5 Ideas for Dale Jr’s Next Crew Chief

It’s official, Tony Eury Jr is out as crew chief of the #88. Now the search is on for the splashy replacement. Rick Hendrick has a tall task to find someone that can not only resurrect the 2009 season and get Junior in the Chase, but win double-digit races every year and not only get the team to championship-caliber, but to Cup-winning status (preferably multiple Cups). Maybe it just feels that way as the most scrutinized crew chief in the garage. Since Rick Hendrick is definitely busy, here are a few places to start his search. Free of charge* (*Unless Mr H is a loyal reader and is willing to let us charge him for our headhunting services).

5. Pete Rondeau-Remember him? He was thrown to the wolves the last time Eury and Earhnhardt were put in separate corners. Rondeau lasted 11 races and never seemed comfortable with NASCAR’s biggest star but look at the numbers compared to Eury Jr’s 2009: 2005-11 races: 3 top 5’s, 5 top 10’s and 8 top 15’s with 5 laps led. 2009-12 races: 1 top 5, 3 top 10’s and 5 top 15’s with 90 laps led. Odds: Million to One (They’d have to locate Rondeau first)

4. One Lucky Dale Jr Fan-Think about it. Junior Nation is filled with Monday morning crew chiefs and simracing nuts. It must be really easy to be smarter than a professional crew chief. So now these fans could get their chance. Just have Amp run a contest for a fan to assume the place atop the pitbox everything would correct itself. Because everyone not named Eury knows that all it takes to fix the #88 is to add more wedge and lower the track bar. Odds: Chances of winning dependent on number of entries. Look for specially marked Amp cans at a store near you .

3. Danica Patrick-The second biggest name in American motorsports has an expiring contract. Now is the perfect time to switch to stock cars. Some say she’s too small to handle the heavier cars, so here’s a compromise. Let her call the shots on the #88 crew and NASCAR still gets all of the publicity and marketing ties.

Odds: 100-1 (Who cares about winning when you can sell twice as much merchandise?)

2. Ray Evernham- One of the most successful crew chiefs in history, Evernham called the shots on the #24 team in the 90’s, winning 3 Cup titles and 47 races with Jeff Gordon. Given Evernham’s ties to Hendrick and his current presumed spare time, it’s a popular rumor. The trouble is that he hasn’t been a crew chief since 1998. That’s a decade of new technological advances, tire compounds, Car of Tomorrow nonsense and has anyone actually asked him about his interest? He sold the majority of his race team to get away from the grind. Maybe the unique challenge with Earhnardt Jr would change his mind. Odds: 50-1

1. Pick A Star, any star. Dale Jr is the biggest name in NASCAR. The theory goes that short of a family member as his crew chief (I think Kerry’s available), he will require a big name crew chief. True or not, that is the likely outcome in Hendrick’s new reality show, “America’s Next Top Pit Boss”. Whether they can pry someone like Greg Zipadelli from Gibbs, Darian Grubb or Pat Tryson from Roush will be intersting to see.

Who do you want to see in a National Guard bowling shirt? Would Ray Evernham really come back for another swing at it? Share your thoughts below.