With six titles in 11 NASCAR national series seasons, Ives could bridge gap
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Entering his 16th season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, 40-year-old Dale Earnhardt Jr. has 23 wins, 11 NMPA Most Popular Driver Awards and has made the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup in each of the last four seasons. Missing a championship, Earnhardt may have found the solution in new crew chief Greg Ives.
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| EARNHARDT JR.'S CREW CHIEF ROSTER |
|||
| 1999 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2000 | 34 | 2 | |
| 2001 | 36 | 3 | |
| 2002 | 36 | 2 | |
| 2003 | 33 | 2 | |
| 2003 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2004 | 36 | 6 | |
| 2005 | 11 | 0 | |
| 2005 | 15 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 10 | 0 | |
| 2006 | 36 | 1 | |
| 2007 | 23 | 0 | |
| 2007 | 13 | 0 | |
| 2008 | 36 | 1 | |
| 2009 | 12 | 0 | |
| 2009 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2009 | 23 | 0 | |
| 2010 | 36 | 0 | |
| 2011 | 36 | 0 | |
| 2012 | 34 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 36 | 0 | |
| 2014 | 36 | 4 | |
Totals: Eight crew chiefs, 23 wins
In 11 years at Hendrick Motorsports and JR Motorsports, Ives has won six NASCAR national series titles.
Beyond winning titles, NASCAR Nationwide Series champion Chase Elliott says it's Ives' personal touch with his team members that makes him successful and will serve him well with Earnahrdt and the No. 88 team.
"I think anybody that is wondering about the change, I think they're going to be pleasantly surprised by the results and the effort and the teamwork and the way that Greg treats people, not only to me this year driving his cars, but he treats people the way they should be treated that work on the cars ...
"He obviously has the smarts and whatnot to do the job. But I think the biggest thing is leadership, and like I said, treating people the right way will go a long way, and I think he treats his guys the way they should be treated."
Joining Hendrick at the dawn of the Chase era in 2004, Ives began as a mechanic in the 24/48 shop. By 2006, Ives became an engineer on the No. 48 team and won five consecutive titles with Jimmie Johnson. In 2014, Ives won the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship with Elliott, the first national series title for JR Motorsports.
Like Elliott, outgoing No. 88 crew chief, Steve Letarte, believes Ives' ties to Hendrick Motorsports make him the best successor at the helm of a team that helped Earnhardt to his best season since 2007.
"He has a personal relationship with everyone on the 88 team because he has been at Hendrick Motorsports for years before going to JRM. ..." Letarte said on Dale Jr.'s "Dirty Mo Radio" Podcast. "When Greg got brought to the table, and (I was asked) 'Hey Stevie, what do you think?' I didn't have much response. I'm like, 'It seems like a no-brainer. This is a slam dunk. It's really not a tough conversation to have here.'"
Earnhardt's Nationwide race team provided Ives with the opportunity to become a crew chief and create his own identity as a team leader. Over the last two seasons, he delivered five wins and two poles while earning 23 top-five finishes and 44 top-10s in 65 races. He led Regan Smith to a third-place finish in points in 2013 and Elliott to the championship this season.
"Coming off that (title), I think, will give Greg the confidence he needs to be him," Letarte said. "I didn't try to crew chief like anyone else, and Greg shouldn't try to crew chief like anyone else."
In addition to his personal and team-building skills, Letarte, who is helping the new No. 88 boss in his first week on the job, explained why Ives has won titles in more than half of his years in the sport and will excel in his new role.
"What makes Greg so good is what every crew chief needs to have and that is good is never enough," Letarte said. "Pushing for perfection in every area of the race car, every area of the race team, every lap, every practice, every qualifying session.
"'No' doesn't come out of his mouth very often. 'Can't' doesn't come out of his mouth very often. When something is a 'no' or a 'can't,' it just turns in to an obstacle, and he wants to know how to get around the obstacle. 'Don't tell me we can't do that. Tell me how we're going to do it. How can we do it better, different.' "
A Green Bay Packers fan, Ives appears to live by the saying "winning isn't everything; it's the only thing," made famous by the Packers' six-time NFL champion and two-time Super Bowl-winning head coach Vince Lombardi.
"My job, when I got announced with Regan Smith in 2012, was to go out and win races and try to win championships," Ives said. "When I got announced with Chase, that did not change. When I got announced for Dale, that didn't change, either."
The 35-year-old Bark River, Michigan native learned Chad Knaus' winning ways early and often, taking part in 42 wins, 113 top-fives and 21 poles in seven seasons with the No. 48 team. Now, Ives will work alongside his old boss, and Knaus knows he'll be a good fit, working together while battling for wins and titles.
"Greg understands how we work," Knaus said. "We work with a three-person task force between the two crew chiefs and (team manager) Michael Landis to make the decision and the directions that we go in our shop -- what we do with our race cars and how we approach life.
"Our goal is to keep that No. 88 car running up front, hopefully win the championship or finish second in the championship between us and the No. 88."
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