For Earnhardt and Eury, change an inevitable result (cont'd)

Look at Jeff Gordon, whose crew chief Robbie Loomis resigned after the driver of the No. 24 car missed the Chase in 2005. An unknown named Steve Letarte stepped in, led Gordon to a phenomenal 2006 season -- even if they didn't win the championship -- and has his driver back in the points lead this year. Look at Rusty Wallace, who hooked up with Robin Pemberton after Buddy Parrott resigned following the 1995 season. They were together for 230 races, one of the longest driver/crew chief relationships in modern NASCAR history. Look at the way Kurt Busch responded to Jimmy Fennig. Look at the way Mark Martin responded to Pat Tryson. Although it may seem so to the desperate citizens of Junior Nation, what's happening to the younger Earnhardt is far from unique.

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"This was a situation we felt needed to happen, and we couldn't wait until the end of the year," Hendrick said. "It wasn't fair to our sponsors, to our fans, and those two guys [Earnhardt and Eury] to keep doing nothing."

And yet, in the case of the No. 88 car, there's no obvious heir apparent, perhaps one reason why Hendrick has chosen this multi-faceted approach. Given that McGrew was already scheduled to work Dover this weekend with driver Brad Keselowski, Whitesell -- who won a race on an interim basis with Gordon after Ray Evernham stepped down, and was the architect of the juggernaut No. 48 team -- will be calling the shots on the No. 88 car this week, with McGrew taking over at Pocono. Overseeing it all will be Stump, one of Hendrick's little-known but invaluable engineering aces, the man Gordon's infamous "T-Rex" car was named after.

"Right now, we've got one boat with a hole in it, and we've got to fix it," Hendrick said. "So his efforts are going to be there."

As for a long-term solution, who knows. The car owner is throwing a lot of people at the No. 88 problem, but didn't rule out eventually bringing in someone from the outside. "Lance and Junior, or Brian and Junior, may be magic," Hendrick said. "But we're going to keep all our options open."

And in the meanwhile, there's Eury, who helped the No. 88 program get off to a fast start early last year, but wasn't able to sustain it. Hendrick speaks of Eury with almost a fatherly tenderness, understandable given their long personal history. Robert Gee, maternal grandfather to both Eury and Earnhardt, was a legendary fabricator and former Hendrick Motorsports employee who helped the eight-time champion get into racing. The first NASCAR race Eury ever attended was a then-Busch event at Road Atlanta, along with Gee and Hendrick. Strangely, those personal ties might have made Thursday's announcement a little easier for everyone involved.

"Tony knows when I told him I wanted him to be with this company, he knows that I'm not just saying that, and that I care about him a lot. If it wasn't for his granddad, I probably wouldn't be in this business. I think the world of him, and he's a very smart guy. He can be a contributor to our organization," Hendrick said.

"Tony is part of the family, and he will always have a job with me as long as I'm racing if he wants it. And he says he does. He's very good in this [research and development] area, he likes this area. There's no pressure on him, and I'm excited about seeing him smile and laugh and be Tony again."

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.