Earnhardt-Ganassi Shakes Up Competition Department, Hmiel out

Earnhardt Ganassi Racing announced Tuesday that long-time members of its competition department, Steve Hmiel and Tony Glover, have been fired. 

Hmiel had been with the team for 11 years serving in a variety of different roles, including crew chief for Dale Earnhardt, Jr., at one point. Glover has been a member of the team since its founding.

The decision by team owner Chip Ganassi to remove these two men from the organization's top competition roles comes following a lackluster year for the team.

Drivers Jamie McMurray and Juan Pablo Montoya failed to back up the major successes of 2010, where EGR was able to capture checkered flags in the Daytona 500, the Brickyard 400 and the fall race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. 

Both EGR drivers missed the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship in 2011, with McMurray and his No. 1 team finishing 27th in the standings, and Montoya's No. 42 team finishing 21st. 

No replacements for the two were announced, though recently Ganassi announced a crew chief change for Montoya's Target Chevrolet. Chris Heroy moves over from Hendrick Motorsports' engineering department to lead the team.