Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Hendrick shuffles crew chiefs and teams for 2011

Just days after winning his 10th championship, Rick Hendrick has swapped the crew chiefs for 75 percent of his organization and switched which teams will work in the same shop together for the 2011 season.

Steve Letarte will move from Jeff Gordon’s #24 team to lead Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the #88 team. Earnhardt Jr.’s former crew chief Lance McGrew will take the position with Mark Martin’s #5 team previously held by Alan Gustafson, who will call the shots for Gordon in 2011.

The only team left intact this offseason is the championship winning #48 team with Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus. However, it is still unclear whether the old #48 pit crew will return to pit Johnson’s car in 2011 or if it will remain with the #24 group. Also, the #48 team will be affected by the changes because it will no longer be able to work side-by-side with the #24 team. Instead, the often dysfunctional #88 team will move in alongside.

Obviously, Hendrick wants to make Earnhardt Jr. as competitive as possible, but is he risking the overall success of his organization to do so? The #48 and #24 teams have both finished in the top 10 in the final standings in eight out of the last nine seasons, or every year but one of Johnson’s career.

The main issue at hand is the performance of the #88 team. If Earnhardt Jr. had made the Chase and Martin came nowhere close, I don’t think we would have seen these changes. Overall, as with most changes, there are pros and cons to the move.

First, if Earnhardt Jr. isn’t successful in 2011, he’s never going to be successful at Hendrick Motorsports. Hendrick promised in 2010 to give the #88 team all of the resources necessary to put a competitive car on the track, yet Earnhardt Jr. was rarely in contention at any race. So, now Hendrick has gone to the edge. He broke up the dynasty that was the 24/48 shop. The success out of that shop has been unmatched in the sport for a decade, but now it may finally come to an end.

For those who love to hate Johnson and Gordon, 2011 might be the year those two slip. Knaus and Johnson will still be right at the top of the standings in 2011, but they will also be carrying the weight of the #88 team, even though Letarte and Knaus will still be able to work together. I guess we’ll finally find out whether it’s the driver or the car that hasn’t been able to make the #88 team go.

Overall, the crew chief change will probably work out well for Gordon, because Gustafson knows what he is doing on top of a pit box. That guy is good. However, the other two moves might not work out quite as well.

If Letarte hasn’t been able to win with Gordon in almost two years, why would he suddenly find Victory Lane with Earnhardt Jr.? But, the most confusing move in all of this is the thought of McGrew working with Martin. I just don’t see those two personalities meshing very well. McGrew is a tough guy who was brought in to bring some discipline to the #88 team and get away from the family/buddy team Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Eury Jr. had assembled.

Martin is a professional in every sense of the word, and he doesn’t need a hard-nosed guy to lead his team. At this point, Martin also knows what he needs out of a car better than almost any driver in the field, and a technical guy on the pit box can work with him to dial it in. McGrew is not that type of guy. He is there to motivate people, something Martin does not need.

Maybe these changes won’t noticeably affect the performance of the Hendrick cars, but the door is now open for the Hendrick dynasty to come to an end. NASCAR has hurt itself in the past decade by making short-sighted changes; maybe Hendrick just made such a change.

9 comments:

  1. After being able to sleep on these changes, I am more optomistic. I think that Letarte will be able to pay more attention to detail in preparation for Jr than did McGrew and working next to the 48 will have a good affect as well. For the 24, Gustafson will be a more Knaus-like crew chief: giving late race encouragement to Gordon to help him renew his ability for late-race charges. The only thing I can see for the 5 is that Martin may be able to help develop McGrew as a cc away from the spotlight of the 88. Hendrick has made a career oh of making smart changes. 12+ wins for the Hendrick stable next year.
    Bumpdrafter.blogspot.com

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  2. The big looser has got to be the 24 team. Jeff's cars will be out of the "other" shop now. You know, the shop that has produced great cars for Vickers, Kyle Busch, Junior, and Mark Martin. Without looking it up, I'd venture to say that maybe 5 or 6 cars have won a race in the past 5 years there. Jeff was competitive this year, multiple top 5's and making the Chase. Guess for Rick, keeping Junior Nation hopeful, is worth more than helping Jeff Gordon get another championship? I wouldn't be surprised if Jeff Gordon still out performs Junior. It's appeared to me, that Jeff has more fire in his belly than Junior. Can you imagine Junior going after Jeff Burton if he had been in Jeff Gordon's shoes in Texas?

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  3. the other CC news yesterday was that Todd Parrott will be Ambrose's at Petty's :)

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  4. JD - For once Jr. will have a low-key guy for a crew chief. It will be interesting to see how that relationship develops. 12 or more wins, huh? That's quite a prediction.
    Thanks!

    CR_Racing - Martin won five times in 2009, but that shop is certainly been the "other" shop at Hendrick for a long time. If everything works out, Hendrick could blow away the field next year, but I don't see it happening. Wouldn't the fans have gotten a kick out of seeing Jr. take on Burton? That would have been classic.
    Thanks!

    tezgm99 - I think this is a good choice for Ambrose and that team. I like Todd Parrott, and this move certainly gives Ambrose as good of a chance as anybody to win Daytona. The RPM cars have been great in the 500 the last two years and Parrott is the best restrictor plate crew chief in the garage. He has been for many years now.
    Thanks!

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  5. 3pm Meeting at HMS...

    Rick: Thanks everyone for coming. Would all the crew chiefs that did not win a race this year stand up. Okay, now trade seats.

    Meeting adjourned.

    I doubt any of the swapping, cc's or shops, will amount to anything. I've seen Hendrick do this all the way back in the 90's with the 25 team being the step-child back then. Guess what? It didn't help.

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  6. While the Big Swap may lessen the 48 team's effectiveness, I think it hurts Martin more than any other Hendrick driver. Plus, it's actually going to help Jeff Gordon AND the old 48 crew. As is stated, Gustafson is a motivator, and he'll be able to motivate his driver and crew. I think you'll see a renewed and motivated Gordon start out strong with a couple of wins early in the season. As long as Knaus is the crew chief of Johnson, they're still going to win championships. As for Jr, the jury's out. IF he starts out strong, with good results (he doesn't have to win necessarily; just improve on his results), then I think it'll work out for him. But if it doesn't, I have a name for you: Carl Edwards. Edwards' contract with Roush runs out at the end of the 2011 season, and if Roush doesn't sign him, I could see both Martin and Jr out, and Kahne and Edwards in at Hendrick in 2012.

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  7. I love Gustafson - he is mini-Chad in training IMO. I think he will be a great fit for Gordon. Not sure about Jr and LeTarte - cannot see their personalities fitting any better than Lance and Junebug did but time will tell.

    Moving Junyer to the 48 shop will be great for Junyer - maybe he can even take JJ's pit crew!


    Thanks for the scoop Mayer - sorry so late to respond!

    BTW if JD is still around let me know if you would like me to add your blog to our "Our Blogs" list on the side!

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  8. Gene - lol, if this doesn't change much for those three teams I think there might be more than crew chief changes next year.
    Thanks!

    jon_464 - I agree this move hurts Martin the most. I just don't see that relationship working out. The Edwards idea is interesting. I think he will have a better season next year and Roush will want to keep him. We'll see!
    Thanks!

    klvalus - The Gordon-Gustafson combo looks like it could bring the #24 back to life. Nothing like a big shake-up days after the final race to kick off the offseason!
    Thanks!

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  9. I think that jr and gordon has a chance to win more races or at least one race this up comin seasom. As for martin he is a great driver and maybe he can tell lance more about how the car is handling. Maybe change can be good to those guys but only time will tell

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