Dale Earnhardt Jr. is not pleased with the state of his team, which fell to 16th in the standings after last weeks 33rd-place finish at Pocono. However, he is happy with the communication between his #8 Budweiser team and the #15 NAPA team of Michael Waltrip since Steve Hmiel was named his crew chief last month. Its better than I ever remember it being, he said. We want both DEI teams to make the (championship) chase. Waltrips team moved up two spots to #15 with a fifth-place finish at Pocono. Were struggling, but I know how hard were working, Earnhardt said. And seeing the 15 team have success gives me confidence that well be able to pull out of this.(The State)(6-17-2005)
