has won over 3.2 million this year.................

**Dale Jr is NO GOD to me and I really don't care if he does not win the championship. I think he has shown REAL NASCAR fans that he is a very good driver and I think that is all that matters RIGHT NOW. If anyone expected him to win a championship in his first year at Hendrick, they were really kidding themselves.

Answer 11

I am not a fan of Dale Jr, but, I don't hate him either. I've said for a long time that Tony Eury Jr is the biggest problem that Dale Jr has. Finally, you people are starting to see that I'm right.

Answer 12

You know there is not going to be too many fans put blame on their "God" of NASCAR,  so if Dale Jr. doesn't win the championship they will be looking for somebody to put the blame on and Eury Jr. sounds like a good canidate to me.

Answer 13

When Jr. made the jump to Hendrick, he had the PERFECT opportunity to leave Eury Jr. behind.  He didn't do it.  Trust me a few more bone head calls like he made at Watkins Glen and Mr. Hendrick will be telling Mr. Earnhardt Jr. to dump his cuz..

Never been impressed with Eury, Jr.