a reliable source tells [Sports Illustrated] that Tony Eury Jr. won’t be the crew chief of the #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. as of Dover this weekend. Whether that actually happens or not remains to be seen, but the two weeks in Charlotte made it obvious both driver and team need a change.(Sports Illustrated)(5-26-2009) UPDATE: Team owner Rick Hendrick, who has previously said he doesn’t plan to make changes to Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s #88 team, wasn’t as definitive on Tuesday. “Could it change?” Hendrick said Tuesday following a meeting with NASCAR officials at the Research and Development Center. “We’re talking about things. We’re going to make decisions as the days go by, but we haven’t made any decisions as it stands now.” Earnhardt Jr. finished 40th in Monday’s rain-delayed Coca-Cola 600. Hendrick did not specifically address breaking up Earnhardt and crew chief Tony Eury Jr. But in the past when discussing changes he made it clear that wasn’t a consideration. He wasn’t so clear on Tuesday with Earnhardt 19th in points, 203 behind Mark Martin for the 12th and final Chase spot. “We’re always concerned when we have a car not run well,” Hendrick said. “We’re always meeting and trying to figure out how to make it better. We’ve got to come up with a plan and we’ve got to work toward that. We thought we had a pretty good plan coming to Charlotte. I was fairly pleased with the All-Star race and thought we would do better Sunday. We weren’t.”(ESPN)(5-26-2009) UPDATE 2: this weeks Hendrick Motorsports pre-race press release says: This weekend, the #88 team will unload Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 88-526. This chassis ran at…… curious as every other week, going back to the Daytona 500, this was posted: This weekend, crew chief Tony Eury Jr. and the #88 engineers will unload Hendrick Motorsports Chassis…….. No more Eury Jr. mentioned and no quotes in the pre-race press release as usual.(5-27-2009)
