Dale Earnhardt Jr. doesnt want to think about personnel issues with his #88 team until the end of the season. That includes a decision about the status of crew chief Lance McGrew. ‘I aint really making any decisions on that until after the seasons over with,’Â Earnhardt told Sporting News. ‘I asked (team owner) Rick (Hendrick) and everybody in the corporation if I could just not consider any options for next year or any ideas until were done racing’Âthat I wanted to focus on what were doing. I just wanted to get all I could out these last two races before I started thinking about that. I will say this about Lance: Ive really enjoyed working with him. Ive enjoyed even more so becoming his friend and getting to know him as well as I have. I have a lot of respect for him, and hes put up with a lot of crap this year and last year, trying to help get this thing going. He gave me his best effort to try to help each weekend, and Ive just got a lot of respect for him.’Â Since McGrew replaced Tony Eury Jr. as crew chief in mid-2009, the results have been disappointing. Earnhardt hasnt won a race since June 2008, and this year he failed to make the Chase for the second straight season. Earnhardt, who started 31st and finished 14th Sunday, isnt laboring under any illusions when assessing the overall performance of the #88 team. ‘I think I can say that whats going on on the racetrack is a fair assessment,’Â he said. ‘Its had its ups and downs this year, but here lately weve struggled quite badly. Its been unfortunate, and you really cant visually see what our issues are. Its a moving target for us.’Â(Sporting News)(11-15-2010)
