NASCAR.COM - Pressure never eases in racing's most thankless job

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Pressure never eases in racing's most thankless job (cont'd)

And yet, much like head coaches in the National Hockey League, they're all likely working on borrowed time. For premier teams at NASCAR's top level, the expectations are too high, the sponsor money too large for perceived underperformance to last too long. Go long enough without winning, and a car owner is ultimately going to feel pressure to make a change. And nine times out of 10, that change is going to involve the crew chief. Relationships like those between Johnson and Knaus, Tony Stewart and Greg Zipadelli, Richard Petty and Dale Inman, and Gordon and Ray Evernham emphasize how much of this is about fit, about finding drivers and crew chiefs who are complementary pieces. Those are the types who tend to be able to reach a certain level and sustain it for a long time. But they are the exception rather than the rule.

Change inevitable

We knew it had to happen. Something needed to be done. Why are we so surprised? Tony Eury Jr. was replaced as Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s crew chief. David Caraviello explains the machinations behind the latest driver-crew chief change.

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Still, the pressure is only part of it. Elite crew chiefs wear more hats than a driver in Victory Lane -- they have to manage shop personnel, put together pit crews, oversee car production, manage a driver, and then call a race. No wonder so many of them are such workaholics. Car owner Rick Hendrick once had to basically order Knaus to take some time off, he was spending so much time in the shop. Of course, that's nothing new. Red Vogt, the mechanical mind behind inaugural NASCAR "strictly stock" champion Red Byron in 1949, often kept his Atlanta garage open 24 hours a day, sleeping in a cot in a back room and exercising with an iron railroad tie. Long hours, perhaps the longest hours of anyone involved in the sport, are part of the job requirement.

What's the payoff? Winning, of course. But like football coaches, crew chiefs never allow themselves to enjoy the victories for very long. There's always another race to prepare for, another Monday in the shop. They're well-paid, of course, and the more successful among them are sort of famous in their little world. But drivers are the ones who get the serious set-for-life money, who get the pretty girls, who own the jets and luxury motorhomes, who show up at the race track on weekends and maybe pop into the shop one day a week. Of course, they're the ones running at 180 mph, and putting their lives on the line. Crew chiefs risk their livelihoods, jobs in a performance-based industry that demand an exhausting attention to detail. There's always another right-front tire carrier to hire, there's always another simulation to run, there's always another test to plan, there's always another checklist to go down. It's amazing they manage to get any sleep at all.

And then some of them go through a winless streak or a rough patch, and find themselves out of a job. Given the close bonds between many of the top organizations in NASCAR, some ex-crew chiefs are able to hop from one team to another. But it doesn't always happen that way. Every now and then you'll spot a former crew chief in the garage area, looking strangely out of place in street clothes, shaking hands and networking, trying to keep his name out there in case something comes up. Some of these guys won races, big ones, and have proven they can do the job. But the business moves so fast these days, it's easy to get left behind.

So please, a little sympathy for Tony Eury Jr. There's no need to regale in his departure, as some fans have done. He's still the same guy who had Earnhardt off to a fast start last year, who won all those races alongside his father at Dale Earnhardt Inc, whom Hendrick hired for a reason. Given the way this sport works, he might be a crew chief again some day. He might win races and make the folks in the grandstand regret their harsh words, the way Addington and Letarte have done. In his case, the fit between driver and crew chief didn't work out. But of course, Eury was a crew chief, so he put his reputation and his job on the line each time he climbed to the top of the pit box. They all do.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.