24, 48 and 8 keep success going with interim chiefs

LOUDON, N.H. -- Steve who? Chad what?

For all the talk about how the recent NASCAR suspensions of Hendrick Motorsports crew chiefs Steve Letarte and Chad Knaus might impact Sunday's Lenox Industrial Tools 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway, it didn't appear to have any ill affects whatsoever on the Chevrolets driven by Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, respectively.

Lap-by-Lap

Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson led in New Hampshire at one point and brought home top-fives in New Hampshire despite their crew chiefs being suspended.

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And as far as Dale Earnhardt Jr. was concerned, one Tony is about as good as another when directing his Chevy -- whether he's got a Junior tailing his last name or not.

Each of the three drivers -- who will become teammates at Hendrick next season after Earnhardt finishes this season driving for Dale Earnhardt Inc. -- overcame the loss of his usual crew chief to register a top-five finish Sunday. Gordon finished second behind race winner Denny Hamlin (watch video), while Earnhardt placed fourth and Johnson fifth.

Like Gordon and Johnson, Earnhardt ran Sunday's race with an interim crew chief. But Earnhardt's regular crew chief, Tony Eury Jr., was serving the final week of a six-race suspension while Letarte and Knaus were serving the first of their six-race sentences.

Eury Jr. will be back on top of the pit box for Earnhardt's No. 8 Chevrolet team this Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway. After Sunday's strong finish in a Car of Tomorrow race at New Hampshire, Earnhardt said Eury Jr. will have to be on top of his game to do as well as the other Tony -- as in Tony Gibson, Earnhardt's interim crew chief during the last six weeks.

"I can't say enough about Tony Gibson being crew chief for the last six weeks. He's done such a great job," Earnhardt said. "Tony Jr. has his work cut out for him. Seriously, man, Tony Gibson has been amazing. We've run great with him.

"So Tony Jr., he's been lazy. He's been laying out for six weeks. He's got to come in here and work hard. We expect a lot of him."

Johnson said the Hendrick teams expected a whole lot out of their substitute crew chiefs, including Ron Malec for his No. 48 car and Jeff Meendering for Gordon's No. 24. Both interim chiefs were promoted from within the Hendrick organization. (Continued)