 | | Mark McFarland had one top-10 finish in 2006. Credit: Autostock |
By Ryan Smithson, NASCAR.COM
August 12, 2006
11:54 AM EDT (15:54 GMT)
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. provided a rare, candid look into a team owner's mind when he discussed the firing of his Busch Series driver on Friday at Watkins Glen. Earnhardt Jr., whose team, JR Motorsports, is running the full Busch schedule in the No. 88 Chevrolet, fired driver Mark McFarland this week. McFarland had just one top-10 in 21 starts this season. "This is a case of where his personality and his mentality didn't match well with what we were looking for," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I talked to him several times about what he could do different, how he could be more emotional, project his personality better to the media. "Those are things obviously that you just don't learn overnight. I tried my best to prolong that decision and we had pushed it back probably four or five times to give Mark time and to help Mark because Mark's got what it takes under the right circumstances." Earnhardt Jr. has poured significant resources into the team, which he hopes eventually becomes a multi-car operation. The team has used Martin Truex Jr. temporarily and Earnhardt Jr. hopes to use Robby Gordon to run Michigan and Fontana. Shane Huffman, who was scheduled to run a second car for JR Motorsports in 2007, will run most of the remaining races, starting at Bristol later this month. Earnhardt Jr. hopes Huffman will bring life to the struggling team. "I just expected [McFarland] to have more of a killer instinct or killer mentality to him," said Earnhardt Jr. "You got to seize these opportunities. I feel like he's well capable behind the wheel but that doesn't always cut it. "Shane, he's red-faced and out of control and fast and furious about his opportunities. Mark was a good driver, but if he run 10th or 43rd, his mentality and attitude didn't change." Sadler wants to leave RYR amicably Elliott Sadler's departure from the No. 38 Ford and Jeremy Mayfield's termination from Evernham continue to dominate talk in the Nextel Cup garage at Watkins Glen. Sadler, long rumored to be on the move to replace Jeremy Mayfield in the No. 19 -- perhaps as soon as next weekend at Michigan -- spoke about the stress of the impending move. "It's been awful the last month," said Sadler. "It's been tough personally because of the decision I have made to leave Robert Yates Racing. "Was it a good decision? I don't know. Only time will tell whether it's going to work out for both parties or not, but I definitely feel like I'm leaving a family because that's just the way they treat you over there." Sadler received a huge break in 2003 when he was hired as Dale Jarrett's teammate at RYR, and he went on to win two races for the team in 2004. "I am not going end this relationship with Robert Yates on bad terms," said Sadler, who has spent much of the weekend helping RYR Busch driver Stephen Leicht adapt to the tricky Watkins Glen course. "I'm just not going to do it." "We're going to do things the right way. We're going to do things the best way we can, not only for our sponsors but for the team and then we'll go from there." Burton thinks Martin will come back One of Mark Martin's biggest admirers theorizes Martin will return next season for another Nextel Cup season. "I'm less convinced it's his last season than the rest of the world. He says it is, but we'll see," said Burton. "Proof's in the pudding. I keep waiting for him to return all the gifts from last year and he hasn't done it yet." "Mark is one of the best drivers in this sport. The only thing he misses from being able to say that he is, you know, it would be a championship, but every driver in here knows that is Mark Martin is capable. He is as capable today as he was ten years ago." Martin has said much about the possibility of returning in 2007. The team originally planned on having Todd Kluever ready to run for Rookie of the Year next season, but Kluever has scored just two top-10s this season. On Friday, Martin said he didn't think he'd be back. "I don't know about that. I don't think so," said Martin. "I'm not worried about it." Martin has enjoyed a solid 2006, remaining in the top 10 for virtually the entire season. He has just one finish worse than 27th. Gordon wants road course race in Chase, Burton doesn't Jeff Gordon, arguably the best road course driver in Nextel Cup history, said that he would welcome a schedule change that would place a road course in the final 10 races. "You've got a Superspeedway, you've got intermediates, you've got short tracks," said Gordon. "The only thing that's missing out of it is the road course. So obviously I'd be in favor of that." Jeff Burton isn't so sure. "If you look at the percentage of races that we run on road courses, that would make no sense to run a road course in the Chase," said Burton. "It's two races that we run out of 36, doesn't add up to a percentage that matches the top 10, the final ten races." NASCAR has not announced its 2007 schedule but has indicated that it won't make changes to the final 10 races. | 
