Would Double E’s Cure The Disease Plaguing The Junior Nation?

I do think that Junior is certainly talented enough to win championships.

– Ray Evernham; 2/23/09

Anyone who watched the in-car of Dale Earnhardt Jr. during the Coca-Cola 600 Marked Down To 340 ½ noticed how he was spending a lot of time turning right to go left.  And then turning left.  And then right again.  And then back to left.  Problem was he: 1) wasn’t on a dirt track; 2) was turning right-left-right-left within the same length of time as a sugared up three year old’s attention span.  The end result was every time you saw an out-car shot of the #88 it was fishtailing around like a 6V slot car on a 12V track and the controller stuck in the full on position.  Not exactly conducive to going fast.  Or anywhere except backwards.  The jet dryers had better lap times.  Digger could tunnel his way around the track faster.

The above would be tolerable if the car in question was a solo effort built and sponsored by the boys at the Dew Drop In Bar Grill and Garage (don’t ask what they use as cooking oil for the deep-fried mystery meat) being driven — if you want to call it that — by by Billy Bob “The Bungling Butterball” Bashcrash.  But it’s not.  It’s Hendrick Motorsports.  Godzilla to NASCAR’s Tokyo.  It’s Dale Freakin’ Earnhardt Junior.  Winner of eighteen Cup races.  And before anyone trots out the worn-out tripe about how everything’s been handed to him since he was conceived and he’s not that good blah blah blah, kindly be reminded the name above the window net has yet to factor in the finishing order of any race.  Plus, when you have a car so bad that David Pearson in his prime couldn’t have made it run any better the driver is not the problem.  When you have a multi-zillion organization with a record of successes piled atop each other, that’s not the problem.  It resides elsewhere.

Specifically, atop the pit box.

Consider the other three Hendrick driver-crew chief combinations.  Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus are the standard by which all such duos are judged.  Mark Martin and Alan Gufstason have clicked.  Even Steve Letarte, who will never be mistaken for the next Ray Evernham, has dramatically improved from last year with Jeff Gordon riding atop the standings as a result.

And then there’s Tony Eury Jr.

In a year plus Eury has yet to demonstrate the ability to either set the new car up correctly for its initial run or make the proper in-race adjustments.  Regardless of track or conditions, week after week he can’t get it right.  His tempestuous professional relationship with Dale Jr. has been chronicled ad infinitum. That’s not the issue.  Earnhardt has learned how to shut up and drive.  Rick Hendrick has seen to that.  The problem has been and continues to be he’s not being provided with a car that’s drivable.

So what to do?

The current state of affairs cannot be allowed to continue.  Like it or not, as goes Dale Jr. so goes NASCAR.  He does well, NASCAR does well.  He’s a rolling speed bump, NASCAR suffers.  Period.  Also, consider how it has been made clear over the years Earnhardt needs a strong authority figure to keep him settled and focused.  Add these together and one name emerges.

Ray Evernham.

It’s easy to think of reasons why Evernham won’t be Dale Jr.’s crew chief.  There are most likely contractural issues stemming from what once was Evernham Motorsports, now Petty Motorsports.  Is he too burned out from that experience to want to re-enter the fray, preferring to hang out on the farm with Erin Crocker.  Would he want to bear the expectations that would come with being entrusted with Earnhardt’s return to glory and nothing less being acceptable.  Would he be able to do the job and make the COT, an inherently fickle beast prone to running loose which is the exact opposite feel to what Dale Jr. prefers, something Earnhardt can successfully drive.  This is anything but a slam dunk.

And yet it is precisely these questions that might make the situation sufficiently enticing for Evernham to take the job if offered.  He is a crew chief at heart who tried ownership, found it wanting, and left the sport under something less than elegant circumstances courtesy of his botched handling of his personal relationship with Crocker plus the aforementioned burnout.  What better scenario could there be for the ultimate comeback story than the opportunity to be the man who led Dale Earnhardt Jr. to a championship?

Only Evernham knows the answers to these questions, and if there have been ay discussions between the involved parties they have been kept well hidden.  That said, there is no disguising the unacceptability of things remaining as they are.  A change is desperately needed in the Sputtering Rocket 88 camp.  Why not go for a bold one?

Earnhardt and Evernham.  It’s worth a shot.