Letarte gone after 2014

Jeffrey00

Jeffrey00

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  • Letarte Heading For TV Booth In 2015: Dale Earnhardt, Jr. will have a new crew chief in 2015. GodfatherMotorsports.com has learned that crew chief Steve Letarte will relinquish his spot atop the #88 teams pit box at seasons end to accept a new position as a television analyst with NBC and NBC Sports Network, beginning in 2015. Multiple sources say Letarte will join Rick Allen and driver Jeff Burton in the broadcast booth for the final 20 races of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, as well as the final 19 NASCAR Nationwide Series events. The network also holds rights to select NASCAR Regional Racing Series events, Mexico's NASCAR Toyota Series, the annual NASCAR Hall of Fame induction ceremony and various post-season awards banquets. Letarte has served as crew chief for NASCARs Most Popular Driver since 2011, with one win, 24 Top-5 and 54 Top-10 finishes in 106 starts. Earnhardt finished fifth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship standings last season, despite failing to win a race. He recorded Top-5 finishes in five of the final eight races and is expected to challenge for the 2014 title. An official announcement of Letartes new position is expected this week in Daytona Beach. Reached for comment, Letarte said, I will be the crew chief for the #88 Chevrolet in in 2014. Thats all I know right now.(Godfather Motorsports)(1-9-2014)
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I know this was posted in the NBC thread, but I didn't want to hijack that thread with Jr talk. So that can be the NBC thread of the deal, and this the Jr thread.


EDIT: DANG IT! I SCREWED UP MY TITLE. WAS SUPPOSE TO SAY AFTER 2014. FIX?
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Hate to see him go. He and Jr. seem to be coming together rather well but it is what it is.
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I never thought he was a good fit for Jr. Letarte has the knowledge to put a good car under a driver, but he doesn't have that extra spark to kick a driver in the ass to get him going. I'd think Letarte could maintain a status quo with a top driver, but I don't think he can mold one from the ground up. Jr needs a ground up CC that can push him to where he needs to be.
 
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ChexOrWrex said:
Mediocre crew chief. Destroyed Jeff Gordon & hasn't done much to help Junior either. Good to see him go
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I wouldn't say he didn't do much for Junior, the 88 made the Chase all three seasons that he was Junior's CC. The two years prior to that, Junior finished 25th and 21st in points.
 
Everyone always seems to forget Jeff's 2007 season with Letarte when he had 6 wins, 21 top 5, 30 top ten and lost to the 48 in the Chase by 77 points (which would be about 15 points under current point system).
 
I posted about this in the random thread. Didn't see this. I am really excited to see him in the booth. He's very personable on camera.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Hate to see him go. He and Jr. seem to be coming together rather well but it is what it is.
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Yeah, I'm pretty bummed out about this.

I see Junior and Letarte as two guys that kinda got written off by a lot of people and then came together and made some good things happen. Yeah, they have only won one race together so far, but they have been in position to win plenty of times and have been very consistent, and as a fan I can't ask for much more than that. I feel like Junior is pretty much a threat for a top 10 every week now and Stevie is a big part of the reason why. I'm not gonna write Junior off after 2014, but as we have all said many times on here, that chemistry between driver and CC is just so hard to come by. These two guys were just beginning to hit their stride together and now it's going to end. This sucks.

I'd love to see the 88 team win one more race before Stevie leaves.
 
Mr. Gregory said:
Yeah, I'm pretty bummed out about this.

I see Junior and Letarte as two guys that kinda got written off by a lot of people and then came together and made some good things happen. Yeah, they have only won one race together so far, but they have been in position to win plenty of times and have been very consistent, and as a fan I can't ask for much more than that. I feel like Junior is pretty much a threat for a top 10 every week now and Stevie is a big part of the reason why. I'm not gonna write Junior off after 2014, but as we have all said many times on here, that chemistry between driver and CC is just so hard to come by. These two guys were just beginning to hit their stride together and now it's going to end. This sucks.

I'd love to see the 88 team win one more race before Stevie leaves.
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Hey they might win the 'ship!
 
Matthew2470 said:
Everyone always seems to forget Jeff's 2007 season with Letarte when he had 6 wins, 21 top 5, 30 top ten and lost to the 48 in the Chase by 77 points (which would be about 15 points under current point system).
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That's true but in my opinion Steve has slowly lost some of his edge over the last few years, he just doesn't seem as focused.
 
Matthew2470 said:
Everyone always seems to forget Jeff's 2007 season with Letarte when he had 6 wins, 21 top 5, 30 top ten and lost to the 48 in the Chase by 77 points (which would be about 15 points under current point system).
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I graduated from HS in 07'... I don't remember anything from that year.

That's my excuse.
 
He's been with Rick since he was sixteen years old, he'll be lost for awhile but the TV gig will see him through. :D
 
Matthew2470 said:
Everyone always seems to forget Jeff's 2007 season with Letarte when he had 6 wins, 21 top 5, 30 top ten and lost to the 48 in the Chase by 77 points (which would be about 15 points under current point system).
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Those last 3 races though. Just caved under the pressure
 
look if the driver doesn't have killer instinct there is nothing a CC can do to make up for it. over the last few years I can think of at least 6 or 7 races that dale jr was in position to win at the very end and just didn't, dover and homestead come to mind this year, a few years back remember when harvick passed jr with only like 4 to go at martinsville?? drivers up their game as the end of races you can see it in the lap times. in order to win races you have to run just a little harder at the end and get more from the car.

I like latarte but I never thought of him as a TV personality, I believe I have heard him before, but to think he is going to be like larry mcreynolds or jeff hammond, I don't think thats going to happen. however if you are him your likely getting paid roughly the same money and only having to work those 20 race weekends the rest of the time is off time. given the hectick race team schedule this probably gives him a ton of time with family etc. he would probably be stupid not to take the job.
 
Matthew2470 said:
Everyone always seems to forget Jeff's 2007 season with Letarte when he had 6 wins, 21 top 5, 30 top ten and lost to the 48 in the Chase by 77 points (which would be about 15 points under current point system).
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nope that was just one of the one horse ponys. All they can see if Jeff this or that. They tend to blame everything on something besides their only driver in the world. Letarte is a quality CC and his cars have always been competitive. I guess he and the network think he is a talker, money must be pretty good and the hours have to be better and a whole lot more stress free. Had to be tough dealing with Jr missing the pit, numerous pit road speeding penalties etc. This year he cut most of that out and had a good year for him anyway. Jr always has to have a car that showed much better than anyone else to be running up front. If it was a little off, he doesn't try very hard IMO.
 
Jr is one of the few drivers that doesn't have to win to keep his job and he knows it. Probably makes as much or more doing commercials and public appearances as he does driving. Has more money that he can probably spend in a lifetime, In a way I can't blame him for not sticking it out there and taking a chance with something happening along the lines that happened to his father and many other drivers.
 
LeTarte in the booth? Network wags must really be as daft as their reputation makes them seem. What's next, "Wahd" Burton?
Looks like I'll be sorting out my MRN audio sync issues before 2015.
 
Well , some of you just kill me with reasoning, To say that any member of Hendrick racing is below average, mediocre , not focused, didn't really do anything, lost his edge ect..........
IMO sounds a little off, Steve is leaving , He has worked for Mr. Hendrick for many years( since a teenager I think). He is ready to move on and try broadcasting. Thats got to be a bit easier schedule for him( he has earned that IMO). He has given the best org. in Racing many years of service, I don't think they keep him around that long if he has lost it,not focused, mediocre ect.....
Good for Steve, Congrats and good luck.

Just my opinion. :D
 
BamaFan said:
Well , some of you just kill me with reasoning, To say that any member of Hendrick racing is below average, mediocre , not focused, didn't really do anything, lost his edge ect..........
IMO sounds a little off, Steve is leaving , He has worked for Mr. Hendrick for many years( since a teenager I think). He is ready to move on and try broadcasting. Thats got to be a bit easier schedule for him( he has earned that IMO). He has given the best org. in Racing many years of service, I don't think they keep him around that long if he has lost it,not focused, mediocre ect.....
Good for Steve, Congrats and good luck.

Just my opinion. :D
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I'm sure he will get to be home with his family a lot more, also. One of the hardest things for some crew guys and gals is all the time that they have to spend away from there family.
 
BamaFan said:
Well , some of you just kill me with reasoning, To say that any member of Hendrick racing is below average, mediocre , not focused, didn't really do anything, lost his edge ect..........
IMO sounds a little off, Steve is leaving , He has worked for Mr. Hendrick for many years( since a teenager I think). He is ready to move on and try broadcasting. Thats got to be a bit easier schedule for him( he has earned that IMO). He has given the best org. in Racing many years of service, I don't think they keep him around that long if he has lost it,not focused, mediocre ect.....
Good for Steve, Congrats and good luck.

Just my opinion. :D
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what about lance mcgrew?? how many big teams are knocking in his door.
 
Matthew2470 said:
Everyone always seems to forget Jeff's 2007 season with Letarte when he had 6 wins, 21 top 5, 30 top ten and lost to the 48 in the Chase by 77 points (which would be about 15 points under current point system).
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I've always had the mindset of him just been a solid CC that will definitely give you a bunch of top tens but very little wins.

IMO, in 2007 all those wins from Gordon were a combination of luck and being in the right place with 2 or 3 of the 6 wins being really earned. And by earned I mean Gordon drove the heck out of the race car, led most laps and won it fair and square as oposed to getting a little help from mother nature and misfortunes from other drivers.

Letarte will often play the strategy card, get you out front but you'll have to do the rest from there.

Jr. had many oportunities last year via strategy but couldn't hold on. I think that's all on the driver. Take Dover for instance, he let a guy with 2 tires beat him while he was on 4 new ones.
 
Matthew2470 said:
Everyone always seems to forget Jeff's 2007 season with Letarte when he had 6 wins, 21 top 5, 30 top ten and lost to the 48 in the Chase by 77 points (which would be about 15 points under current point system).
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I think he was a better CC with Jeff than with Jr. Perhaps Steve's biggest accomplishment with Jr was to get his confidence back. The Jr who often couldn't focus during an interview seems to be gone.
 
@SiriusXMNASCAR

Chad Knaus on taking the #88 CC role in 2015: “That is totally up to Rick, I don’t foresee that happening but you never know”
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
@SiriusXMNASCAR

Chad Knaus on taking the #88 CC role in 2015: “That is totally up to Rick, I don’t foresee that happening but you never know”
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We all know that wont happen, at least until JJ has eight Cup Championships anyway.
 
I think it's safe to say that DEJr. is more popular than Johnson. With that in mind, I wonder if Hendrick has ever considered if it would also be more popular of a move to put Knaus with the #88 in an attempt to get DEJr. a title or leave him with the #48 and go for #'s 7, 8 or maybe 9?

Any opinions on what would be best for HMS as an organization?
 
For being such good friends with Chad Knaus you'd think that Letarte would have been a more successful CC.
 
#17D500winner said:
I think it's safe to say that DEJr. is more popular than Johnson. With that in mind, I wonder if Hendrick has ever considered if it would also be more popular of a move to put Knaus with the #88 in an attempt to get DEJr. a title or leave him with the #48 and go for #'s 7, 8 or maybe 9?
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Chad and Jimmie are successful because of their chemistry; you can't just uproot Chad and give him to any team/driver and expect the same amount of success. I doubt we'll see Chad CC'ing for any other driver before he retires.
 
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