Dale Jr. calls crew chief change a 'seamless transition'

Earnhardt, a guest on SiriusXM NASCAR on Thursday, said he only spent one day working with Ives, who is the crew chief of Nationwide Series points leader Chase Elliott‘s No. 9 JR Motorsports team, owned by Dale Jr. As a driver, Earnhardt said it “was very refreshing to be around new opinions. (He’s) a guy with new ideas.”

The 11-time NMPA Most Popular Driver compared working with Ives to learning from crew chief Kenny Francis when he joined Hendrick Motorsports in 2012 with Kasey Kahne.

“…everybody was super-excited because Kenny’s got ideas that we don’t have,” Earnhardt said. “He’s got things going on in his mind that can improve our company.

“It was kind of the same way with Greg this week at the test. It was fun to see him bring in his theories and his thoughts and sort of listen to why he thinks this or that might work on the car, what he’s learned this year on his own cars. That’s going to go on for quite some time until we sort of fall into a groove.”

As Jimmie Johnson‘s race engineer for five of Johnson’s six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championships, Ives is familiar with the 48/88 stable, which Earnhardt said will help as he returns to the fold.

“He knows the culture of the shop very well,” Earnhardt said. “He worked in that shop for many years as Jimmie’s lead engineer so he knows the place very well. And I think we’re going to be a pretty seamless on this transition.”

The switch to Ives is reminiscent of Junior’s own teaming with Letarte in 2011. Earnhardt addressed how he and Letarte grew together into a team that won four races and contended for the Sprint Cup title before bowing out at Talladega Superspeedway.

“When we got together, I think we both needed a new start,” Earnhardt said. “He helped me turn things around for my career, and I also, at the same time, watched him become one of the best crew chiefs in the garage, one of the best strategists, I think, that the sport’s ever seen on the pit box. So it’s been a lot of fun seeing both of us really kind of grow into these new roles.”

Their partnership provided Dale Jr. with his first grandfather clock trophy following last week’s win at Martinsville Speedway. He said the victory was the biggest of his year, which included two wins at Pocono Raceway and the season-opening Daytona 500.

“It was the biggest win of the season for me,” Earnhardt. “Nothing taken away from Pocono. Great race track, a place we’ve always wanted to win. We finally were able to win there this year as well. And nothing certainly taken away from the Daytona 500.

“But a short-track race, to me, is the root of the sport. And it happens also to be one of the harder races to win.”

Earnhardt returns to the site of his first career victory in the Sprint Cup Series, Texas Motor Speedway, in the AAA Texas 500 (Sunday, 3 p.m. ET, ESPN). With three races to go in the season, he has a shot at notching a new career high in victories. He won six races in 2004.

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