Big shake-up at Hendricks.

M

MoMike

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CONCORD, N.C. -- Hendrick Motorsports has made personnel adjustments in preparation for the 2011 Sprint Cup Series season, with drivers Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. being teamed with different crew chiefs.


The in-house crew chief swaps, effective immediately, are as follows: Lance McGrew is being moved from Earnhardt and the No. 88 car to Martin and the No. 5 car; Martin's crew chief in 2010, Alan Gustafson, shifts to the 24 car of Gordon for '11; and Steve Letarte moves from Gordon to oversee Earnhardt's effort.


“
We've made the right adjustments, and I'm excited to go racing with this lineup."
”
-- RICK HENDRICK
The cars of Martin and four-time Cup Series champion Gordon will be fielded out of the same facility, now known as the 5/24 shop. Earnhardt's Chevrolets will be prepared out of the renamed 48/88 shop alongside those of five-time and defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson.

"This will improve us as an organization, across the board," Rick Hendrick said. "We had a championship season [in 2010], but we weren't where we wanted and needed to be with all four teams. We've made the right adjustments, and I'm excited to go racing with this lineup."


Although Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus brought Hendrick a fifth consecutive championship to give the organization a series-high 10 overall, the team as a whole suffered a drop-off from last season, when it finished 1-2-3 in points with Johnson, Martin and Gordon. Only Johnson and Gordon made the Chase in 2010, and Johnson (with six) was the only Hendrick driver to win a race.


Gordon, who finished ninth in points in 2010, went winless for the second time in three years and has just one victory during that period. Martin saw a significant drop in results: five victories, 14 top-five finishes and 21 top-10s in 2009 to zero, seven and 11 this year. Earnhardt's situation is the most dire of the three. He went winless for the second consecutive season and has just one victory in 108 races for Hendrick. His totals the past two seasons: five top-fives, 13 top-10s and an average finish of 20.9., failing to crack the top 20 in points either year.


Even Johnson wasn't immune to problems in 2010. The 48 team changed pit members with Gordon's 24 crew midway through the Chase race at Texas and Hendrick kept the change for the final two events. And, for the first time since his reign began, Johnson had to rally in the final race at Homestead to win the title.
 
Jr gets crew chief-merged

Good luck to your Steve (you will need it!).

Jr goes through Crew chiefs like nothing else you have ever seen.
 
Crew chiefs aside, what shocked me was the switch in shops. 48,88 and the 5,24 under the same roofs.
 
*Wonders when they'll realize it's the man behind the wheel*
 
JR is single handedly responsible for the economy we ar now experiencing.

He has had for more lay offs than GM and Ford combined.

And I am just talking about crew chiefs. :D
 
MoMike said:
Crew chiefs aside, what shocked me was the switch in shops. 48,88 and the 5,24 under the same roofs.
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agreed. That's going to...... we'll all find out together. Have to wonder if it's so that the crew chiefs stay paired in the same shop?
 
chromehorn said:
When the sponsors dry up. As long as that pay day keeps coming Hendrick will put Wayne Gretzky on top of the box if he has to.
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I disagree. I would be willing to bet that if JR doesn't produce next year he will be out of a ride. Hendrick is a lot smarter than people give hime credit for.

Wayne Gretzky would not sit on JR's box for any amount of money.

I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.
Wayne Gretzky
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Smoke14 said:
I disagree. I would be willing to bet that if JR doesn't produce next year he will be out of a ride. Hendrick is a lot smarter than people give hime credit for.

Wayne Gretzky would not sit on JR's box for any amount of money.
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Quote:
I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.
Wayne Gretzky


HAHAHA, Well done on the quote Smoke14, fits perfect in that situation. I just used Gretzky as an example of someone in sports that's probably the furthest away from NASCAR.
 
Magnethead said:
agreed. That's going to...... we'll all find out together. Have to wonder if it's so that the crew chiefs stay paired in the same shop?
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True, not really that big of a change. More like they just sent drivers to different cars, without the number switch.
 
If JJ is this incredibly superman worthy of all this azz kissin he would give Jr. his crew chief to see what the problem is.
 
I think an even more interesting part of this story is they are moving around the team shops. There will now be the 48/88 shop and the 24/5 shop. Rick will really do ANYTHING to try and make Jr. a winner.

I would lay money on the first year that Jimmie does not win the championship, the next year Chad will be Jr.'s crew chief.

I used to be a HUGE Hendrick fan, but his doing cart wheels trying to make JR a winner has turned me against him.

On a side note I think Letarte and Jr are perfect for each other. Neither has proven anything in the last 5 years.
 
OK I have a theory. I heard on the Hub the other night that Evernham is no longer contractually bound to George Gillette and RPM. He don't want to be a crew chief but this puts Jeff and Kasey in the same building eventually. I don't know what do you guys think. Maybe Ray is going to be head honcho over this shop? Just saying
 
OK I have a theory. I heard on the Hub the other night that Evernham is no longer contractually bound to George Gillette and RPM. He don't want to be a crew chief but this puts Jeff and Kasey in the same building eventually. I don't know what do you guys think. Maybe Ray is going to be head honcho over this shop? Just saying
 
Magnethead said:
Have to wonder if it's so that the crew chiefs stay paired in the same shop?
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Good point. Probably the case. It'll be interesting to see how this all unfolds. Maybe it'll give all three of those teams a kick in the butt for next season. Sure, Jeff Gordon has been making the Chase and competing but at the same time he's only won one race since Jr's move to Hendrick in 2008? Martin went from being one of the dominate drivers in 2009 to no wins and not making the Chase this year. This should be interesting.
 
Gordon_Fan24 said:
I think an even more interesting part of this story is they are moving around the team shops. There will now be the 48/88 shop and the 24/5 shop. Rick will really do ANYTHING to try and make Jr. a winner.

I would lay money on the first year that Jimmie does not win the championship, the next year Chad will be Jr.'s crew chief.

I used to be a HUGE Hendrick fan, but his doing cart wheels trying to make JR a winner has turned me against him.

On a side note I think Letarte and Jr are perfect for each other. Neither has proven anything in the last 5 years.
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Yea, I'd have to agree with you there. Honestly Hendrick is probably getting MAD money from all the Earnhardt Jr. merchandise, so I know that while Jr. is lagging in actual driving and racing, he isn't lagging in money.
 
Gordon_Fan24 said:
I think an even more interesting part of this story is they are moving around the team shops. There will now be the 48/88 shop and the 24/5 shop. Rick will really do ANYTHING to try and make Jr. a winner.

I would lay money on the first year that Jimmie does not win the championship, the next year Chad will be Jr.'s crew chief.

I used to be a HUGE Hendrick fan, but his doing cart wheels trying to make JR a winner has turned me against him.

On a side note I think Letarte and Jr are perfect for each other. Neither has proven anything in the last 5 years.
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I don't think they are moving shops. This is just a driver switch.
 
sloggie said:
I don't think they are moving shops. This is just a driver switch.
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Link: http://www.nascar.com/news/101123/hendrick-crew-chief-swaps/index.html

This article talks about the shop switch.

And I agree with SpeedPagan. Hendrick I am sure is getting mad bucks for having Jr. on board. Hence why he picked him up in the first place. He wants to make Jr. a winner, however, at this point the only way I see that happening is putting a passanger seat in the car and letting him ride around with someone else.
 
Gordon_Fan24 said:
Link: http://www.nascar.com/news/101123/hendrick-crew-chief-swaps/index.html

This article talks about the shop switch.

And I agree with SpeedPagan. Hendrick I am sure is getting mad bucks for having Jr. on board. Hence why he picked him up in the first place. He wants to make Jr. a winner, however, at this point the only way I see that happening is putting a passanger seat in the car and letting him ride around with someone else.
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You mean this part?

In addition to the personnel moves, the cars of Gordon and Martin will be fielded out of the same facility, now known as the 5/24 shop. Earnhardt and Johnson will be in the 48/88 shop. Previously the 24 and 48 cars were built in the same building, and the 5 and 88 were together.
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The writer apparently isn't smart enough to understand what happens when a driver takes their number with them.

Edit: If it's still not clear, picture this in your mind: Jeff Gordon takes all the 24 decals off this cars and carries them over to the other shop. Jr does the same. While they are walking Mark Martin walk from one side of his shop to the other. None of the crews or people that work in the shop move at all.
 
Honestly I don't think this move will help Jr. From what I've heard, he's a party boy, not exactly focus on the business of racing and being competitive. He may be better as a car owner, or more on the business end of racing, but until he adopts Johnson & Knaus way of doing things (Business like and Zen like), he's just going to be a 20th something driver.
 
sloggie said:
You mean this part?



The writer apparently isn't smart enough to understand what happens when a driver takes their number with them.

Edit: If it's still not clear, picture this in your mind: Jeff Gordon takes all the 24 decals off this cars and carries them over to the other shop. Jr does the same. While they are walking Mark Martin walk from one side of his shop to the other. None of the crews or people that work in the shop move at all.
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Thanks for the mental picture, but I get what you are saying without all that.

At the end of the day, there is now the 24/5 shop and the 88/48 shop. That is the only thing I was talking about. I wasn't eluding to crews changing or any of the such. I don't think you or I either one have the answer to how all that will play out. Certainly since we have saw "swapping crews" going on lately.
 
I don't know what it is but I'm not putting all the blame on Jr.
Pre HMS- 17 wins, 76 top 5's and 121 top 10's.
At HMS- 1 win, 15 top 5's and 29 top 10's.
So did he all of a sudden forget how to drive when he got to HMS?:confused:
 
jeff gordon made out like a bandit getting alan gustafson for his crew chief. if jr had him when he came over instead of eury jr. he would have had more success at hms.
 
This will be a good move for Gordon. I never though Letarte was much of a crew chief. Some of his calls have cost Gordon some wins.
 
Some random blurbs from the Hendrick press conference a few minutes ago.....

Rick Hendrick said the talks started after the Texas race about changing crew chiefs.

Hendrick says org. ``got complacent"

Hendrick says swap has created a ``new energy level"

They talked about what they could do better starting after Texas and then the crew chiefs decision made this week.

Rick: This was not a Dale Earnhardt, not a move that we made this major move because of Dale or his situation.

Hendrick says not all about Dale Earnhardt Jr. but to "pair up people that i thought would be better together."

Hendrick: This is probably one of the most radical moves i've made in racing, to do this many moves at one time.

Hendrick said there were a lot of people, including crew chiefs and drivers, who didn't know until 2 p.m. Tuesday about change.

Rick says: ``let me clear up something, we are not changing the people in the shops. Only thing changing in 24 shop is Jeff Gordon's seat."

Hendrick: "It's not one of these things that you can vote on." as far as drivers and crew chiefs input into decision.

The McGrew-Martin relationship reunites Mark Martin with engineer Chris Heroy, who worked with Martin in 2009. Heroy moved to 88 for '10.

Seats, drivers, sponsor & numbers are the only things changed.
 
More random statements from the Hendrick press conference a few minutes ago.....

Rick: The problem Jeff Gordon had at the end of the year wasn't Stevie, it was Kurt Busch dumping him at Martinsville and Jeff Burton.

Rick: "Stevie, he's got some broad shoulders" He'll either need that, or need to cancel his internet provider.

Rick says ``yes,'' Jeff gave green light to Alan.

Rick Hendrick says that he and Evernham have talked about him being involved in an array of things, including high-performance parts.
 
Gordon_Fan24 said:
Thanks for the mental picture, but I get what you are saying without all that.

At the end of the day, there is now the 24/5 shop and the 88/48 shop. That is the only thing I was talking about. I wasn't eluding to crews changing or any of the such. I don't think you or I either one have the answer to how all that will play out. Certainly since we have saw "swapping crews" going on lately.
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I don't think the 'over the wall' pit crews work in the shop. Regardless of the semantics, I like the changes. All 3 of those teams underperformed, so it's worth a try to move the drivers around.

I do think that JR's crew chiefs gets screwed out of this, in that he's not that dedicated to being a better driver and they get the blame.
 
sloggie said:
I don't think the 'over the wall' pit crews work in the shop. Regardless of the semantics, I like the changes. All 3 of those teams underperformed, so it's worth a try to move the drivers around.

I do think that JR's crew chiefs gets screwed out of this, in that he's not that dedicated to being a better driver and they get the blame.
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I don't think the over the wall guys work in the shop either. I did read a bit ago that Rick Hendrick had a conference call today to talk about all this. I would love to see a transcript but he did mention that the teams WILL stay in place in the shops and only the driver will change. However, he said the pit crews will look alot different. That is what I have been able to pick up from it so far.

I also agree with Sloggie that Jr's crew chief is not getting a raw deal. Heck, I think he may really benefit from the change.
 
sloggie said:
I don't think the 'over the wall' pit crews work in the shop. Regardless of the semantics, I like the changes. All 3 of those teams underperformed, so it's worth a try to move the drivers around.

I do think that JR's crew chiefs gets screwed out of this, in that he's not that dedicated to being a better driver and they get the blame.
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Who knows, maybe Jr. new crew chief will whip him into shape. All I know is that if I was a driver in the Sprint Cup, my crew chief and I would be studying Johnson and Knaus, to see how they work and what they do to win.
 
Why doesn't Hendrick's see for once and for all if Jimmy's 5 wins is his great driving or Knaus's job as crew chef that brought the 5 wins? Put Knaus with Jr. and see if Jimmy is the greatest driver ever or just a mediocre driver like Jr.
 
blue92 said:
Why doesn't Hendrick's see for once and for all if Jimmy's 5 wins is his great driving or Knaus's job as crew chef that brought the 5 wins? Put Knaus with Jr. and see if Jimmy is the greatest driver ever or just a mediocre driver like Jr.
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Two reasons:

1) You don't mess with a winning combo
2) JR is there because of the sponsor money he brings in, not his talent. Jr's is the Paul Menard of HMS racing.
 
SpeedPagan said:
Who knows, maybe Jr. new crew chief will whip him into shape. All I know is that if I was a driver in the Sprint Cup, my crew chief and I would be studying Johnson and Knaus, to see how they work and what they do to win.
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what jr needs is someone to ride his butt instead of feeding his ego. i don't see letarte as the tough guy, shut up and drive, kind of guy.
 
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