A different view of DEI swap

TexasRaceLady

TexasRaceLady

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Saw an article in the Dallas Morning News yesterday. Reduced to basics ----

At this point a year ago, Earnhardt's team ranked 2nd with 3 wins. That team is 14th in the current standings with no wins.

At this point a year ago, Waltrip's team ranked 22nd with no wins. That team is 17th in the current standings with no wins.

So a championship team last year is 12 spots worse this year with Waltrip. And a mediocre team is 5 spots better with Earnhardt.
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Just another way of looking at the swap. Kind of made me think a bit.
 
I'm not sure what is happening with Dale Jr and Team 8. But I feel like switching Crew Chiefs was a mistake. My opinion only !!!!

I am happy that Michael is doing better and the Eury's seem happier with Michael and that is cool.

Don't know what the problem is but I feel sorry for Dale Jr., especially after the awesome year he had last year.
 
Interesting stats, TRL. Surprising to see the positive spin in Earnhardts favor. Unfortunately, with Earnhardt, that team(2005) has only scored 137 more points over 15 races than Waltrip(2004) did.Furthermore, Waltrip has had 5 races where he suffered engine failure, crash, or some other bad luck, conservatively, costing him 325 points. While Earnhardt(2004) had no engine failures, wrecks, bad luck of any type through his first 15 starts last year. With the additional points, Waltrip(2005) would have scored about 180 less points than Dale(2004) with the same team. So, Earnhardt is only a 9-12 point per race(2-4 positions per race) better driver than Waltrip ?? :eek: :D
 
^ Wow thats confusing but i get it. So are you saying Jr was only good because of his cars?
 
No, not really. Just showing that Waltrip hasn't done much worse than Junior with the same equipment/team as that article makes it sound. I'm a fan of neither, so just a neutral opinion.
 
After 16 races--->Same team comparison

With Waltrip (2004)----> 1693 points 18th place
With Earnhardt(2005)--> 1707 points 18th place

Now there is a comparison.



Texas Longhorns--2005 Division I National Baseball Champions !!! :beerbang:
 
Earnhardt is causing his own problems for being a pain in the ass to work with it seems.
 
I bet he is a pain in the ass to work with! :D Any driver worth his salt will be a pain in the ass to work with when that driver's purpose in work is to win any and every race he is in! Take it down to my level.........I've been told I'm a huge pain in the ass to work with. I have a job to do and anyone working with me has to realize that and give me the help and support I need order to do it...........do it or hear me bitch and holler until I get what I need!! Some folks can handle it, some can't..........the end result is the job gets done no matter the obstacles. I can see Jr's frustration when he is not getting what he needs to get the job done.......been there many times myself. As most of us have. :D

BTW, that goes for any driver worth his salt, too. I bet Gregg Biffle and Jimmie Johnson can be real pains themselves. :) Give them a string of bad races and the rumors will fly about dissension in the ranks!! Look at Jeff Gordon the year before he won his fourth Championship.........oh the rumors were flying about his team and Hendrick Motorsports!!! :D
 
The problem as I see it is Lil'E is vocal in the media about the troubles when he might be better served keeping it in house. An example is yesterday when he questioned why they switched transmissions. That ? should be asked and answered in their Monday morning meetings where all of the decision makers are in the room. Not on Fox TV where the media and fans can make of it what they will.
DE-W, I'm sure when you go about doing your bitching and complaining you don't open the window and shout it to the world. But, rather address the people that are responsible and possibly those higher on the food chain. At least that's how I do things. Now the wife gets an ear full occasionally. Especially when the dunderheads are affecting performance or customer service. That's more her world...
 
At least he's got that whole sexiest driver thing to fall back on. How many points did he get for that?
 
lol!
I think that it was good for Waltrip, but bad for Jr. I think that Jr was working well with his team and he misses that and hasn't adjusted or found a good nitch and needs to keep working until he gets the team he needs
 
I'm not trying to imply anything here but was wondering why Earnhardt Sr. never drove for DEI? Was it loyalty to Childress or obligation to RCR? Or maybe just not messing with a good thing?
 
I'm not trying to imply anything here but was wondering why Earnhardt Sr. never drove for DEI? Was it loyalty to Childress or obligation to RCR? Or maybe just not messing with a good thing?
Click to expand...

When Sr started the cup program at DEI, he said he wasnt going to make the mistake a lot of other drivers had made...he noted he didnt want to end up like Waltrip, Bodine, Rudd or Elliot and wasnt going to drive for himself.
 
The idea put forth the most is that Dale Sr. was going to take over RCR when Richard retired, which was just a few years away, and combine RCR and DEI. Dale's death kiboshed that and Childress hasn't been able to find anyone interested in buying him out. There had been some negotiations with DEI but Teresa wasn't interested.
That's why I say Lil'E should go to RCR and maybe he can buy the outfit from Childress in a few years. And, I don't think he'll ever be in total control of DEI.
 
The idea put forth the most is that Dale Sr. was going to take over RCR when Richard retired, which was just a few years away, and combine RCR and DEI. Dale's death kiboshed that and Childress hasn't been able to find anyone interested in buying him out. There had been some negotiations with DEI but Teresa wasn't interested.
That's why I say Lil'E should go to RCR and maybe he can buy the outfit from Childress in a few years. And, I don't think he'll ever be in total control of DEI.
Click to expand...

See I have heard quite the opposite, Ive heard that Childers has expressed interest in buying out DEI in the past and Teresa has turned him down. Ive heard that RC wants to hand the operation over to his son in law Mike Dillon when he’s ready to retire.
 
Eury Sr said..........................................

NASCAR Notebook
Eury: DEI made mistake by switching crew chiefs
Posted: Friday July 1, 2005 1:23AM; Updated: Friday July 1, 2005 1:23AM

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- The former crew chief for Dale Earnhardt Jr. acknowledges that the team made a costly mistake by swapping crews and cars with teammate Michael Waltrip during the offseason.

Tony Eury Sr., now the director of competition at Dale Earnhardt Inc., said Thursday that the somewhat-surprising move turned out to be detrimental for both teams in Nextel Cup competition. He was the first team member to call the changes an error.

Earnhardt, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet, has no wins, just one top-10 finish in the last eight races and sits 18th in the points. Waltrip rebounded from a rough start and has three top-10 finishes in the last six races, but is 15th in the standings.

"I guess we made a bad move over the winter, and our cars down there in the 8 shop weren't as good as we thought they were," Eury said. "When you got something good I guess you should leave it alone. We won six races with him [Earnhardt] last year."

Some might believe Saturday night's Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway would offer DEI a perfect chance to turn around its disappointing season. But after winning 11 of 16 restrictor-plate races at Daytona and Talladega between 2001 and 2004, Earnhardt and Waltrip haven't been nearly as dominant this year.

Earnhardt finished third at Daytona in February and 15th at Talladega in May. Waltrip was 37th at Daytona and third at Talladega.

The crew swaps might have prompted the slide.

Earnhardt's crew, including car chief Tony Eury Jr., took all of his cars and moved to Waltrip's shop, while Pete Rondeau, who finished 2004 as Waltrip's crew chief, took his crew and cars and went to Earnhardt's shop. Rondeau was fired in May and replaced on an interim basis by Steve Hmiel, the longtime technical director at DEI.

The idea was to raise everyone's game.

Instead, it backfired.

"We know we have problems we have to fix," Eury Sr. said. "We don't want to make problems somewhere else trying to fix one problem.

"We don't need to make quick decisions. We made a quick decision and we paid for it. We're not going to make that mistake again."

This is from SI
 
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