All the main principles involved view Greg Ives as the ideal crew chief for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and support Hendrick Motorsports’ decision to name him the head man on the No. 88 team next season.
NASCAR Pocono 2014: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chad Knaus confident in Greg Ives crew chief selection
The naming of Greg Ives as Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s crew chief was met with universal praise by everyone within Hendrick Motorsports.
Elsa
From Chad Knaus to Jimmie Johnson to Earnhardt himself, all were enthusiastic in support of Ives’ appointment Wednesday to replace Steve Letarte, who joins NBC Sports as an analyst next season.
“Everybody is really excited to have him back,” Knaus said Friday at Pocono Raceway. “I think he’s going to be a positive influence to everybody at Hendrick Motorsports. Everybody knows him, everybody respects him. He understands the Hendrick way, so it’s good. I think it’s going to be a great thing.”
Being engrained in the Hendrick system was among the reasons Ives was tabbed to lead Earnhardt’s team. The 34-year-old is a disciple of Knaus, having served on Johnson’s No. 48 team as an engineer when the driver won five consecutive championships from 2006-2010.
As Knaus is with Letarte, he and Ives are close. That’s key because the 88 and 48 teams share a shop on the Hendrick campus, and continuity was paramount. Knaus called Ives the “clear choice” and expects the synergy between the two teams to be maintained.
“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. I think Greg understands that, and he will willingly come in and be a part of that.”
Echoing his crew chief, Johnson said the relationship between his team and Earnhardt’s continuing unimpeded was important.
“Obviously, we’re very concerned about Steve’s departure and who that individual is that comes in and that there is good energy and a good bond between the No. 48 and the No. 88,” Johnson said. “It’s going to be hard to recreate the magic we’ve had with Steve and Chad.
“Our shop works very well together. To protect that environment, there was a very short list of guys to take over the No. 88 crew chief role. I was hopeful that it would go Greg’s way, and I’m very happy that it did. He’s worked very hard to develop as a crew chief and individual.”
In an effort to develop Ives into a crew chief, he was moved off Johnson’s team two years ago and farmed out to JR Motorsports, a Nationwide Series organization co-owned by Earnhardt and Rick Hendrick.
At JRM, Ives worked with Regan Smith in 2013, when the duo won two races and finished third in points. He was paired with rookie Chase Elliott this season, and the results have been overwhelmingly positive. The 18-year-old Elliott has three victories and is the current series points leader.
Ives’ selection follows a Hendrick tradition of promoting from within.
Knaus, Letarte and Alan Gustafson, Jeff Gordon’s crew chief, all worked their way up the Hendrick ladder. Only Kenny Francis, Kasey Kahne’s crew chief, is not a Hendrick lifer, but he did apprentice under Ray Evernham, a former Hendrick championship-winning crew chief who later formed his own team.
“Every organization has a culture,” Knaus said. “There is a way of living life within those campuses. I think if you do that and you get the right people and you train them, they are going to be productive and they are going to be successful in your company, and it’s going to help the longevity of your company. ... That is what we try to foster at Hendrick Motorsports. I think it has worked out over the years.”
That philosophy is why Earnhardt and Ives have a preexisting relationship. That bond began when the two were part of a Hendrick fantasy football league and started talking smack to one another. It has grown since Ives moved to JRM in 2013, and is why Earnhardt is confident about his selection.
“I already know how good Greg is, but just knowing that Chad and everybody believes in that decision and thinks that we will be even better off than we are today,” Earnhardt said. “...It’s a big relief to get it off my shoulders and not worry about who we are going to be working with: what kind of personality he is going to be and whether or not we are going to get along, or whether he is going to work and whether the chemistry is going to be good and the cars will be fast. I don’t have to worry about that. I feel good about it.”
See More:
