Is Greg Ives the Right Crew Chief to Get Dale Earnhardt Jr. a Sprint Cup Title?

Whenever there is a significant crew chief change in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series—particularly when it's a high-profile change—the inclination for many observers is that it will take a certain amount of time for the driver and the new crew chief to gel.

That was the assumption I'm sure many Dale Earnhardt Jr. fans had when Steve Letarte left as crew chief at the end of last season and was replaced by Greg Ives.

For some new driver-crew chief pairings, it may take several races or perhaps even a half season to gel. For others, it may take even longer—perhaps a season or more—before they finally click and everyone finds themselves on the same page.

But a funny thing happened along the way with the new Ives-Earnhardt pairing.

Instead of being slow out of the gate and instead of needing time to find a common ground and establish a strong communication and bond, Earnhardt and Ives have performed together so far in 2015 as if they have been together for the last five years or longer.

And had it not been for a disappointing 43rd-place finish at Phoenix and 36th-place finish in the last race at Martinsville, Earnhardt likely would be in the top five in the Sprint Cup standings heading into this weekend's race at Texas Motor Speedway.

Instead, he is ranked eighth, which is still quite a significant achievement thus far because he is working with a new crew chief and has had to adapt to some new personnel on the team, as well as adapt to Ives' way of doing things.

On the surface, Ives appears to be more of a quieter, mild-mannered individual than Letarte.

That's not saying Letarte was boisterous or highly vocal or a "we do things my way" type.

But Letarte did have a sort of edgier bravado and leadership persona that Earnhardt seemed to relate to better than perhaps any other crew chief he has ever had in his Sprint Cup career.

Unfortunately, Earnhardt wasn't able to give Letarte the kind of going away present he wanted—his first Sprint Cup championship—before Letarte went on to a new role and profession as an analyst for NBC Sports.

Ives is somewhat of a Letarte protégé, having learned a great deal from their time together with Hendrick Motorsports.

But while Letarte was direct and, to a certain extent, demanding, Earnhardt knew Letarte's instructions and manner were designed for one thing: to win.

And last season, Earnhardt did win—four times, in fact. That's the most wins he has earned in a single season since capturing six wins in 2004.

Furthermore, Earnhardt's four wins in 2014 equaled all the wins he earned in total from 2005 through 2013!

Ives, on the other hand, has no problem directing Earnhardt to do the things he wants, or to understand the strategy he utilizes. He just does it in a different way.

Call it mellower. Call it quieter. Call it less intrusive.

But anyway you slice it, Ives has made it clear that he's in charge now, and he's his own man, not a light version or extension of Letarte.

And so far, that way seems to be working very effectively, for the most part.

On March 19, a few days after his rough race at Phoenix, Earnhardt spoke about his relationship with Ives on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

"

The sooner that I can talk to Greg (Ives) my crew chief, the more I can talk to Greg … about that particular race, the sooner that I can put it behind us. When you walk away from a run like that and you don't communicate, you carry around a lot of questions, you carry around a lot of disappointment and frustrations.

The best thing to do is get with Greg, talk to him as much as you can, spend the next couple of days going over everything you did, trying to understand how you can learn from it and, maybe, when you go back to Phoenix, you'll be much better and try not to make any of the same mistakes that you might have made.

That makes you feel better. You talk about the next week. You talk about what we're doing to rebound and how we're going to go to Fontana and be strong. You sort of get all the kind things that get you fired up and get you excited about the next event (so) you can forget about the past.

I used to have such a hard time with that. When we'd run bad, I would carry it all the way to the next Sunday to the next event before I'd get in the car and try make another run at it, but it's gotten better the older I've got.

"

Admittedly, Earnhardt has had those two rough races at Phoenix and Martinsville.

But compare that to all the good results the Ives-Earnhardt pairing have achieved in 2015: three top-five finishes and a sixth-place showing.

There's even a bit of a Midas-like feel that Ives brings to the top of Earnhardt's pit box.

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

After all, it was Ives who took and molded a still relatively raw 18-year-old named Chase Elliott, built a start-up team around him and led the son of NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott to three wins and ultimately, the Nationwide Series championship last year.

And Ives did all that in less than a year, assuming his role with Elliott in December 2013. Eleven months later, they were rewarded for all of their hard work and effort with the Nationwide Series championship.

By doing that, in a sense, Ives passed one of the biggest tests any crew chief could take. And he passed it with flying colors.

That's why Ives was such an easy choice as Earnhardt's crew chief for 2015.

There was an established relationship between the pair, a strong familiarity and Ives did for JR Motorsports what no other crew chief has ever been able to do up to now: earn JRM its first-ever championship of any type.

Really, there was no other—and likely no better—choice than Ives to replace Letarte. It's almost as if winning the Nationwide title with Elliott was the ultimate audition for Letarte's job.

Can Ives finish what Letarte began with Earnhardt—namely, get Junior that elusive first (and potentially only) Sprint Cup championship?

So far, I'd say the pair is on the right track. Sure, they haven't won a race together yet, but that's a mere formality in my mind.

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to see Earnhardt win Saturday night's Duck Commander 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Junior has a decent record at Texas, with one win, four top-five finishes and 14 top-10 finishes in 25 career starts on the high-speed, 1.5-mile track.

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

His best showing of late was second in fall 2013.

Sure, Earnhardt finished last in this race last spring, wrecking just 12 laps into the race.

But, he rebounded strongly with a sixth-place finish in last season's fall Chase for the Sprint Cup race there.

Letarte built a good foundation and strong walls for Earnhardt to succeed.

Now, it's up to Ives to put the roof on and finish the job.

Follow me on Twitter, @JerryBonkowski.