Though the calendar has changed, it’s not too late to look back at last season. SB Nation is counting down its top 15 most-viewed NASCAR stories of 2010 during the first two weeks of January.
No. 15: Analysis Of The Hendrick Motorsports Crew Chief Swap
Few people saw this one coming.
Shortly after 5 p.m. on Nov. 23 – two days before Thanksgiving, when many had assumed there wouldn’t be much NASCAR news – Hendrick Motorsports sent out a press release containing a major announcement.
“HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS MAKES PERSONNEL ADJUSTMENTS FOR 2011,” the headline read.
While there had been speculation that team owner Rick Hendrick would split Dale Earnhardt Jr. and crew chief Lance McGrew, it was stunning for Hendrick to shake up the pairings of Jeff Gordon/Steve Letarte and Mark Martin/Alan Gustafson at the same time.
Fans apparently were eager for some analysis of what it all meant. As it turned out, SB Nation’s “Instant Reaction” blog offering some opinion on the driver/crew chief swap drew enough views to place No. 15 on our countdown, far more clicks than our original news story about the moves (No. 36 overall).
Why is that? One possible reason is while the straight facts about the swap were immediately available on Twitter and several web sites, early analysis of the changes was harder to find.
Our Most Popular NASCAR Stories of 2010:
15. Instant Reaction to Hendrick Motorsports Crew Chief Swap
(Nos. 14-1 to be revealed soon)
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